O1S HISTORICAL SURVEY 



A HISTORY 



OP 



SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 



A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its 
People, and its Principal Interests 



BY 

George Washington Smith, M. A. 



VOLUME II 



ILLUSTRATED 



THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 

CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 
1912 



11BRMN 

OF THE 

OF 



History of Southern Illinios 



HUGH LAUDEE. Prominent in business circles, recognized as a man 
of force and ability in public life and well qualified for the adminis- 
trative duties of official positions, a welcome addition and an orna- 
ment to every social gathering, and universally commended for his 
uprightness and integrity in all the relations of life, Hugh Lauder, 
of Carbondale, has his standing in the community based on stable and 
enduring ground secured by merit, which he has amply demonstrated 
during his residence of thirty-one years in the city. 

He is a native of Ohio, the great state which rivals and almost 
equals "the Mother of States and of Statesmen" in the number of 
presidents she has given to the Union, and was born in Trumbull 
county on July 15, 1840. His parents were. John and Eliza (Jackson) 
Lauder, natives of Pennsylvania. The father was an industrious and 
skillful blacksmith, and passed the greater part of his life working at 
his forge. But he was a man of very moderate estate in worldly 
wealth, and was able to give his son nothing beyond a common coun- 
try school education, and a limited one at that. 

But the son was game and accepted his portion with cheerfulness 
and gratification that it was as gpod as it was. He began the battle 
of life for himself at the age of fifteen by driving cattle from Trumbull 
county, Ohio, to Chester county, Pennsylvania, which he continued for 
six years, making two trips each way every year. When he reached 
the age of twenty-one he contracted with a butcher to drive a meat 
wagon to the mining towns in his native state and Pennsylvania, and 
after performing this arduous, trying and sometimes dangerous work 
for a time with great fidelity and good business sense, he became the 
purchasing agent for his employer, buying cattle, sheep and hogs in 
large numbers. 

In 1861 he enlisted in the Union army, in Company C, Nineteenth 
Ohio Infantry, for the period of four months, his regiment being a part 
of the 75,000 troops asked for by President Lincoln in his first call 
for volunteers. He took part in the battle of Rich Mountain, Virginia, 
and soon afterward the term of his enlistment expired. He then ar- 
ranged to join the Second Ohio Cavalry as its commanding officer, but 
was prevented from carrying out his intention by illness. When his 
health was restored he engaged in buying live stock on his own account, 
and his operations in this kind of merchandising lasted until 1877, 
without interruption by other business. 

In that year he started a mercantile enterprise of a different char- 
acter at New Bedford, Pennsylvania, which he 'conducted for seven 
years, but during that period also kept on dealing in live stock on the 
same scale as before. In 1880 he located in Carbondale, and here he 
saw fine opportunities for carrying on a profitable business of a dif- 
ferent kind from any in which he had hitherto been engaged. He 
bought timber land in Williamson, Jackson and Alexander counties and 

567 



568 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

manufactured lumber. The land cost him from two to twenty dol- 
lars an acre, and in every case he found the timber worth considerably 
more than the purchase price of the land. 

For twenty-five years he ran his mills, always farming the land he 
denuded of its timber, and throughout that time also kept on dealing in 
live stock, feeding numbers of cattle, sheep and hogs for the markets 
every year. His business in all departments was extensive, the lum- 
ber industry being of such magnitude that at one time he was obliged 
to build his own tramways a distance of six miles in order to get his 
timber out response to the demands on his resources. He is not now 
so largely and variously engaged in business, but he still owns farms 
and superintends their cultivation and improvement. 

Notwithstanding the great extent and exacting nature of his several 
lines of business, Mr. Lauder has found time and always had the dis- 
position to take an active part in the affairs of the city and county of 
his home, and contribute his share of impulse, direction and material 
aid to all worthy projects designed to promote their progress and im- 
provement. He served two terms as alderman from his ward in Car- 
bondale and two as mayor of the city, winning the approval of the peo- 
ple by his course in each of these offices. He is now one of the trustees 
of the Southern Illinois Normal University by appointment of Governor 
Deneen, and secretary of the board by the choice of its other members. 

His political faith is pledged and his campaign services are given 
ardently to the Republican party, to which he adheres from convic- 
tion, as he has never been eager for official station or the cares and 
responsibilities of public life. The offices he has held before and the 
one he is holding now all came to him without his seeking them, and 
because he was deemed capable of filling them with benefit to the in- 
terests over which they gave him supervision, and it was well known 
that he would fill them -with credit to himself. 

Mr. Lauder was married in Trumbull county, Ohio, in February, 
1862, to Miss Harriet Nelson, a daughter of W. S. and Temperance 
Nelson, of that county, where the father was prominently engaged in 
dairying on a large scale. Mr. Lauder has long been a member of the 
Presbyterian church, and is now an elder in the congregation to which 
he belongs, and one of its most faithful and appreciated workers and 
supporters. 

ISAAC K. LEVY. The ability and sterling character of Isaac K. Levy 
have given him distinctive prestige as one of the representative members 
of the bar of his native city and county, and he is engaged in the active 
practice of law at Murphysboro, the judicial center of Jackson county. 
His popularity in his home community has been further shown by his 
having been called upon to serve in the office of state's attorney of Jack- 
son county, in which office his administration has added materially to 
his professional reputation and proved of marked value to the county. 

Isaac K. Levy was born at Murphysboro, on the 1st day of February, 
1878, and is a son of Abraham and Pauline (Rittenburg) Levy, who 
have here maintained their home since 1875, the father having been for 
many years one of the representative merchants and highly esteemed 
citizens of this thriving little city. He whose name initiates this review 
is indebted to the public schools of his native city for his early education, 
which included the curriculum of the high school, and in preparing him- 
self for his chosen profession he here studied law under effective private 
preceptorship. He continued a student in the office of one of the lead- 
ing law firms of Murphysboro until he proved himself eligible for the 
bar, to which he was admitted in 1899. He has since given his attention 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 569 

to the practice of his profession in Murphysboro and his technical powers 
and his close application have combined with his personal popularity 
in enabling him to build up a substantial and representative practice, 
in connection with which he has been concerned in a number of specially 
important litigations. In 1908 he was elected state's attorney of Jack- 
son county, and his incumbency of this office continued until 1912. His 
regime was marked by scrupulous and effective service in conserving the 
interests of the people of the county, and he showed equal facility in the 
handling of criminal and civil cases. He is a close student and never 
presents a. cause before court or jury without careful preparation. He 
takes a lively interest in all that touches the welfare of his home city 
and county, and is known as a progressive and public-spirited citizen. 
He is a member of the directorate of the Citizens' State and Savings 
Bank, one of the staunch financial institutions of Southern Illinois. He 
is unswerving ;n his allegiance to the Republican party, in behalf of 
whose cause he has given effectual service, and he is affiliated with the 
local organizations of the Masonic fraternity, the Benevolent Protective 
Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of 
America. He and his wife are factors in the social activities of their 
home city. 

On the 29th of June, 1902, Mr. Levy was united in marriage to Miss 
Lillian Hanks, who was born and reared in Jackson county and who is 
a daughter of James Hanks, one of the representative farmers of the 
county. Her paternal grandfather was one of the honored pioneers of 
this section of the state and served at one time as sheriff of Jackson 
county. Mr. and Mrs. Levy have two children, Constance and Jessie 
Virginia. 

WALTER C. ALEXANDER. The fine initiative and administrative 
powers of this well known citizen of Murphysboro, Jackson county, 
have been enlisted in connection with the organization and upbuilding 
of many important industrial enterprises, and through his active 
identification with the same he has gained precedence as one of the 
veritable captains of industry in southern Illinois, where he has won 
large and worthy success through his own ability and well directed 
efforts, the while his course has been so guided and governed as to 
retain to him the unqualified confidence and esteem of those with 
whom he has come in contact in the varied relations of life. As one 
of the representative business men and progressive citizens of south- 
ern Illinois he is eminently entitled to special recognition in this pub- 
lication. 

Walter Carlyle Alexander was born in the city of Glasgow, Scot- 
land, on the 24th of May, 1865, and in both the paternal and maternal 
lines he is, a scion of the staunchest of Scottish stock, the admirable 
traits of which he has well exemplified in his private and business 
career. He is a son of James and Jessie Alexander, and in 1868, when 
he was a child of about three years, -his parents came to America and 
established their residence in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
whence they later removed to Shenandoah, that state. The father was 
an iron-worker by trade and finally came 'to the west with his family 
and located in the city of St. Louis, where he was in the employ of 
the Eagle Iron Works for two years. He was then appointed master 
mechanic in the shops of the Chicago. Burlington & Quincy Railroad 
at Galesburg, Illinois, but he retained this incumbency only a brief 
period. In 1870 he established his home at Murphysboro, the me- 
tropolis and judicial center of Jackson county, where he opened a 
general store, at the corner of Eleventh and Walnut streets. He re- 



570 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

tired from this line of enterprise in 1874 and became associated with 
his brother Walter in establishing the Alexander Brothers' foundry 
and machine shop. They built up a large and prosperous business and 
continued to be actively concerned with the same until 1896, when 
they retired, after nearly a quarter of a century of consecutive appli- 
cation to this line of enterprise, through association with which they 
gained secure place as substantial and representative business men 
of this section of the state. James Alexander died on the 4th of 
October, 1899, secure in the high regard of all who knew him, and 
his cherished and devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal on 
the 4th of January, 1908, both having been zealous and consistent 
members of the Presbyterian church. Of their children the subject 
of this review is the younger son, and concerning Mrs. Janet M. Mor- 
rison, a sister residing in Boston, Massachusetts, more specific men- 
tion will be made in another paragraph. 

Walter C. Alexander was afforded the advantages of the public 
schools and completed his dicipline along this line in the schools of 
Murphysboro, which has been his home during the greater part of the 
time since his boyhood days. As a youth he entered the shop and 
foundry conducted by his father and uncle and there he learned the 
trade in its various details. Later he became telegraph operator for 
the Consolidated Coal Company, but after serving six months in this 
capacity he assumed the position of chainman with an engineering 
corps engaged in railroad surveying. He continued to devote his at- 
tention to surveying and civil engineering work for a number of years 
and within five years had risen to the responsible position of transit- 
man. For three and one-half years he maintained his residence at 
Duquoin, Illinois, and followed the profession of civil and mining en- 
gineering in an independent way, and he then returned to Murphys- 
boro to accept the position of manager and superintendent of the 
Murphysboro Water Works, Electric, Gas and Light Company, of which 
he also became a director. He retained this incumbency five years, at 
the expiration of which he resigned, in order to give his time to the 
supervision of the large and important enterprises with which he 
had become identified. He was the organizer of the Chicago & Herrin 
Coal Company, the properties of which are located at Herrin, Wil- 
liamson county, and he is president of this corporation, as is he also 
of the Carterville-Herrin Coal Company. He organized and is presi- 
dent of the Chew Mercantile Company, one of the leading retail con- 
cerns of Herrin ; and was the organizer of the Anchor Ice & Packing 
Company, of Murphysboro, of which likewise he is president. In 1910 
he effected the organization and incorporation of the Murphysboro 
Construction Company, which controls a large business in the con- 
struction of reinforced concrete buildings, dealing in lumber, etc. 
Of this progressive corporation he is president, as is he also of the 
Republican Era Printing Company, publishers of the Era, a daily 
paper, at Murphysboro. Mr. Alexander is secretary and a director 
of each the Murphysboro Telephone Company and the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi Valley Telephone Company ; is a director of the Murphysboro 
Electric Railway, Light, Heat & Power Company ; a director and also 
secretary of the Murphysboro & Southern Illinois Electric Railway 
Company, controlling important interurban lines and franchises; is 
a director of the City National Bank of Herrin and of the St. Louis. 
Carterville & Herrin Coal Company; and was one of the organizers of 
the Murphysboro Commercial Association, of whose high civic ideals 
and effective work he has been a most zealous and influential ex- 
ponent. Mr. Alexander exemplifies the most loyal and public-spirited 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 57l 

citizenship and his endeavors along industrial and commercial lines 
have been potent in the furtherance of social and material progress 
and prosperity, the while he has ever stood ready to give his co-opera- 
tion in support of those enterprises and measures which have tended 
to conserve the general welfare. His capacity for w<jrk is gigantic and 
he is most content when most busy. He does not, however, fail in 
appreciation of the higher ideals and gracious amenities of social life 
and is genial, companionable and democratic in his bearing, a man 
whose strength, vitality and sterling character promote loyal and en- 
during friendships. 

In politics, though never an aspirant for office of political order, 
Mr. Alexander is found arrayed as a stalwart and effective advocate 
of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands 
sponsor, and both he and his wife are most zealous members of the 
First Presbyterian church of Murphysboro, of which he is a trustee. 
He served several terms as a member of the Murphysboro Board of 
Education, and this is the only civic office of which he has consented 
to become the incumbent. He is affiliated with the Masonic frater- 
nity, the Benevolent and Protective .Order of Elks, and the Knights of 
Pythias, of which last mentioned order his father was one of the . 
organizers of the Murphysboro lodge. 

On the 22d of November, 1905, was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Alexander to Miss Martha M. Forbes, daughter of Charles and 
Sophia B. (Trowbridge) Forbes, of Oneida, New York, and they have 
one son, Forbes, who was born on the 4th of January, 1907. The fam- 
ily home is one of attractive order and is a center of hospitality, under 
the regime of its popular chatelaine, Mrs. Alexander, who is a repre- 
sentative factor in the social activities of the community. 

Mrs. Janet M. (Alexander) Morrison, sister of Mr. Alexander, 
was born in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, where she was reared and 
educated and where she remained after the immigration of her father 
to America. There was solemnized her marriage to Edward Morrison, 
who was identified with hotel enterprises in his native land (Scot- 
land) and who is now engaged in the manufacturing of office and 
school supplies in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Morrison are members of the Presbyterian church and they have 
a wide circle of friends in their home city. They have five children, 
concerning whom the following brief record is entered: Mary Rhoda 
is the wife of Rhoda Field and is one of the talented musicians of the 
Massachusetts metropolis ; Christina and Katie remain at the parental 
home, as do also James and John, the latter of whom is employed in 
a leading banking institution in Boston. 

EDWARD C. KRAMER merits consideration in this publication by 
reason of his high standing as one of the representative members of 
the bar of his native state, where he has many and important profes- 
sional connections, and also by reason of his influential position as a 
citizen of utmost progressiveness and public spirit. He served four 
years on the bench of the county court of Wayne county and since 
1898 he has maintained his residence and professional headquarters in 
the city of East St. Louis, the metropolis of St. Clair county. He 
has gained more than local prestige as a corporation lawyer and is 
legal representative for a number of important railroad and industrial 
corporations. The Judge is a man of fine intellectual and professional 
attainments and stands as an exemplar of the highest ethics of the 
vocation in which he has achieved so much of success and distinction. 

Edward Charles Kramer was born on a farm in Wabash county, 



572 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Illinois, on the 1st of February, 1857, and is a scion of one of the 
sterling pioneer families of that county, where his parents, Henry and 
Martha Kramer, took up their residence in an early day, the father 
having there devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits until their 
removal to Wayne county, Illinois, in 1873, where they have since 
maintained their home, commanding the high esteem of all who 
know them. Like many another who has gained precedence in the legal 
profession, Judge Kramer found the days of his boyhood and youth 
compassed by the invigorating environment and discipline of the farm, 
but the basic industry of agriculture did not prove adequate to satisfy 
his ambition. He gained his preliminary education in the public 
schools of his native county and supplemented this by attendance in 
normal schools, in which latter he qualified himself for successful work 
in the pedagogic profession, to which he devoted his attention while 
preparing himself for that of the law. He prosecuted his legal studies 
under effective preceptorship and in 1882 was admitted to the bar of 
his native state. He initiated the practice of law at Fairfield, "Wayne 
county, and in that county he continued to reside until his removal to 
East St. Louis, as already noted in this context. His energy, ability 
and ambitious efforts soon gained to him a substantial practice, and in 
1886 he was elected to the office of judge of the county court of Wayne 
county, of which position he continued the incumbent until 1890, the 
while he also served as master of chancery for the county during the 
same period. He was a member of the board of commissioners of the 
Illinois penitentiary from 1893 until 1897, and in 1898 he removed to 
East St. Louis. 

Judge Kramer controls a large and important practice and gives 
special attention to corporation law, in which connection he is attorney 
for the Terminal Association of St. Louis, the Southern Railroad Com- 
pany, the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad Company, the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad Company, the Chicago & Alton Railroad Com- 
pany, the Wabash Railroad Company, and The Wiggins Ferry Com- 
pany. The Judge is a member of the directorate of each the Trenton 
Coal & Mining Company and the Southern Coal & Mining Company, 
for both of which corporations he is attorney. 

In politics Judge Kramer is found aligned as a staunch and effect- 
ive supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, though he has 
shown no predilection for office of political order. He is a member of 
the East St. Louis Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association and the 
American Bar Association. He has attained to the chivalric degrees 
in the Masonic fraternity, in which he is affiliated with the commandry 
of Knights Templars at Olney, Richland county, and in his home city 
he holds membership in the lodge of Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks and the St. Clair Country Club. Both he and his wife are 
zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church of East St. Louis 
and he is chairman of its boa,rd of trustees. 

On the 15th of September, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of 
Judge Kramer to Miss Laura J. Ellis, of Grayville, White county, this 
state, and they have two children, Kenneth Edward and Pauline Ida. 

ROBERT E. GILLESPIE. The president of the Illinois State Trust 
Company, of East St. Louis, has won precedence as one of the strong 
and influential factors in connection with financial affairs in Southern 
Illinois, and his advancement represents the concrete results of his own 
ability and well directed efforts. He is one of the prominent business 
men and liberal and progressive citizens of East St. Louis, where he 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 573 

has maintained his home since 1907, and is a native of Illinois, with 
whose annals the family name has been long and worthily linked. 

Robert E. Gillespie was born in Johnson county, Illinois, on the 
21st of January, 1878, and is a son of James B. and Mary (Enloe) 
Gillespie. To the public schools of his native county Robert E. Gil- 
lespie is indebted for his early educational discipline, which included 
a course in the high school at Vienna, the county seat. This training 
was effectively supplemented by his attendance in Drury College, at 
Springfield, Missouri, and at the age of nineteen years he was ap- 
pointed deputy circuit court clerk of his native county, a position of 
which he continued the incumbent for three years. Thereafter he 
served one year as assistant cashier of the First National Bank of 
Cobden, Union county, and at the expiration of the period noted he was 
advanced to the position of cashier of the institution. He retained this 
office until 1907, when he removed to East St. Louis and effected the or- 
ganization of the City National Bank, of which he became cashier. In 
the following year this institution was merged into the Illinois State 
Trust Company, of which Mr. Gillespie was elected vice-president. He 
became a potent factor in defining the policies and directing the manage- 
ment of this substantial and popular institution, and appreciation of his 
ability and sterling character was emphatically shown by his election 
to the office of president of the corporation in the spring of 1911. He 
proves a most discriminating and progressive chief executive and to 
him must be attributed much of the success which has attended the 
operations of the staunch banking and trust company of whose adminis- 
trative corps he is the head. 

Liberal and public-spirited in his civic attitude, Mr. Gillespie shows 
a vital and helpful interest in all that concerns the welfare of his home 
city, and in politics he pays staunch allegiance to the Republican party. 
In the Masonic fraternity he has attained to the thirty-second degree 
of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and is also identified with the 
Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is past 
master of his lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and is also a mem- 
ber of the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

In the year 1901 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gillespie to 
Miss Ida Spann, of Vienna, Johnson county, where her father, William 
A. Spann, is a representative lawyer and citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Gil- 
lespie have one child, Martha, and Mrs. Gillespie is a popular figure in 
connection with the representative social activities of her home city. 

PROFESSOR GEORGE HAZEN FRENCH. A man is never doing better 
service to humanity than when he is deyoting himself to raising the 
standards of public health, arousing attention to those things which 
menace it, and through scientific knowledge pointing the way to combat 
disease. One of Illinois' most eminent men, Professor George Hazen 
French, of Carbondale, has been identified with many hard-working 
bodies, men whose efforts have helped towards better things, and in the 
scientific world his name is widely and favorably known. He is a de- 
scendant of the first family of this name to come to America, locating in 
New England about 1620, and was born March 19, 1841, in Onondaga 
county, New York, a son of Hazen Miles and Caroline (White) French, 
farming people of the Empire state. 

George Hazen French attended the public schools of his native vicin- 
ity and the normal school at Cortland, after leaving which he became a 
country school teacher and followed that profession in New York. He 
then came West to Belvidere, Illinois, where he taught in the public 
schools, spent one year in Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, and then went to 



574 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Roscoe, Illinois, where he became principal of schools. About 1868 he 
become connected with the Illinois Agricultural College, and from 1877 
until 1878 served as assistant state entomologist, since which time he has 
acted in the same capacity three terms. In July, 1878, Professor French 
came to the Southern Illinois Normal University, where until 1911 he 
was doctor of natural sciences and curator, and in the year mentioned 
he became curator of the museum, landscape gardening and physiology. 
After years of experiment, study and research, in 1900 Professor French 
gave to the world the result of his years of labor, a treatment for 
epilepsy, and since that time he discovered a bacteria* remedy which kills 
the germ that causes Bright 's disease, and from neither of these has he 
ever taken any financial remuneration, feeling sufficiently rewarded by 
the gratitude and appreciation of those to whom his discoveries have 
been such a boon. His whole life has been spent in bettering conditions 
in Southern Illinois, and his scholarly attainments and scientific emi- 
nence have made him respected by all who know him, while his courteous 
and genial manner have won him hosts of friends among his co-workers 
and pupils. 

Professor French is a fellow of the American Association for the 
Advance of Science, the St. Louis Academy of Science, the Entomolog- 
ical Society of France, the Natural History Society of Lubec, Germany, 
the Entomological Society of New York, the American Entomolog- 
ical Society and the Philadelphia Academy of Science, and also holds 
honorary membership in the Southern Illinois Medical Association. He 
is the author of several scientific books, and has written numerous ar- 
ticles which have been widely copied and referred to, appearing in the 
leading scientific journals. Fraternally he belongs to Irvington Lodge 
of Masons, of which he is a charter member. 

On September 10, 1872, Professor French was married to Miss 
Harriet E. Bingham, who was born in Bureau county, Illinois, daughter 
of Solon P. and Harriet (Foster) Bingham. Professor and Mrs. French 
are members of the First Baptist church, in which he acts' as senior 
deacon. 

JOHN M. CHAMBERLIN, JR. Identified with a line of enterprise 
which has most important bearing in furthering the civic and material 
progress and upbuilding of any community, Mr. Chamberlin holds 
prestige as one of the leading and influential representatives of the 
real-estate, insurance and loan business in East St. Louis and is one 
of the well known, progressive and highly esteemed citizens of his 
native county. He has served in both branches of the state legislature 
and has been accorded other distinctive marks of popular confidence 
and esteem. Broad-minded, liberal and public-spirited in his civic at- 
titude, he shows a vital interest in all that touches the welfare of his 
home city, county and state, and as one of the representative citizens 
and business men of Southern Illinois he is properly accorded con* 
sideration in this publication. 

Hon. John M. Chamberlin, Jr., was born at Lebanon, St. Clair 
county. Illinois, on the 19th of August, 1872, and is a son of John M. 
and Margaret E. (Royce) Chamberlin. After duly availing himself of 
the advantages of the public schools of his native county he entered 
McKendree College, in which excellent institution he was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1890. Having learned the art of telegraphy 
he devoted his attention to the same for a period of five years, at the 
expiration of which he founded the Lebanon Leader, a weekly news- 
paper, in his native town. He continued as editor and publisher of 
the Leader for five years and made the same a model paper of its class. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 575 

A stalwart and effective advocate of the principles and policies 
for which the Republican party stands sponsor, Mr. Chamberlin has 
been a zealous worker in behalf of its cause. In 1900 he was elected 
to represent his native county in the lower house of the Illinois legis- 
lature, and he proved a discriminating and valued member of that 
body in the forty-second general assembly. In the autumn of 1910 
he was elected to represent the forty-ninth district in the state senate, 
and in the same he has made an admirable record for earnest, loyal 
and progressive service, the while he has been assigned to various 
committees of representative order. Senator Chamberlin is a man of 
genial and democratic bearing and has a host of staunch friends in 
the county which has ever represented his home. He controls a large 
and important business in the handling of city and country realty, the 
extendiftg of financial loans upon approved real-estate security and as 
representative of leading fire and life insurance companies. He is 
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. 

On the 26th of November, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of 
Senator Chamberlin to Miss Lulu M. Farthing, of Odin, Marion county, 
Illinois. She is a representative of one of the well known and honored 
families of Southern Illinois and is a daughter of William D. Farthing, 
a prominent and influential citizen of Marion county. Three children 
have been born to them, John M., Jr., William F. and Mildred. 

HENRY C. ADDERLY, M. D. The world instinctively pays deference to 
the man whose success has been worthily achieved and whose prominence 
is not the less the result of an irreproachable life than of natural talents 
and acquired ability in the field of his chosen labor. Dr. Adderly occu- 
pies a position of distinction as a representative of the medical profes- 
sion at Chester, Illinois, and the best evidence of his capability in the line 
of his chosen work is the large patronage which is accorded him. It is 
a well known fact that a great percentage of those who enter business 
life meet with failure or only a limited measure of success. This is usu- 
ally due to one or more of several causes superficial preparation, lack 
of close application or an unwise choice in selecting a vocation for which 
one is not fitted. The reverse of all this has entered into the success 
which Dr. Adderly has gained. His equipment for the profession was 
unusually good and he has continually extended the scope of his labors 
through the added efficiency that comes from keeping in touch with the 
marked advancement that has been made by the members of the medical 
fraternity in the last half century. 

A native of Missouri, Dr. Adderly was born at Hannibal, that state, 
on the 24th of June, 1854, and he is a son of Rev. Joseph and Hannah 
(Peters) Adderly, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born 
at Waterford, Ireland, in 1816, and he accompanied his parents to the 
United States when but seventeen years of age. He grew to maturity 
in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where his father, William Ad- 
derly, was long engaged as a shoe merchant. Rev. Joseph Adderly had 
two other brothers who entered the ministry of the Episcopal church, 
namely John, who passed away at Pittsburg ; and William, whose dem- 
ise occurred at Des Moines, Iowa. Rev. Joseph Adderly was educated 
at Pittsburg and he entered the Episcopal ministry as a young man. 
Prior to the inception of the Civil war he had charge of a church at 
Hannibal, Missouri, but before the actual outbreak of the rebellion he 
returned to Pittsburg, whence he later removed to Newcastle, Pennsyl-- 
vania. He came to Chester, Illinois, in 1876, and was pastor of the 
Episcopal church here at the time of his death, in 1877. 'He married 



576 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Miss Hannah. Peters, who was born and reared in England and who 
came with her parents to America. Mrs. Adderly was summoned to 
the life eternal at Chester, Illinois, in 1892, and she is survived by four 
children, as follows, Agnes E. is the wife of Samuel Barney, of Elk- 
hart, Indiana ; Elizabeth is the wife of George "Whaley, of East Orange, 
New Jersey ; Dr. Henry C. is the immediate subject of this review ; and 
Alice M. is a professional nurse in New York city. 

Owing largely to the nature of his father's work, Dr. Adderly grew 
up and received his early educational training at different points be- 
tween Pittsburg and the Mississippi river. As a young man he was 
engaged in teaching in country schools for a brief period and in 1872 
he was matriculated as a student in the St. Louis Medical College, in 
which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class 
of 1875, at the early age of twenty-one years. After leaving college he 
located at Kemper, Illinois, where he remained for a period of two years, 
at the expiration of which he established his professional headquarters 
at Chester, where he has since maintained his home. Some years sub- 
sequent to graduation Dr. Adderly returned to his alma mater for post- 
graduate work, and with the passage of time he has had a number of 
important articles published in various prominent medical journals. In 
connection with his life work he is a valued and appreciative member 
of the Randolph County Medical Society, the Illinois State Medical 
Society and the American Medical Association. During his thirty-five 
years ' connection with the medical profession Dr.' Adderly has gained 
expert knowledge in the various branches of his life work and he is 
recognized as one of the best physicians and surgeons in Randolph 
county. He has been surgeon for the Southern Illinois penitentiary 
for four years, for eight years was secretary of the United States pen- 
sion board at Chester and has also served as county physician. At the 
present time, in 1911, he is serving his fifth term as mayor of Chester 
and his administrations have witnessed the introduction of many im- 
provements for the good of this place, the same including granitoid 
walks, the erection of a city water works and the installation of the 
fire department. But few business enterprises have attracted Dr. Ad- 
derly 's interest, although he joined the promoters of the Chester Knit- 
ting-mill Company about 1904 and took stock in that concern. 

On the 24th of October, 1878, Dr. Adderly was united in marriage 
to Miss Delia Wassell, a daughter of Charles Wassell, a representative 
of one of the old families of Randolph county. Dr. and Mrs. Adderly 
have four children, Joseph C. married Miss Gertrude Morris and they 
reside at St. Louis, Missouri ; Lola D. is the widow of Charles D. Luke 
and she maintains her home at Nashville, Illinois; "William H. is in 
the employ of the Iron Mountain Railway Company at Chester; and 
Miss Bessie remains at the parental home. 

Dr. Adderly is a stalwart Republican in his political proclivities and 
he has ever manifested a keen interest in all matters affecting the wel- 
fare of that organization. He has been a delegate to numerous state 
conventions and represented his district in the Philadelphia National 
Convention, which nominated William McKinley for a second term. 
In fraternal circles- the Doctor is prominent as an Odd Fellow, an Elk 
and a Knight of Honor. While he is not actively identified with church 
work he is in strong sympathy with the aims of all religious bodies and 
contributes liberally to various charitable movements. His citizenship 
has ever been characterized by loyalty" and public spirit of the most 
insistent order and as a man he is affable and sympathetic. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 577 

WILLIAM BRYDEN. A self-made man, who has forged ahead through 
persistency and initiative, is William Bryden, superintendent of the 
Wabash, Chester & Western Railway Company, with headquarters and 
residence at Chester, Illinois. Mr. Bryden was born at Dunmore, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 26th of March, 1866, and he is a son of William Bry- 
den, a practical coal miner during much of his active career. William 
Bryden, Sr., was born in Scotland, whence he immigrated to America 
as a youth. After his arrival in this country he located in Pennsyl- 
vania, where he was employed in the coke and coal fields for a number 
of years and where he was eventually made superintendent for the 
Pennsylvania Coal Company at Dunmore. He came to Illinois in the 
seventies and was superintendent of the Carbondale Coal & Coke Com- 
pany at the time of his demise, in 1878, aged fifty-one years. He mar- 
ried Margaret Brown, who passed away in Carbondale in 1897, and the 
issue of their union were: Miss Agnes Bryden, who was for many 
years cashier of the Carbondale Trust & Savings Bank at Carbondale 
prior to her death in 1909; Mrs. J. E. Craine, of Murphysboro, Illinois; 
Mrs. J. N. Fitch, of Cobden, Illinois, Miss Helen Bryden, a member of 
the faculty of the Southern Illinois Normal University of Carbondale ; 
and William Bryden, Jr., the immediate subject of this review. 

William Bryden was but a child at the time of his parents ' removal 
from the old Keystone state of the Union to Carbondale, Illinois, where 
he received his preliminary educational training and where he grew 
to maturity. As a youth he became interested in railroad work and 
began his career by learning telegraphy at Murphysboro, Illinois. 
His first position as an independent operator was with the St. Louis 
Coal Railroad and his next work was in Chester, from which place he 
went to Cutler as agent and operator on 'the Wabash, Chester & West- 
ville, New Orleans & Texas Railway at New Orleans and at other 
points and when he left that company he spent a few months with the 
Mobile & Ohio and the Illinois Central at Cairo, Illinois. From June 
1, 1885, to May 15, 1886, he was agent at Cutler, Illinois, for the Wa- 
bash, Chester & Western Road; and from June 1 1887 to 1890 he was 
agent at Menard Illinois, and on the latter date he came to Chester as 
assistant agent, acting in that capacity until September, 1893, when he 
was made agent. Subsequently he was promoted to the position of 
trainmaster, and he continued both as agent and trainmaster until 
April 15, 1911, when he succeeded Henry Mason as superintendent of 
the road. 

The Wabash, Chester & Western Railway was built in 1872 and ex- 
tends from Chester to Mount Vernon, Illinois, a distance of 65 miles. 
It passes through the Southern Illinois coal fields and its tonnage con- 
sists chiefly of the output of the mines and of merchandise carried in 
and out along the route. Very little attention is given to passenger 
traffic. Although a dirt road bed is maintained, it is kept in splendid 
condition by the management and its equipment is ample for the needs 
of the company. Superintendent Bryden has grown up with the road 
and he is familiar with every phase of its physical condition, this knowl- 
edge making him particularly well fitted for the important position he 
occupies. Mr. Bryden 's life has been studiously devoted to the service 
of his company. Politics and fraternities have not attracted him and 
his progress is entirely due to his own well directed endeavors. He 
exercises his franchise in favor of the Republican party. 

At Chester, Illinois, on the 12th of March, 1889, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Bryden to Miss Emma Gausmann, who is a daughter 
of Frank Gausmann. a German by birth and a blacksmith by occupa- 
tion. Mr. and Mrs. Bryden have two children, Margaret and Frank W. 



578 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

JACOB P. GEBLACH. The city of Evansville, Illinois, recognizes in 
Jacob P. Gerlach one of her most worthy citizens, one who 'has the 
welfare of the community at heart, always willing to serve when re- 
quired and who will spare neither time nor labor in any cause or move- 
ment brought for the betterment of the city and county with which he 
has been identified for so many years. As postmaster of Evansville for 
a number of years, and as the editor and publisher of The Evansville 
Enterprise for a longer period, he has been active and influential in 
all affairs pertaining to the advancement and general good of the city, 
and in addition to holding many minor offices in connection with civic 
affairs, has served his city two terms in the capacity of mayor. 

Born in Monroe county, Illinois, January 28, 1867, Jacob P. Gerlach 
is the son of Christian Gerlach, a German farmer. Christian Gerlach 
early in life married Barbara Baum, and they were the parents of Chris- 
tian, of Los Angeles, Jacob P. and John H., of Evansville. Mr. Gerlach 
died in the 'sixties, at their home near Renault, Monroe county, Illinois. 
In later years Mrs. Gerlach terminated her widowhood by marrying. 
Casper Nurnberger, by whom she became the mother of Louis, who 
died in youth ; Mrs. L. J. Stahlman, of Baldwin, Illinois; Mrs. C. Studle, 
of Evansville ; George, of Welga, Randolph county, Illinois ; Mrs. Louis 
Nehert, of Nashville, Kansas ; Rose, of Evansville, and Fred, also a resi- 
dent of Nashville, Kansas. Mrs. Nurnberger died in 1888. 

The early life of Jacob Gerlach was beset by many of the difficulties 
brought to bear by the death of a parent in childhood, and he attained 
his education at the cost of a rather severe struggle on his part. De- 
termined, however, to accomplish more than the ordinary education of 
the average country boy, he persevered in his studies, and in his irregu- 
lar attendance at the Carbondale Normal acquired a liberal knowledge 
of the common branches. He was unable to continue in school for any 
length of time at a stretch, but by teaching in the district schools from 
time to time it became possible for him to attend the Southern Illinois 
Normal University, after which he engaged in teaching regularly. Had 
it not been for the vacancy in the ownership and editorship of the Evans- 
ville Enterprise, it is probable that Mr. Gerlach would have continued 
indefinitely with his pedagogic work, but in the circumstances there 
seemed no one but he to assume those responsibilities, and he undertook 
the editorship of the Enterprise, which later placed him in the way of 
the ownership of a business which has served him well in the years of 
his control. In the fall of 1895, while he was engaged in teaching the 
Pautler school near Evansville, he performed the work of teacher and 
editor both, and shortly thereafter he assumed complete charge of the 
Enterprise, which, has been his principal business occupation since that 
time. The Enterprise is a Republican paper, although established as a 
Democratic paper by its founder, J. M. Shaw, in February, 1895, but 
the paper met with repeated difficulties and the proprietorship was 
changed of necessity. Since it fell into the hands of Mr. Gerlach the 
Enterprise has been conducted rather as a mere medium for the convey- 
ing of local and other news rather than as a mouthpiece for any particu- 
lar brand of politics. While its editor is a Republican, the patrons and 
friends of the paper are of various shades of political belief, and its edi- 
torial column is never known to reflect arbitrary sentiment. It rather 
partakes of the characteristics of any well regulated country newspaper, 
non-partisan in sympathies and calculated to be well received in the 
home. As such it is an unqualified success. 

The civic life of Mr. Gerlach. as briefly noted above, has been some- 
thing above that of the ordinary citizen. On January 11, 1898, he was 
appointed postmaster to succeed H. G. Meyerott, and since that time has 



".'sir*' 

OF THE 
8BVERSITY OF ILUSOH 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 579 

been reappointed to the office twice. He has served his town as its 
treasurer for eight years, and three years in the capacity of clerk. Later 
he was chosen mayor of Evansville, serving with praiseworthy wisdom, 
following which he was elected one of the trustees of. the town, and then 
chosen mayor again in April, 1911. All of which is clearly indicative of 
his standing and ability. Politically Mr. Gerlach is of the Republican 
faith, as before mentioned, and he is recognized as one of the leaders af 
the party in his section by reason of his labors in its behalf and his ser- 
vices as its delegate to various conventions. In his fraternal affiliations 
he has served the Odd Fellows lodge of Evansville for several years as 
its secretary, and he has been clerk of the Modern Woodmen since the 
organization of the local camp, No. 4510, in 1897. In addition to his 
other business interests he is secretary of the Evansville Building and 
Loan Association, a stockholder in the Evansville Telephone Company, 
and president of the Evansville school board. 

On May 26, 1891, Mr. Gerlach was married to Miss Johanna Wick- 
lein. She died February 21, 1892. Mr. Gerlach remarried September 
15, 1896, when he took for his wife Miss Rachel Schroeder, a daughter 
of John Schroeder. The issue of their marriage are Arthur, Ella, Lor- 
etta, Harold and Raymond. 

JOHN T. GALBRAITH. Connected actively with newspaper work for 
a number of years, and owner and editor of the Carbondale daily and 
weekly Free Press during the last eight years, John T. Galbraith has 
been zealous and influential in molding public sentiment in Jackson 
county and directing the thought and action of its people into proper 
channels for the wholesome development and enduring good of the 
region in which he lives and operates. He is wide-awake to the needs 
of the county, and fearless and able in calling attention to them. 

Mr. Galbraith is a native of Illinois, and was born in Wayne county 
on December 11, 1866. His parents were William M. and Elizabeth 
(Casey) Galbraith, both born in Jefferson county, Illinois. The father 
was a merchant until the beginning of the Civil war, and during the 
remainder of his life, a farmer, except while that memorable conflict 
was in progress, and then he was at the front giving a practical and 
heroic proof of his patriotism and devotion to the Union. 

He enlisted at the very beginning of the combat and served to its 
close, serving most of the time as regimental quartermaster of the 
Forty-eighth Illinois Infantry. He stuck to his regiment till "the 
war drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furled," par- 
ticipated in the Grand Review of the whole Federal army in Wash- 
ington, and was then mustered out of the service and returned to his 
Wayne county home. In 1886 he moved his family to Carbondale, 
and in that town he died in 1890. His widow survived him fourteen 
years and passed away in Carbondale in 1904. 

Their son John was educated in the public schools and at the 
Southern Illinois State Normal School. Almost immediately after 
leaving that institution he entered the field of journalism with a de- 
termination to make that his life work. His start was necessarily a 
modest one, his range of work was narrow and his compensation was 
small. But he expected these limitations at the beginning, and was 
prepared to make the most of them. He performed every duty as- 
signed him with his utmost ability and faithfulness, and kept his eye 
over on the brighter light and higher range above him, to which he 
meant to work his way, and his progress was steady and rapid. 

Mr. Galbraith moved to Carbondale with his parents when he was 
but seventeen, and he had therefore a considerable apprenticeship in 



580 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

becoming acquainted with the people and familiarizing himself with 
their industries, customs, habits of thought and aspirations before he 
began his newspaper work. When he did begin it he was able to 
speak the language of their true inwardness and make it potential in 
one common current of persuasiveness for whatever was likely to 
promote their general welfare and advance the development and im- 
provement of the region in which they lived. 

They soon recognized his value and gave his efforts in their behalf 
their ardent support. He became influential among them and was 
acknowledged to be the man for any public duty requiring superior 
intelligence and executive ability. When the census of 1910 was to be 
taken he was appointed census director for his district, and it is high 
praise but only a just tribute to merit to say that he performed the 
duties with satisfaction to both the people of the district and the author- 
ities at Washington. For a number of years he has shown his interest 
in the welfare of his section of the state by membership in the state 
militia, and he is now a lieutenant-colonel on the general staff detail 
in the ordnance department. 

In political allegiance Mr. Galbraith is a pronounced and firmly 
loyal Republican, and one of the wheel-horses in his party's organiza- 
tion. He is now a member of the executive committee of the county 
central committee of the party for Jackson county, and is accorded a 
high rank as an energetic, effective and skillful worker in organizing 
the party forces and directing their work in the county. His religious 
connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is a member 
of the official board of the congregation to which he belongs. 

Mr. Galbraith was married on September 15, 1903, to Miss Carrie 
Dillinger, a daughter of John Dillinger, a prosperous farmer of this 
county with residence in Carbondale. Within the same year Mr. Gal- 
braith bought the Free Press, of which he has ever since been the 
owner, editor and publisher. He has fine capacity and well trained 
faculties for journalistic work, and has applied them with all his force 
to the wise management and steady improvement of his paper. It is 
issued in daily and weekly editions, and conducted with a view to giv- 
ing full, free and exact expression to the wishes of the people and 
promoting their best interests. While in a sense a party organ, the 
paper is essentially a family newspaper, and contributes to the benefit 
and enjoyment of every member of the household and all classes of 
readers. It is very enterprising in gathering and publishing the news, 
and its editorial columns sparkle with light and safe guidance of all 
public questions, local and general. 

Fraternally Mr. Galbraith is a Knight of Pythias and a member of 
the Order of Odd Fellows. He also takes an interest in the cause of 
public education, the general enlightenment of the people, the moral 
improvement of the .community and the graceful and culticating agen- 
cies of social life. No citizen of Jackson county is more highly es- 
teemed, and none is more deserving of the general regard and good 
will of all the inhabitants of his locality. 

GEORGE D. RICH, one of the most prominent farmers and orchardists 
of Union county, is a man who has turned the mind of the scientist and 
investigator to the business of farming. Equipped with the desire to 
know, he has tried numberless hitherto untried fruits and vegetables in 
the soil of his native county, and each time has obtained remarkable 
success, proving not only his own good judgment, but the extreme fer- 
tility of the soil and the adaptability of the climate to a great variety 
of crops. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 581 

During the childhood and boyhood of Mr. Rich he had many oppor- 
tunities to obtain unconsciously the knowledge which in later life made 
him a successful farmer, for, he was born, on the 17th of September, 
1856, on the farm where he spent his youth. His father is John M. Rich 
and his mother is Anna (Uffeiidill) Rich. The mother was born in Eng- 
land in 1828, coming to this country with her father, Michael Uffendill, 
when quite a small child. They first settled at Cairo, Illinois, but later 
went to Eight Mile Prairie, east of Carbondale, where they lived for 
some years. Later they settled in Jonesboro, and here the father died. 

John M. Rich is a native of Alabama, where he was born in 1827, the 
son of Thomas Rich. The latter was one of General Andrew Jackson's 
most valued soldiers, having fought under him in the Seminole Indian 
war. Later, drawn by his desire to serve his country, and by his de- 
votion to his old commander, he returned to fight under "Old Hickory" 
at the battle of New Orleans and during the war of 1812. In 1832 he 
moved from Alabama to Union county, becoming one of its first settlers. 
He had three sons, the youngest of whom is the father of the subject 
of this sketch, and three daughters, all of whom married. The youngest 
of the sons, John M., has become a very successful farmer, gradually 
buying up land until he now owns four hundred acres in different sec- 
tions. He is the father of eight children, seven of whom are living. 

George D. Rich received his education in the Cobden schools, and 
then turned his attention to farming, receiving wise advice and valuable 
training at the hands of his father, with whom he lived until twenty- 
four years of age, when he married Harriet, the daughter of Martin 
Rendleman, on April 28, 1881. Like himself, his wife is a member of 
one of the old pioneer families of the section. After his marriage the 
young farmer started out for himself on a farm which had been deeded 
to him by his father. Assisted by his wife, he saved enough to increase 
the size of his farm until he had fifty-five acres. Here he lived until 
1890, when he sold the place and bought one hundred and seven acres 
of fine land one and a half miles north of Cobden. In 1907 he 
added to his broad fields by buying the Amos Pool place of eighty acres 
across the railroad from his home farm. 

The variety of his crops is almost endless. He has sixteen acres of 
apple trees, most of which are young; twelve acres of asparagus, from 
which he shipped fifteen hundred cases in 1911, in spite of the short- 
ness of the season ; two and a quarter acres of rhubarb, producing an 
excellent crop of three hundred and fifty bushels during this year; and 
five acres of sweet potatoes, but the crop in 1911 was light, aggre- 
gating only one hundred barrels. In 1911 Mr. Rich leased thirty 
acres of bottom land and raised a thousand bushels of fine corn. In 
addition to these crops he raises many varieties of small fruits and 
vegetables, such as blackberries, raspberries, early grapes, tomatoes, 
muskmelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers, peas, beans, Irish potatoes, in fact 
practically any temperate zone fruit or vegetable which he may select. 
One of the most attractive sights on the big farm are the vineyards, 
when the vines are loaded with the purple fruit. It is safe to estimate 
that Mr. Rich has averaged a clear profit of a thousand dollars annually 
from his farming operations in the past thirty years. Mr. Rich is not 
purely a farmer, but is interested in other lines of business owning, 
in partnership with his brother, a sweet potato storehouse in Cobden, 
which is valued at five thousand dollars. 

He believes firmly in the spirit of brotherhood as found in the fra- 
ternal orders and is a member of the local chapter of the Knights of 
Pythias. He is a regular attendant and firm supporter of the Presby- 



582 HISTORY OF SOUTHEEN ILLINOIS 

terian church, and in politics is a strong Democrat, who has been many 
times an active party worker. 

Mr. Rich has had five children, only two of whom are living, namely, 
Claude W. and George R. Having lived in Union county all of his life, 
Mr. Rich has had innumerable opportunities to prove to his friends and 
acquaintances his strength of character, business ability and genuine 
interest in those matters pertaining to the general welfare of the com- 
munity. He is therefore a valued citizen, honored by all who know 
him, a man whom Union county is proud to claim as her own. 

JOSEPH L. MEADS. The old axiom which tells us that kind words 
and gentle deeds live forever is one which not only inspires the mind 
with its sublimity, but its truth is so often brought home to us, and 
so forcibly, that it affords a solace that we do not always feel. A noble 
life invariably begets its full measure of love and veneration, and even 
though myriads of kindnesses done and self-sacrificing efforts are lost to 
earth, there is always the satisfied sense in the mind of the donor of a 
duty well done. All men who have been so graciously endowed with 
that most precious of all human attributes, love for their fellow men, 
have been amply repaid for their self-obligation, generosity and. charity, 
and this truism has been exemplified in the life of Joseph L. Meads, 
than whom there is no better-known or more beloved evangelistic 
worker in the United States. Mr. Meads, who is now a resident of 
Benton, Illinois, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, February 25, 1868, 
and is a son of George W. and Harriet (Hatfield) Meads. 

The Meads family originated in England, where the name was 
spelled Meadows. Little is known of the family other than that George 
W. Meads was born in Pennsylvania, moved in his youth to St. Louis, 
Missouri, and eventually settled in Jackson county, Illinois, where he 
followed carpentry until his death, and that he was a soldier during the 
Mexican war. The Hatfield family was founded in America by Mr. 
Meads' great-grandfather, who came from Ireland as a young man and 
settled in Illinois, where Mr. Meads' grandfather, Andrew J. Hatfield, 
was born. He moved to Jackson county in young manhood, engaged 
in farming and stockraising and became a well known citizen. He died 
in 1870. 

Joseph L. Meads received a common school education and began 
preaching when he was twenty-one years of age. He soon became 
prominent as an organizer of churches, establishing the congregations 
at Murphysboro, Marion, Chester, Creal Springs, Johnsonville, Illinois, 
and Pierceton, Indiana, and others of the Free Baptist denomination. 
He was pastor for a time at Murphysboro and Chester, but gave up 
his charges to engage in work as a Union Evangelist, and he has since 
become one of the best known and most successful evangelistic workers 
in the country, to every part of which he has traveled. He has just 
closed a very successful meeting in Iowa. Possessed of the gift of 
oratory, with an excellent voice and a pleasant appearance, Mr. Meads 
has been an able and successful lecturer. He resides in a beautiful home 
in Benton, where he stands in the highest esteem of his fellow citizens. 
In 1902 he published a book, "Ethen's Overcomings, " which received 
very favorable notices from the press and critics. 

On May 10, 1893, Mr. Meads was united in marriage with Mary 
Estella Waldo, daughter of Richard and Rebecca (Spence) Waldo. 
Richard Waldo, who was a relative of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was born 
in Virginia, and as a young man came to Illinois. He enlisted in the 
Civil war as a member of the Union army, and on its close located in 
business in Marion county, where his death occurred. Rebecca Spence, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 583 

his wife, was a daughter of Daniel Spence, a noted Southern Illinois 
abolitionist, who was also a farmer and well known local Methodist 
Episcopal preacher. Mr. and Mrs. Meads have had six children : Mary 
Eileen, who is in her third year in high school; Joseph L., Richard, 
Nina, and Giles, all of whom are attending school; and Virginia, the 
baby. The family is connected with the Free Will Baptist church. 
Mr. Meads has identified himself with Oddfellowship, and in his poli- 
tical views has supported the principles of the Prohibition party in the 
great work it has accomplished in Southern Illinois during the 
last few years. Mr. Meads' busy and fruitful life has made its impress 
upon the country, and his gentle though manly disposition has made 
him hosts of friends in every section that he has visited. 

JOHN W. MOORE. Every line of business is being successfully prose- 
cuted in the flourishing city of Anna, Illinois, for it is of sufficient im- 
portance to command a large trade from the surrounding country, and 
the people who make it their market demand the best of goods and 
service. One of the enterprising and progressive business men of this 
city is John W. Moore, who has been identified with various lines of 
endeavor, and is now dealing in wholesale and retail groceries and 
seeds, with a trade that extends over several states. Mr. Moore is a 
native of the Prairie State, having been born in Massac county in 1872, 
and is a son of Francis M. and Emma B. (Phillips) Moore. 

Francis M. Moore was born in the state of Indiana in 1838, from 
whence he emigrated as a young man to Massac county, there carrying 
on the trade of blacksmith until his death in 1876. His widow, who 
was born in Tennessee in 1848, brought her family to Anna in 1880, 
and here the youth grew to manhood, securing a somewhat limited 
education in the public schools, as he was compelled to give up his 
studies early in order to contribute to his own' support. He secured 
employment in the mercantile establishment of J. C. DeWitt, with 
whom he resided while working, and continued in that gentleman's 
employ until 1894, at which time he entered the business field 
on his own account on South Railway Street. After three years 
he sold his interests to Mrs. A. I. Jean, and began to work in 
the blacksmith and farm implement business of W. C. Mangold, with 
whom he continued for two years, at which time the firm of Mangold- 
Moore Implement, Hardware & Harness Company was established. 
Mr. Moore was vice-president of this business, which handled imple- 
ments, hardware and harness, and was capitalized at $10,000, but after 
continuing in that line for two years Mr. Moore sold out and bought 
his present business from Mr. DeWitt. He carries wholesale and retail 
groceries and seeds, but the greater part of his attention has been given 
to the wholesale seed trade, which, during the eight years that he has 
been in charge of the business, has increased from $8,000 to $40,000 
sales' yearly. His goods are shipped all over Illinois and into several 
adjoining states, and the manner in which he has carried on his deal- 
ings lias gained him customers that have done business with him year . 
after year. Mr. Moore is possessed of superior business ability, and the 
rapid growth of the Moore Seed Company may be attributed to the 
progressive ideas and methods which he has introduced. His belief 
in the future of Anna has been made manifest by his association with 
movements for promoting the interests of the city, as well as by his 
investment in a number of pieces of valuable real estate. 

Mr. Moore was married to Miss Oma. Peeler, who was born in John- 
son county, in 1874, daughter of J. C. and Nancy (Evers) Peeler, and 
three children have been born to this union : Ernestine, who is five 



584 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

years old; and John C. and Jean C., twins, who are two years of age. 
Mr. and Mrs. Moore are members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and much interested in its work, Mr. Moore at present acting as a mem- 
ber of the board of trustees. He belongs to Blue Lodge No. 520 and 
Royal Arch Chapter No. 45, of Masonry, and to the Odd Fellows, all 
of Anna. In political matters he is a Republican, but he has found 
his business duties too engrossing to allow him to enter the political 
field as an active participant. 

JOHN A. HALE, M. D. As practicing physician of Alto Pass and 
founder and editor of its principal newspaper the Enterprise, Dr. 
John A. Hale is one of the busiest and most prominent men in that 
thriving little city. A resident of Alto Pass since 1896, he has in the 
intervening years built up a wide general practice and become well and 
favorably known among those people who go to make up his clientele, 
and his further labors as editor of the Weekly Enterprise have brought 
him a prominence in Union county that renders him a leading figure 
in his community. 

Born December 16, 1866, in Anna, Illinois, John A. Hale is the son 
of Dr. J. I. Hale, a native of Union county, who is proprietor of the 
Hale Sanatorium of Anna, details of his life and work being given 
mention elsewhere in this history of Southern Illinois. 

John A. Hale was educated in the Anna schools, and following 
his public school years he attended and was graduated from the Union 
Academy of Anna in 1886. Later he was graduated from the Beau- 
mont Hospital Medical College, now comprising the medical depart- 
ment of St. Louis University, in March, 1888. He practiced medicine 
for six months at Dongola, then in December of that year he located in 
Olmstead, where he remained for a period of six years in the active 
practice of his profession. From June, 1894, to 1896 he was occupied 
as assistant to the Professor of Obstetrics in Beaumont Hospital Med- 
ical College in St. Louis, and in June of 1896 he located in Alto Pass, 
where he has built up an excellent practice. Previous to studying 
medicine, Dr. Hale had served some little time as a newspaper reporter, 
and from time to time throughout his college career he supplemented his 
income by his earnings in that manner, on a number of occasions 
acting as court reporter. These various experiences were of assistance 
to him when he decided in 1904 to establish a newspaper in Alto Pass. 
He went about the work, and in that year he succeeded in successfully 
launching the Enterprise, and it has been since its inception a well 
patronized and satisfactory newspaper. It is a six column eight page, 
newsy sheet, devoted to the best interests of Alto Pass and its people. 
The plant is thoroughly modern, having a power equipment of approved 
order, with modern presses and other appliances suited to the require- 
ments of such a plant. On the whole Dr. Hale is quite as successful in 
his newspaper venture as with his professional career. 

Dr. Hale is an inveterate student, and has mastered fully the French, 
German and Spanish languages, in addition to which he is widely read 
on all topics touching upon the interests of his professional and busi- 
ness life. He is a well known contributor to a number of the best 
medical journals, and is local surgeon for the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. 
Fraternally the Doctor is affiliated with the A. F. & A. M., Odd Fellows 
the Modern Woodmen of Alto Pass. He is also a charter member of 
the Illinois State Academy of Science, the Union County Medical So- 
ciety, The American Medical Association and the Illinois State Medical 
Association. 

In 1891 Dr. Hale was married to Jessie Lewis, of Olmstead, the 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 585 

daughter of Jesse Lewis, a native of Grayson county, Kentucky. They 
are members of the Congregational church of Alto Pass. 

FRANK HOPKINS. A man who has ever been useful in his com- 
munity, and an able assistant in promoting its material interests, Frank 
Hopkins, postamaster at Makanda, has been, a resident of the place for 
many years, and has well performed his part in sustaining the intellec- 
tual and moral status of this section of Jackson county. He was born 
April 13, 1851, near Bloomfield, Stoddard county, Missouri, and is of 
excellent New England stock. 

His father, James Carroll Hopkins, a native of Rhode Island, 
studied surveying when young, and later, as a civil engineer in the 
employ of the United States Government, laid out the Pan Handle sec- 
tion of Texas. He was given a grant of a league and labore of land, 
and as a man and a citizen became so prominent and popular that when 
Hopkins county, Texas, was organized it was named in his honor. His 
death, which occurred in 1858, was the result of a fall. He was a stanch 
Republican in politics, and a strong supporter of John C. Fremont. 
He was a devout member of the Methodist church, in which he often 
preached. When about forty-five years of age he married Lovina 
Sifford, a native of North Carolina, and of the four children born of 
their union two are now living, as follows: Frank, the special subject 
of this brief personal record; and Mrs; M. J. McCullum, of Bloomfield, 
Missouri. A short time after the death of her husband she was acci- 
dentally shot, and her youngest child, then an infant, was killed. 

Brought up in Missouri during his boyhood days, Frank Hopkins 
not only received an excellent training in the various branches of 
agriculture, but as a hunter became an expert in gunning and trap- 
ping. At the age of seventeen years he came to Illinois, locating in 
Williamson county, where he worked during the summer seasons as a 
farm hand, and for two winters attended the district schools. An in- 
dustrious and intelligent student, he acquired an excellent education, 
and subsequently taught school in both Jackson and Williamson coun- 
ties and in southeastern Missouri. When ready to settle permanently 
he accepted a position as clerk in the general store of Captain Bailey, 
who was postmaster, and in the summer seasons had charge of the post 
office, while during winter time he taught school, having been made 
postmaster on March 18, 1872. He subsequently completed the course 
of study at the State Normal School in Carbondale, after which he 
attended Valparaiso University, in Valparaiso, Indiana. He became 
well versed in law, and was admitted to the bar in Missouri, but his pro- 
fessional practice has since been confined to the justice courts. On 
May 30, 1889, Mr. Hopkins was appointed postmaster at Makanda, by 
President Harrison, and served four years, when, under President 
Cleveland's administration, he was relieved. In 1897 he was again 
appointed postmaster, and has served continuously since, being well 
qualified for the position, and popular with the patrons of the post 
office. 

Mr. Hopkins married, May 24, 1885, Melissa J. Johnson, and into 
the household thus established two children have been born, namely : 
David Llewellyn, who is a bridgeman for the Free Bridge at Saint 
Louis ; and John James, whose earthly life was of short duration, 
covering a period of twelve months and twelve days. Mrs. Hopkins is 
a capable and estimable woman, and is now serving as assistant post- 
mistress. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins are valued members of the Con- 
gregational church. 

Politically Mr. Hopkins is an ardent supporter of the principles 



586 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

promulgated by the Republican party, and has filled the various village 
and township offices" with .acceptance to all. Fraternally he belongs 
to Makanda Lodge, No. 434, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of 
Masons, of which he is worshipful past master. 

JOHN FRANK ROBERTS. A native son of Southern Illinois who has 
resided in the city of Cairo and been identified with its commercial 
interests since 1905, John Frank Roberts, vice-president of the Deni- 
son-Gholson Dry Goods Company, is known as one of the leading busi- 
ness men of his section. He came to this city from Jackson county, 
Illinois, where he spent the incipient years of his career, but his birth 
occurred in Williamson county, January 9, 1869. Mr. Roberts' 
parents moved into Jackson county during his childhood, and the en- 
vironment of the country home and the work of the farm was his while 
he passed his minority, and his education was started in the district 
schools and completed in Ewing College and 0. M. Powers' Business 
College, Chicago. 

James B. Roberts, the father of John Frank Roberts, was born in 
Tennessee, in 1842, and about 1844 came with his father, John A. 
Roberts, to Union county, Illinois, the latter being one of the founders 
of the community at Lick Creek, who died at that point. James B. 
Roberts was one of a family of thirteen children, of whom eleven grew 
to maturity, and he began life as a farmer with such preparation as the 
district school of the ante-bellum days afforded. For several years 
after his marriage he was a resident of Williamson county, where he 
was elected to public office and maintained himself honorably as a citi- 
zen and as a man. In political matters he was a Democrat, while his 
religious affiliations was with the Missionary Baptist church. He 
married Miss Caroline Rendleman, a daughter of John Rendle- 
man and a granddaughter of Jacob Rendleman, who founded the 
family in Illinois by settling near Jonesboro, where he passed 
away at the age of seventy-eight years. Inquiry into his activi- 
ties shows him to have "been an extensive farmer and tanner, and to 
have died possessed of a modest fortune. Jacob's father was Dr. John 
Rendleman, who came from Germany and settled on the Yadkin river, 
in Stokes county, North Carolina, in 1757. He was a prominent 
surgeon, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in the same 
class with Dr. Benjamin Rush, for whom Rush Medical College, Chi- 
cago, was named, and was a soldier of Washington's army, and one 
of those who crossed the Delaware on the stormy Christmas night to 
participate in the battle of Trenton. James B. Roberts died at Anna, 
Illinois, in 1899, and his widow followed him to the grave during the 
next year, at the age of fifty-one. Their children were Charles W., 
a farmer near Makanda, Illinois ; Edward, who is president and man- 
ager of a pharmaceutical business in St. Louis, Missouri ; Stella M., the 
wife of George G. Patterson, an agriculturist near Makanda ; and John 
Frank. , 

John Frank Roberts, who is the oldest of his parents' children, be- 
gan his life seriously as a merchant at Cobden, Illinois, spending six 
years there in the retail business as a general merchant, and then re- 
moved to Makanda, where he carried on a more pretentious business 
and where his success was apparent and acknowledged. Desiring a 
wider field .for his attainments, he seized the opportunity to associate 
himself with the large wholesale dry goods houses of Cairo, and dis- 
posed of his Makanda interests. Purchasing a large interest in the 
Denison-Gholson Dry Goods Company, he was elected vice-president 
thereof and is one of the men of the firm. Wherever he has resided he 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 587 

has responded to the needs and demands of his community with moral 
and material aid, and his present connection adds a new factor in the 
civic improvement of greater Cairo. 

On May 15, 1890, Mr. Roberts was married in Franklin county, 
Illinois, to Miss Effie Link, a daughter of Robert R. Link, one of the his- 
toric characters of Ewing College, and, in conjunction with Dr. Wash- 
burn, its founder. In 1869 Professor Link was graduated from Cum- 
berland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, lived near Nashville prior to 
his coming to Illinois, was actively identified with the Prohibition 
movement in this state, and was frequently a candidate of that party, 
being honored with the nomination for governor of the state just prior 
to his death. He married Elizabeth J. Webb, daughter of a Baptist 
minister of the state of Tennessee, Rev. Elijah Webb, originally from 
the Rendleman region of North Carolina. Robert R. Link passed away 
in 1893, at the age of sixty years, having been the father of: Will C., 
a resident of Benton, Illinois ; Alice L., the wife of John Richeson, of 
St. Louis; Effie, who married Mr. Roberts; and Nancy, the wife of 
Robert F. Hall, of Ewing, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have had two 
children ; Rosalind, who was born July 8, 1891 ; and Roberta, whose 
birth occurred May 17, 1894. 

ALBERT J. WILL. Of the many industries centered in and around 
Herrin that of the manufacture of soft drinks contributes in a small 
degree to the support of the army of labor and in a large degree to the 
pleasure of that same army. The father of this business in Herrin and 
its present head is Albert J. Will. He is a busy man of affairs, yet he 
has time from his daily work to represent his neighbors in the alder- 
manic counsel, and stands a ready champion of any progressive 
measure. 

Mr. Will was born on the 14th of November, 1874, in Jackson county, 
Illinois. After receiving a thorough education in the district schools 
he turned to farming, which pursuit engaged him during his minority. 
This was the natural course for him to pursue, since his father, D. R. 
Will, of Ava, Illinois, born in Jackson county in 1847 and having spent 
his youth in the country, early became a farmer and has devoted his life 
to the cultivation of the soil and the improvement of his various crops. 
The father of this worthy man was Frank Will, who migrated to this 
section from Pennsylvania when the country was yet a wilderness. This 
sturdy old pioneer and his wife raised a large family of children, now 
scattered widely over the United States. The eldest of these, D. R., 
is the father of the manufacturer. The other children are Freeman, 
a farmer of Jackson county; Cordelia, who married Hardy Gill and 
has since died; Kate, who died as the wife of Thomas Holt; Emma, 
Mrs. Phillip Fager, now living in Murphysboro; the twins, Ervin and 
Ollie, the. former residing in St. Louis, while the latter is the wife of 
Frank Friedline and lives in the state of Washington; Berdie is the 
widow of James Redd, and now makes her home at De Soto, Illinois; 
Jane married J. Childers and lives in Texas ; Nora is Mrs. Jo Schroeder, 
living in Murphysboro; and Julia is the wife of Samuel Partington, of 
the same city. At the age of sixty-five the august founder of this family 
passed away, his home at the time being three miles north-east of Mur- 
physboro. 

D. R. Will married Miss Jeanette Elliot, and their children are: 
Ollie, the wife of Reuben Kinley, living in Los Angeles, California; 
Fred, who has remained near home as a farmer in Jackson county; 
Frank, living in Los Angeles with his sister; and Albert J. The latter 
was onlv a babv of two rears when his mother died, but he was fortunate 



588 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

in that his father married for his second wife Josie Elliot, a cousin of 
his first wife. Three sons were born of this marriage, Homer, an engi- 
neer on the Mobile and Ohio, running out of Murphysboro; Howard, 
of Aurora; and Ross now living in Chicago. 

Albert J. Will on attaining his majority gave up the quiet farm life 
and entered the manufacturing business at Murphysboro, Illinois, as 
a member of the Murphysboro Bottling Company. This business has 
proved a very lucrative one, and although he left Murphysboro in 1905 
and established the Herrin Bottling Company, he still remains a mem- 
ber of the former concern. The growth of his business in Herrin 
necessitated the erection of a concrete building for the housing of 
the factory, its capacity being two hundred cases per day. 

Mr. Will takes a deep interest in politics and is now serving his 
third term as alderman from the First ward. He is in the forefront 
of a movement to establish a system of water works, thinking thereby 
to lessen disease as well as to make the lives of his fellow townsmen 
more comfortable. Also believing that the burden of town improve- 
ments should be partitioned justly, he has favored the special assess- 
ment policy for the laying of concrete walks. 

The first wife of Albert J. Will was Sophia Sundmacher, whom he 
married in Murphysboro, Illinois, on the 1st of July, 1902. She only 
lived a few years, dying on August 17, 1906, and leaving a baby daugh- 
ter, Jeanette J. Mr. Will married his second wife, Mary Steinle, on 
October 11, 1907. She was of German parentage, her father being 
John Steinle, of Minnesota. Christina, John Albert, and Ervin Ross 
are the children born of this union. 

Mr. Will is by inheritance a member of the Republican party, and 
by choice gives it his warm interest and hearty support. In religious 
matters the family are Lutheran, and are prominent in the work of 
this church. 

The courage to go ahead into untried fields, as was shown by his 
giving the comparatively sure success that would have been his had 
he stayed on the farm for the risk involved in starting a new business, 
has continued to evince itself in Mr. Will's dealings with men, for he 
will not swerve from his ideals of justice and fair dealing. It is this 
trait which has been one of the principal factors in placing him where 
he now stands, high in the respect of the community. 

WILLIAM J. FERJST, M. D. Few men are sufficiently versatile to suc- 
cessfully pursue two separate and entirely different vocations during 
their lives. Rare, indeed, does the physician while carrying on a large 
practice become the proprietor of a general merchandise business that 
carries a stock of ten thousand dollars worth of goods, but this has been 
accomplished by Dr. William J. Fern, of Tunnel Hill, who also super- 
intends the operation of four hundred and eighty acres of- excellent 
farming land. Dr. Fern was born November 18, 1846, on a farm in 
Johnson county, and is a son of Lawrence W. Fern. 

James Fern, the grandfather of Dr. Fern, was born in Eng- 
land, and came from that country to the United States in 1823, settling 
with his family in Otsego county, New York, near Cooperstown, where 
he spent the rest of his life. His son. Lawrence W., who was born in 
England in 1814, left New York in 1840 for Texas, but after spending 
some time in the Lone Star state started to return to New York, his 
funds having become low. Stopping in Johnson county, Illinois, he 
began teaching subscription schools in order to secure money to com- 
plete his journey, but, liking the country and seeing its future possi- 
bilities, he filed a claim on Government land, settled down to farming, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 589 

and at the time of his death was the owner of two hundred acres of fine 
land. He married Mrs. Ellendra (Leslie) Ford, a widow who had two 
children, and died July 15, 1894, she surviving him until 1909, when 
she passed away at the age of eighty-seven years. They had the follow- 
ing children : Mrs. Sarah Lemons ; William J. ; Andrew J. ; George W., 
who is deceased ; Mrs. Missouri Whitesides ; Mrs. Anna Simpson ; Mrs. 
Fannie Willis; and Caroline and Florence, who died in infancy. 

William J. Fern was reared on the home farm and received his edu- 
cation in the common schools. In 1865 he began the study of medicine 
in a physician's office, and in 1866 entered Rush Medical College, Chi- 
cago, from which he was graduated February 5, 1868. He began prac- 
tice at Grantsburg, Johnson county, where he continued seven years, 
and after spending one year in Vienna came to Tunnel Hill, in 1876, 
where he has since had a large and lucrative clientele. In 1885 Dr. 
Fern opened a merchandise store, and erected a building in which he 
started the present firm of W. J. Fern & Son, which now carries a ten 
thousand dollar stock and does business throughout Tunnel Hill and the 
surrounding country. Associated with him in this business are his 
sons, Lawrence D. and William, and his son-in-law, Robert S. Gilliam. 
In addition to this large interest Dr. Fern has one farm of two hundred 
and eighty acres and several smaller tracts, and has considerable real 
estate holdings in Tunnel Hill and other towns. 

He is well and favorably known to the members of his profession, 
and holds membership in the Johnson County, Illinois State and 
American Medical Associations, and is fraternally connected with the 
Lodge and Chapter of Masonry and the Odd Fellows. He is possessed 
of considerable more than the ordinary business ability, and is a man 
of progressive ideas and much public spirit. 

On October 14, 1869, Dr. Fern was married to Miss Sarah J. Poor, 
daughter of S. D. and Sarah J. Poor, of Johnson county, and to this 
union there have been born children as follows: Cora, who died in in- 
fancy ; Nora F., who married Robert S. Gilliam ; Lawrence D., associated 
with his father in business, and postmaster of Tunnel Hill since 
January 30, 1907, married Maggie Whitehead, now deceased, and has 
two children, Herbert and Louis ; William, connected with the grocery 
store conducted by his father, married Ada Taylor and has two chil- 
dren, William and Lucille ; and the two youngest children of the sub- 
ject, Charles Otto and Roy, both died in infancy. 

CHARLES W. WHEELER. A seeming incident is oft times sufficient 
to change the whole course of a human life, to alter forever the intents 
and purposes of a plan of action previously decided upon and to es- 
tablish the subsequent fortunes of a generation yet unborn. Thus, 
in the case of Charles W. Wheeler, had he carried out his original plan 
of action and embarked on the South American cruise to which he was 
practically committed by agreement, and for which he was eminently 
fitted by previous experience and by his natural inclinations, it is 
a foregone conclusion that the record of his life and work would read 
differently than is set forth in the following brief history. 

Charles W. Wheeler was born in Stratford, Fairfield county, Con- 
necticut, on October 10, 1840. The Wheeler family had been identified 
with that section of the country since early colonial days, and in the 
struggle for independence various members of the family took active 
and prominent parts. Samuel Wheeler, the grandfather of Charles 
W. Wheeler, was born in those parts on September 10, 1777, lived his 
life there and died on March 29, 1858, at the age of eighty-one years. 
He was a seaman for a time, later a ship chandler, and for many years 



590 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

ran a packet along the shores of the sound. He also owned consider- 
able land in the vicinity of his home. Among his several children 
was Levi, the father of Charles W. Wheeler, born May 20, 1796, and 
passed his life in the vicinity of his birth as a longshoreman and boat- 
man. He married Elvira, the daughter of Abijah and Abbie Betsey 
(Curtiss) Booth, both being members of old families established in the 
Nutmeg state in the early days of the young colonies, and she was born 
September 5, 1805, dying on December 18, 1882. The issue o'f Levi 
and Elvira Wheeler were : Sarah A., who became the wife of Alfred 
Curtiss; Mary E., who married William H. Batterson; Abbie H., who 
became Mrs. W T illia'm Whipple ; Francis Otis ; Charles W. ; and 
Gertrude B., who married Bruce H. Weller. 

The common schools of the vicinity in which he lived and was reared 
gave to Charles W. Wheeler such education as he was permitted to gain 
from books, although he was trained in an atmosphere of thrift and 
industry that stood him in good stead in later life. The home en- 
vironments and his father's example no doubt did much to instill in 
him the love for a seafaring life, and while yet a youth of tender years 
he made many trips along the shore with skippers known to him and 
the elder Wheeler. He worked for a time as a longshoreman, and later 
as a minor clerk with a local merchant he gained some knowledge of 
that business. The sea, however, drew him, and he made all plans to 
embark on a series of voyages to South American ports as handy boy 
and skipper's companion, when he was induced by a relative in Illi- 
nois to join him here. The prospect of seeing life in the western coun- 
try proved alluring to the boy, and he finally abandoned the seafaring 
project and came to Illinois. There he entered the employ of a rail- 
road company with whom his relative was connected, and he remained 
thus until the call for volunteers came at the breaking out of the Re- 
bellion, and he first enlisted in the state service for thirty days at New- 
ton, Jasper county, Colonel S. S. Good being in command of the regi- 
ment and rendezvoused at Mattoon. When he entered the United States 
service at Springfield it was as a member of Company K, of the Twenty- 
first Infantry Volunteers with Colonel U. S. Grant in command. The 
regiment rendezvoused at Springfield, Illinois, and was later ordered 
into northern Missouri, where it scattered the Confederate command 
under General Jeff Thompson, and at Mexico the sick of the command 
of Colonel Grant was left in charge of Mr. Wheeler while the regiment 
moved southward to Pilot Knob. Mr. Wheeler removed his invalid 
camp to St. Louis, and remained there with it until June, 1862, at which 
time he was discharged from the army for disability. During his ser- 
vice he had contracted a form of rheumatism which totally incapacitated 
him for further duties of a military nature, and he remained for 
several- months at Olney, Illinois, while his health was recuperating. 
In 1863 he came to Cairo and found employment with the Adams 
Express Company, where he continued until the close of the war. 
Concluding his service with the Adams Express Company, he entered 
the employ of Gaff, Cochran & Company, a Cincinnati firm doing a hay 
and gram business in the city of Cincinnati, supplying the Govern- 
ment with feed and doing an immense volume of river business under 
contract. Following the termination of his connection with them, Mr. 
Wheeler was in the employ of Trovar Homans & Company and still 
later with the Cairo City Coal Company, in which connection he learned 
the details of management which later enabled him to establish and 
conduct a similar business on his own responsibility, which he did in 
the early seventies. Thereafter he conducted a thriving wood and 
coal business in Cairo until the year 1902, when he retired from that 



OF THE 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 591 

Dusiness and went to live on the farm which he had acquired and 
development in recent years. In 1882 Mr. Wheeler purchased a tract 
of land with a view to making it the family home in later years, and he 
now has a quarter section of farm land under cultivation, which for 
fertility and general productiveness defies competition. There he has 
lived for the past ten years in happiness and content, believing it to 
be the place of all places most suited to the proper development and 
early training of his young children. Every other interest in life is 
secondary to his determination to make a happy home for his family 
and rear them amidst the beauties of nature, and there the retired coal 
merchant of Cairo is spending his closing days in peace and plenty. 

Mr. Wheeler has been twice married. First at Gratiot, Wisconsin, 
to Mrs. Amanda Spense, a daughter of Samuel Bragg. The children 
of their union are: Sarah A., a resident of Jonesboro, Georgia; Ella, 
living in St. Louis, Missouri; Josie, residing in Chicago, all three of 
whom are married; Augusta and Charles, who died in infancy; and 
Charles F., still a member of the family circle. The wife and mother 
passed away at the family home in Cairo in 1895. Mr. Wheeler's second 
marriage made him the husband of Agnes C. Glynn, a sister of John 
P. Glynn, one of the foremost business men at Cairo. The children of 
his later marriage are : Martha, Eugene, Elizabeth, John P., Albert G. 
(commonly known as "Bill"), Abbie and Matthew. 

In retrospection, Mr. Wheeler can recall many an incident and 
thrilling adventure beyond what is the usual lot of man. His early 
seafaring trips when but a lad yield memories never to be forgotten; 
his war experience marks an epoch in his life replete with interest and 
adventure ; and his life is full of memories that make him a most inter- 
esting raconteur, which will never permit him to become other than 
a delightful companion to those with whom he comes in contact. 

The life of Mr. Wheeler has been lived singularly apart from the 
influences of either religious or fraternal organizations and in a politi- 
cal way he is inclined to act independent of party interests, but always 
with a view to the betterment of general conditions. 

DR. ANDREW E. MILLER. "A prince of well-doers in this frail taber- 
nacle of mortality" is Doctor Andrew E. Miller, who is actively en- 
gaged in the practice of medicine at Metropolis, Illinois. Still some 
distance short in years of the meridian of existence, Dr. Miller has al- 
ready attained to the zenith of professional and personal regard amid 
his fellowmen, and is enjoying a measure of esteem that is greatly to 
be desired but rarely attained. 

Dr. Miller was born in Metropolis, July 30, 1871. His intellect- 
ual training was begun in the city schools, and .continued in the South- 
ern Illinois Normal, where be graduated from the classical course in 
1889. His first employment was as clerk in the post office of his native 
town, in which capacity he served under Norman J. Slack, at that time 
the postmaster. Going into a drug store as assistant, he conceived an 
ambition to employ the forces derived from Nature which lay before 
him on the shelves by his own knowledge instead of at the direction of 
others, and consecrated his future life as a disciple of Esculapius. He 
entered the medical department of the Cincinnati University, where 
he finished the course with honors and graduated in May, 1900. Open- 
ing an office in Metropolis, among the people of his childhood, he 
speedily became one of the favored men of his profession. His skill 
as a diagnostician is equaled by his practical application of remedies 
and his skill as a surgeon. He is a member of the local medical society, 
and also of the Illinois State and the American Medical Associations. 



592 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Dr. Miller's father was Henry Miller, a native of Hanover, Ger- 
many, who was born in 1836, and who died at Metropolis in 1909, uni- 
versally respected and esteemed. He came to the United States in 
1856, stopped among the Germans in Cincinnati for many years, and 
pushed on to Illinois just before the outbreak of the Civil War. The 
greater portion of his long and well-ordered existence was passed in 
the vigorous life of a farmer. His success led him in later life to 
enter the banking business as one of the stockholders of the First Na- 
tional Bank of Metropolis. Henry Miller married Minnie F. Thain, 
daughter of William Thaiu, who was also of sturdy Teutonic descent. 
The children were : Dr. Miller, the subject of this sketch ; William, 
whose location is unknown; George, who died in Metropolis leaving a 
family ; Henry ; Benjamin, who died unmarried at Metropolis ; and 
Simon, a resident of LaMesa, New Mexico. 

Dr. Miller is highly regarded in fraternal circles, being a Mason of 
the chivalric rank of Knights Templars, a Knight of Pythias and a 
Red Man. His life is full and well-rounded with one exception. He 
has never fallen a victim to Cupid's arrows. This, to the notion of 
his legion of friends, is the only rift within the lute and they wish in all 
sincerity that it may be the way of providence that in due time he may 
come to be the presiding spirit of a happy home, and arrive at the full 
meaning of good citizenship in all that the term implies. 

ADELBERT LE ROY SPILLEB, familiarly known as Roy Spiller, one 
of the prominent and Influential citizens and leading lawyers of Car- 
bondale, has recently won special regard and high approval in the 
city by his able and successful advocacy of the commission form of 
government, which is now in force in the municipality, but he is en- 
titled to and enjoys general public approval and esteem for many other 
reasons. He is a native of Jackson county, and has passed his life to 
this time (1911) almost wholly among its people. They are therefore 
familiar with his high character and upright living, his ability as a 
lawyer, his worth as a man and his usefulness as a citizen. They also 
know and appreciate all he has done for their welfare. 

Mr. Spiller was born on his father's farm in this county, on Feb- 
ruary 2, 1873. He is a son of William G. and Elma (Bartholomew) 
Spiller, who are well known throughout the county and enjoy in a 
marked degree the regard and good will of its inhabitants. Their son 
Roy grew to manhood on the farm and performed his part of its useful 
but exacting labor, meanwhile attending the public school near his 
home to obtain his elementary scholastic education. This he continued 
at the Southern Illinois Normal University, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1896, and completed at Dixon College, in the city of the same 
name in this state. 

After leaving college he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 
May, 1900. He at once located in Carbondale and began the practice 
of his profession, devoting himself to it generally in all its develop- 
ments, but making something of a specialty of chancery and testa- 
mentary law. During the last six years he has been mastery in 
chancery for Jackson county, and has made an excellent record as such 
by the extent and comprehensiveness of his knowledge and his absolute 
fairness and excellent judgment in applying it to the cases before him. 
He has also rendered the city excellent service as its official attorney. 

Mr. Spiller has always manifested a warm and practical interest in 
the city and county of his home and here done everything in his power 
to promote their welfare. He is a great believer in purity in govern- 
ment, municipal, state and national, and his earnest desire to establish 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 593 

it in Carbondale as far as possible made him a strong and determined 
advocate of the commission form of municipal rule when it was an issue 
before the people, and energetic in all the preliminary work of rousing 
public sentiment in its behalf in the process of making it an issue. 

He has also been useful in promoting the progress and improvement 
of the city and county in many other ways. No undertaking for the 
development or betterment of the community in any way has ever gone 
without his effective practical support since he reached man's Estate, and 
his aid has always been cheerfully given, intelligently guided and fruit- 
ful in good results, both in its own force and in the activity awakened 
in others by his influence and example. 

On December 26, 1906, he was united in marriage with Miss Nettie 
Lenore, the daughter of Samuel and Mary Heiter, prosperous Stephen- 
son county farmers living near Freeport, this state. Two children have 
been born to the union, Elma Lenore and Adelbert Le Roy. The father 
is prominent and enterprising in the fraternal life of the region as a 
member of the Order of Odd Fellows, the Order of Knights of Pythias 
and the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is a Republican, 
but has never been an active partisan always a good and useful citizen. 

DR. HOSEA AUGUST VISE. The annals of Southern Illinois would 
not be complete without mention of the name of the Vise family and 
chronicles of the part the pioneers of that family took in furthering the 
progress and development of this section of the country. Hosea Vise 
was one of the most renowned and learned Baptist ministers who ever 
preached in Southern Illinois, beginning his ministry in this section 
nearly a hundred years ago. This sturdy pioneer was born in South 
Carolina, in the eighteenth century, and when he struck out for the 
then western wilderness and Indian infested country there ^was no 
public means of transportation for passengers, and his first journey to 
Illinois he accomplished on foot. This was in 1830. He later returned 
to South Carolina in order to conduct his wife to his new field of labor, 
and on this journey Mr. Vise again walked, while his wife rode back 
with him on horseback. Hosea Vise was a man of strict principles and 
great independence of thought and action, and it is stated that when he 
lived in South Carolina he was the only prohibitionist in the county 
of which he was a citizen. During his lifetime he traveled all over the 
southern part of Illinois preaching the gospel wherever he went and 
was known by nearly every family in that section where he was 
familiarly, and lovingly known as Uncle Hosea. In his early life he 
taught school for a time and prepared his own text books, writing them 
with a quill pen. In later years he of course adopted printed books, 
but the library of old volumes which he left to his great-grandson, the 
present Dr. Hosea August Vise, is a valuable one, computed to be 
worth several hundreds of dollars. The Reverend Vise was moderator 
of the Franklin Baptist Association for thirty-one years. He lived to 
an extremely old age, his death occurring on February 11, 1893. Lafe 
Vise, his son, was born in Franklin county, Illinois, where he followed 
the pursuit of an agriculturist. This son in turn became the father of 
Harvey Vise, who was born in Franklin county in 1856 and is now one 
of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of this section of the 
state. He possesses exceedingly large and valuable land holdings and 
also owns and conducts one of the biggest mercantile establishments 
in the county. Harvey Vise is a self-made man who started in com- 
mercial life with a horse and wagon and the grit to establish a little 
store at Macedonia in 1874, when he was only eighteen years of age. 
He prospered greatly, however, and soon became a- man of great in- 



594 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

fluence and power in his community. His public spirit and liberality 
are of the highest and most generous character and to him in large 
measure is due the credit of building the Baptist church at Macedonia, 
and since its erection he has continued to contribute most generously 
to its support. In political matters also he exerts great influence. He 
is a Republican and a large following in Macedonia looks to him as a 
guide in forming and expressing their views on public matters. 

Dr. HRsea August Vise, of Benton, was born in Macedonia, Frank- 
lin county, Illinois, on August 10, 1881, the son of Harvey and Sarilda 
(Plasters) Vise. His mother died when he was but four years of age 
and he has accordingly missed the boon of a mother's love and care. 
After completing his studies in the grade and high schools of his home 
county he matriculated at Ewing College and graduated from that in- 
stitution of learning after a four-year course. He afterwards attended 
Washington University, at St. Louis, and in 1905 graduated from the 
St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

Dr. Vise began active practice immediately after receiving his de- 
gree, locating first at Thompsonville, where he remained for two years. 
That field did not offer sufficient scope for his ambition and abilities, 
however, and he accordingly moved to Benton, and from the time when 
he first opened his office here, three years ago, he has enjoyed a large 
and lucrative practice both in Benton and throughout the county. 

On February 28, 1906, Dr. Vise was united in marriage to Miss 
Grace Mitchell, daughter of George 0. Mitchell, a resident of Marion, 
Illinois, and manager of the Black Diamond Railroad. Mrs. Vise is 
a woman of charming personality and superior education, having 
attended the Carbondale Normal School for three years. One daughter 
has been born to bless the home of Dr. and Mrs. Vise, Marguerite Eller. 

Dr. ^Vise is active in social affairs as well as professional life in 
Benton and is a leading member of the Elks lodge and of the Masonic 
order. He is a man of keen intellect and progressive tendencies and 
keeps in touch with the latest developments of medical science and 
activities through his membership in the American Medical and the 
State Medical Associations. He is a member of the Baptist church, a 
man of high moral rectitude and unimpeachable personal integrity 
and justly enjoys the confidence of a large circle of friends and 
acquaintances in this section of the state. 

J. H. SCOTT. Occupying a position of prominence among the names 
of the enterprising and progressive men that have contributed largely 
toward the advancement of Eldorado's growth and prosperity is that 
of J. H. Scott, who has rendered splendid service as a public official, 
and as a man and a citizen is above reproach. A son of John L. Scott, 
he was born May 18, 1840, in Bedford county, Tennessee, but was 
brought up in Illinois. His paternal grandfather, John Scott, was 
born in South Carolina, and as a young man settled in Tennessee. He 
served as a soldier in the war of 1812. and under command of General 
Jackson took part in the battle of New Orleans. He spent his last 
years, however, in Southern Illinois, passing away at a good old age in 
Saline county. 

John L. Scott was born and reared in Tennessee, and there married 
Nancy Langley. In 1841 he came with his family to Illinois, settling 
near Springfield. There his wife died, and he subsequently removed 
with his children to that part of Gallatin county, Illinois, that is now 
included within the boundaries of Saline county, settling two miles 
north of the present village of Eldorado, and eight miles north of 
Equality, going there when the country was but sparsely settled, the 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 595 

neighbors being few and far between. Making another removal a 
short time later, he located in Kentucky, where he worked at his trade 
of a millwright, and engaged in milling, remaining there until Ms 
death, in 1853. Of the three children that had been born to him and 
his first wife, but two were then living, namely: J. H., the subject of 
this sketch ; and Julia Ann, two years younger, who is now the wife of 
G. E. Aaron, of Eldorado, Illinois. Besides these two children, he left 
a widow, his second wife, and their two children. 

After the death of his father, J. H. Scott came with his sister, his 
step-mother and his half-sister to Saline county, Illinois, where he had 
a few acquaintances, and where he supposed an uncle was living. 
Finding on his arrival, however, that the uncle had previously died, 
he first lived for a time with a family named Reed, and while there 
became acquainted with John Choisser, whose daughter became the 
wife of Captain William H. Parrish, of whom a brief personal sketch 
is given elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Scott and his sister Julia were 
both subsequently bound out to Mr. Choisser until they should become 
of age, Mr. Scott remaining in the family until long after the death of 
Mr. Choisser, having a good home. He attended school but little, but 
he acquired a practical knowledge of books and events, Mr. Choisser, 
who was a man of great intelligence, encouraging him to study at home 
by the fireside. 

Marrying when young, Mr. Scott rented land and engaged in farm- 
ing until 1862, when he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and 
Tenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, a Saline county company com- 
manded by Captain George E. Burnett. With his regiment he took part 
in the engagement at Nashville, and at the battle of Murfreesborough, 
on New Year's day, 1863, he was struck by a piece of shell, losing the 
sight of his left eye. Nothing daunted, however, Mr. Scott continued 
with his command, serving under Generals Buell and Rosecrans, and 
later marching with Sherman to Atlanta, thence to the sea and up 
through the Carolinas to Washington, where he took part in the Grand 
Review. Mr. Scott was promoted from the ranks to the position of cor- 
poral, and in that capacity was often detailed to special duty, carrying 
reports from headquarters to various commanders. 

Soon after receiving his discharge from the army Mr. Scott began 
work, for a time being employed in a drug store. Subsequently he 
rented a farm, and in addition to raising good crops worked in the store 
of John W. Cox. Having accumulated some money, he then bought, on 
time, the house which he now occupies, and paid eight hundred and fifty- 
seven dollars for eighty acres of land lying just west of Eldorado. He 
afterward traded that property for one hundred and sixty acres of land, 
and has since exchanged several pieces of land, his residential property, 
which he secured several years ago, containing four acres of choice land, 
on which he has erected seven tenement houses, the rentals of which 
bring him in a good annual income. 

For about fifteen years Mr. Scott conducted a general store in the' 
village of Eldorado, carrying on a substantial business. Ever on the. 
alert for opportunities to add to his prosperity, Mr. Scott, with four 
other men of enterprise, organized a company to bore for oil, and has 
the distinction of having started the first oil well in this part of Saline 
county. For ten years, from 1896 until 1906, Mr. Scott sold buggies 
and light vehicles throughout the western and extreme southeastern 
states, traveling in the interests of the Spalding Manufacturing Com- 
pany, of Grinnell, Iowa. He was formerly a stockholder and for a time 
the superintendent of the old Eldorado Fair Grounds which are located 



596 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

very near his home, the land being now occupied by the Benlock Camp, 
in which Holiness Meetings are held. 

In April, 1907, Mr. Scott was elected mayor of Eldorado, and under 
his administration many improvements of value were inaugurated. The 
first concrete or brick crossings were laid, as were the first brick sewer 
pipes ; the first grades for sidewalks were made ; and the first iron 
bridges in the town were built ; he also worked hard to secure drainage, 
which the town, lying on a flat, badly needed, and became chairman of 
a committee to find suitable outlet for the drainage of a large district. 
Through his efforts many improvements that are still continued were 
established, great improvements in the sanitary and material condition 
of the town being made, while the foundation for a fine village was 
firmly fixed. 

Mr. Scott is a Republican in politics, although in local affairs votes 
for the best men and measures, regardless of party prejudice. At the 
age of eighteen years Mr. Scott united with the Baptist church, but for 
the past thirty years he has been an active member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, towards the support of which he is a liberal contrib- 
utor, and has served as district steward. Fraternally he is a member 
of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons ; of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows ; of the Daughters of Rebekah ; of the Improved 
Order of Red Men; and also belongs to Burnett Post, Grand Army of 
the Republic. 

Mr. Scott has been twice married. He married first, at the age of 
twenty-one years, Rachel R. P. Dodd, who was left an orphan at the 
early age of ten years. She died twenty-five years later, leaving two 
children, namely: Nancy E., wife of J. W. Black, a miner; and Thomas 
J. Scott, who is engaged in the grocery business in Eldorado. Mr. Scott 
married for his second wife, Mrs. Sarah R. (Westbrook) Latham, widow 
of Dr. John F. Latham and daughter of Rev. Samuel Westbrook, a 
pioneer Methodist minister of Southern Illinois, who died at the Scott 
home, in Eldorado, February 14, 1908, aged ninety-seven years. 

R. E. BROWN. The veterinary doctor and surgeon of today recog- 
nizes the benefit of science as applied to his profession, and it is a note- 
worthy fact that, within the last several decades the course in this line 
has become as strict as that of a regular doctor of medicine, while, the 
scope of practice being wider, many of the young men of today are 
taking up the veterinary line in preference. One of the successful vet- 
erinary surgeons of Southern Illinois, who has had a long and varied 
experience in his profession is R. E. Brown, whose chosen field of 
practice is the city of Anna, Union county. He was born in 1871, in 
Tarrant county, Texas, and is a son of A. C. and Emma (Elkins) 
Brown. 

A. C. Brown was born in Anna, Illinois, in 1853, and was a lad of 
twelve years when he accompanied his parents to the State of Texas. 
There he became a member of the State Police, known as the Texas 
Rangers, and met his death at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, in 1873, 
while in the performance of his duty. His widow remained in Texas 
only a short time after his death, and when R. E. Brown was three 
years old she brought him and his brother, Dr. L. U. Brown, a promi- 
nent veterinary of Ardmore. Okla., to Anna. R. E. Brown received his 
preliminary educational training in the common schools, and spent eight 
terms at the Southern Illinois Normal University, at Carbondale. tak- 
ing a teacher's course. Mr. Brown was engaged in school teaching in 
Union county for seven years, and also worked for a number of years as 
a carpenter and contractor, but eventually turned his attention to vet- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 597 

erinary work, his stepfather having been engaged in that profession. 
He took a course of two years in the National Medical University of 
Chicago, and for the past eight years has been engaged in practice in 
Anna, where he has had considerable success. 

The standard of his science is being constantly raised by just such 
men as Dr. Brown, and his profession is recognized as one of the most 
important. The Government has recognized this fact, and has many 
skilled veterinary surgeons constantly in its employ, to care for the 
health of the valuable stock belonging to it, as well as to pass upon that 
which is to be slaughtered. He uses the latest scientific methods and 
keeps abreast of the latest inventions and discoveries in his profession 
by subscription to various veterinary journals, and his success has won 
for him the confidence of his community. Dr. Brown is general man- 
ager and secretary of the Anna Improvement and Loan Company and 
owns considerable stock therein. 

In 1901, Dr. Brown was married to Miss Mamie West, who was born 
on a farm east of Anna, in Union county, in April, 1881, daughter of 
A. J. and Lucinda West, who still reside on the West homestead. Two 
children have been born to this union : Roy, who was born in February, 
1905 ; and Robert, born in December, 1909. Mr. Brown has associated 
himself with various movements for the advancement of his community. 
His fraternal connections are with the Odd Fellows, the Knights of 
Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Court of Honor. 
He and his wife are consistent members of the Lutheran church, and 
both are popular in church and social circles. 

FRED LEE LINGLE. In Dr. Fred Lee Lingle, Alto Pass has a skilled 
physician, a worthy citizen and a representative of a family which has 
been closely identified with the history of Union county since its organ- 
ization. He was born October 17, 1881, and is the son of George W. 
Lingle, born in 1850 and yet living on his farm in Cobden, Union 
county, which was the place of his birth. The father of George W. 
Lingle and the grandfather of Dr. Fred Lee Lingle was Henry Lingle, 
a native of North Carolina, and a man of German extraction. In the 
early twenties Henry Lingle, together with several other home-seekers 
from the Carolinas, came to Union county. At one time in the early 
history of that county Henry Lingle owned the piece of land, compris- 
ing one hundred and twenty acres, which is now the site of the town of 
Cobden! When the Illinois Central Railroad went through that region 
in 1855 he sold his entire holdings to Dan Davie at a good figure, and 
then moved out seven miles east of the Cobden townsite, where he 
bought his farm of five hundred acres. His wife, Elizabeth (Vansel) 
Lingle, still lives. Henry Lingle fought in the Mexican war, winning 
a splendid record in his service. His son, George W. Lingle, is the 
owner of a farm of one hundred and forty acres, ninety acres of which 
is a part of the old Lingle farm. He was a prosperous man, and in addi- 
tion to his agricultural interests was for many years the owner of a 
large flouring mill in the northern part of Union county, which he ope- 
rated successfully and profitably. His wife was Amelia C. Brooks, a 
daughter of Larkin Brooks, a native of North Carolina, and she bore 
him four children: Dr. Willis E., of Cobden, Illinois; Dr. Fred Lee, 
of Alto Pass ; George Melvin, on the Cobden farm ; and Naomi. 

Dr. Fred Lee Lingle was educated in the common schools of Cobden 
and in the Southern Illinois Normal at Carbondale ; following his grad- 
uation therefrom he began his' medical studies, in September, 1900, in 
the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons, and after an attend- 
ance of four years he was graduated in 1904. He immediately began 



598 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

the practice of medicine at Herrin, Illinois, remaining there for six 
months only, following which he practiced for a similar period at 
Pomona, Illinois. On May 6, 1905, Dr. Lingle located at Alto Pass, and 
in the six years of his residence here he has built up an extensive prac- 
tice, covering a territory of seven miles north, ten miles west, three miles 
east and two and a half miles south. 

Dr. Lingle is a member of the Union County and the Illinois State 
Medical Associations, and in a fraternal way is a member of the Modern 
Woodmen of America, local lodge at Alto Pass, and of the A. F. & A. M. 

On December 24, 1905, Dr. Lingle was married to Miss Jennie 
Dameron, of Union county, a daughter of William J. and Elzadah Dam- 
eron. They are the parents of one child, Myrtle Lorena, now three 
years old. Dr. Lingle and his wife are members of the Congregational 
church of Alto Pass. 

REV. ANDREW J. RENDLEMAN. A successful and influential factor in 
connection with educational affairs in his native state and at the present 
time the incumbent of the office of superintendent of the public schools 
of Jackson county, Andrew Jackson Rendleman is a scion of one of the 
sterling pioneer families of Illinois and here, in addition to his specially 
effective work in the educational field, he has served with marked zeal 
and earnestness in the ministry of the Free Baptist church, in which he 
is a regularly ordained clergyman. He is one of the honored and popu- 
lar citizens of Murphysboro, the judicial center and metropolis of Jack- 
son county, and is well known throughout southern Illinois, where he 
has a wide circle of loyal and valued friends. The influence of Mr. 
Rendleman has been potent and benignant in all the relations of life, 
and his work has been in the furtherance of those things which make for 
the higher ideals of human existence. 

Andrew J. Rendleman was born on a farm in Williamson county, 
Illinois, on the 3d of March, 1867, and is a son of Harris and Elizabeth 
(Knight) Rendleman, who continued to reside in this state until their 
death, the father having devoted virtually his entire active career to 
agricultural pursuits and having been a man whose inflexible integrity 
and generous attributes of character gained and retained to him the 
unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He whose name 
initiates this review passed his boyhood days amid the scenes and under 
the invigorating discipline of the home farm and his early educational 
advantages were those afforded in the district and graded schools of his 
native county. In preparing himself for the profession in which he has 
gained such distinctive prestige and success he attended the Southern 
Illinois Normal University, at Carbondale. Mr. Rendleman initiated 
his pedagogic labors when twenty years of age, and his first experience 
as a teacher was gained in the district schools of his native county, after 
which he continued his successful work in Perry and Jackson counties. 
He organized the graded school at Willisville, Ferry county, of which 
he was the first principal, and later became principal of the schools at 
Campbell Hill. Thereafter he was principal of the East Side school in 
Murphysboro for four years; he next served as principal of the East 
Side school at DuQuoin, Perry county, after which he returned to Jack- 
son county. 

In the fall of 1910 Mr. Rendleman was elected to his present impor- 
tant office, in which his administration has amply justified the popular 
choice. In his election to the position of superintendent of schools for 
Jackson county he was the nominee on the Democratic ticket and over- 
came an adverse majority of fully one thousand votes. a fact which 
offers emphatic testimony to his popularity in the county and the public 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 599 

appreciation of his scholastic and executive ability. Since assuming the 
duties of his office he has accomplished most admirable results in the 
systematizing and unifying of the work of the public schools in his juris- 
diction, and has done much to raise their standard still higher. Mr. 
Rendleman is a valued member of the Southern Illinois Teachers' 
Association and also the Illinois State Teachers Association, in the de- 
liberations and work of both of which he has taken a deep interest and 
active part. At the last (1911) state teachers' meeting he was ap- 
pointed a member of a committee of five to draft a bill for state uniform- 
ity of text-books to be presented to the next legislature for enactment. 

A man of fine intellectuality and perfervid earnestness as a worker 
in behalf of his fellow men, Mr. Rendleman has been amost zealous and 
valued factor in the ministry of the Free Baptist church, in which he 
was ordained in the year 1895. As a public speaker he is forceful and 
convincing and draws upon the rich resources of a well disciplined 
mind. In the ministry, on- the educational platform and as a speaker 
before the various fraternal orders with which he is affiliated he has 
gained a high reputation and his services are much in demand along 
these various lines. In the general work of his church he has served as 
a member of the missionary board and other important subsidiary 
boards and committees, besides which he has been a frequent delegate 
to the general conferences of the church. In politics he is admirably 
fortified in his convictions and gives a staunch allegiance to the Demo- 
cratic party. In the Masonic fraternity he has served as chaplain of his 
lodge ; in the Knights of Pythias he has held the office of primate ; and 
in the Modern Woodmen of America he served one year as consul of the 
camp at Marion, Williamson county, and three years as the incumbent 
of the same office in the camp at Murphysboro. He is a frequent speaker 
before the organizations of the Knights of Pythias and Modern Wood- 
men of America and has represented the same in the state conventiona 
in Illinois. He is also affiliated with the Tribe of Ben Hur. 

On the 28th of April, 1887, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Rendleman to Miss Margaret Monroe, who was born in Jackson county, 
this state, a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of 
southern Illinois. She was a resident of Jackson county at the time of 
her marriage, and she has been a devoted wife and true helpmeet, and 
an earnest worker in the church, a popular factor in refined social 
activities and a loving and ambitious mother. Mrs. Rendleman is a 
daughter of George W. and Sarah J. (Willis) Monroe, who are now 
both deceased. Mr. Monroe was born in the state of Tennessee, whence 
he came to Illinois when a young man. He became one of the repre- 
sentative agriculturists and influential citizens of Jackson county, and 
did well his part in the furtherance of civic and industrial progress. It 
was his to render valiant service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil 
war. He enlisted in Company K, Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Cav- 
alry, and the history of this gallant command virtually constitutes the 
record of his long and meritorious career as a soldier of the republic 
whose integrity he assisted in preserving. His service continued during 
practically the entire period of the war and he was with Sherman on 
the ever memorable march from Atlanta to the sea and thence north- 
ward through the Carolinas, while it was also his distinction to partici- 
pate in the Grand Review of the victorious troops in the city of Washing- 
ton. He escaped serious wounds during the four years of service but 
was captured by the enemy and confined for some time in Andersonville 
prison. He was mustered out in the city of Springfield, capital of 
Illinois, and duly received his honorable discharge. His continued 



600 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

interest in his old comrades was shown in later years by his retaining 
membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rendleman became the parents of five children, all of 
whom are living except William Bert, who died in 1898, at the age of 
nine years. Lillian May, who is a successful and popular teacher in the 
public schools of Jackson county and who is well upholding the prestige 
of the family name as a representative of the pedagogic profession, was 
afforded excellent educational advantages, including a course in the 
Southern Illinois Normal University. Homer Lee, eldest of the three 
surviving sons, completed the curriculum of the high school in Murphys- 
boro and is now employed as salesman in a mercantile establishment in 
this city. Charles Edgar is a member of the class of 1913 in the 
Murphysboro high school ; and Andrew Jackson, Jr., is a student in the 
public schools. 

JOHN P. GLYNN. Pioneers of Cairo who have followed the steady 
ascent of John P. Glynn up life's ladder are agreed that the highest 
encomiums are due to the man who has made such an unbiased and un- 
qualified success of a life which, in its beginning, was attended by many 
hardships and adversities. A more or less cursory review of his early 
life will be of interest to all, in view of his enviable position in the town 
in which he was born and where he has spent his life thus far. 

John Glynn was born in Cairo, Illinois, September 4, 1860. No 
pomp or ceremony heralded his advent as a babe into the city in which 
he was destined to become a prominent and useful citizen, despite the 
untoward circumstances attendant upon his birth. For he was a son 
of the soil, in very truth. His father, a humble and of necessity illiter- 
ate "Son of Erin," immigrated early in life to fair America. While still 
a young man he took a wife. In spite of the trials that go largely to 
make up the sum of human existence, they lived a quiet and happy life, 
both living until about the age of sixty -five years. They were the parents 
of four children who reached years of maturity. Three daughters, Mrs. 
Thomas H. D. Griffith, of Springfield, Illinois ; Mrs. C. W. Wheeler, of 
Mounds, Illinois, and Mrs. John H. Kierce, of Cairo, Illinois, and John 
P. Glynn, the subject of this sketch, and, incidentally, the pride of his 
father's heart. 

It was to this boy, the only son, to whom it was given to stir the 
slumbering fires of ambition in the breast of the Celtic father. Until 
the son began to be a factor in the life of the elder Glynn, life had been 
a quiet and humdrum affair. But the budding boy aroused in him the 
memory of his own youth and the thought of what might have been for 
him had he been blessed with a little of the education which may be 
had for the taking in the country of his adoption. And so young 
John P. was sent to school. It was the plan of the father to enable his 
son to attain a sufficient education to help him do victorious battle with 
the great forces in the industrial world. Michael Glynn himself was 
not a successful man, in the more broadly accepted sense of the word. 
He somehow lacked the peculiar executive ability necessary to the 
proper management of the small draying business he had conducted 
with indifferent success during these years. The growing needs of a 
family of four children, the eldest three being girls, became so pressing 
that when the son John, had reached the age of seventeen and had 
barely begun as a student in Cairo High School, he readily recognized 
the pressing need for young blood, energy and tact in the management 
of his father's business interests. Loath to leave his books, fighting 
sorely against the need to forego, even for a time, the chance to study 
and fit himself for his chosen profession, his sense of duty was such that 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 601 

he bravely decided to surrender his ambition and give his time to the 
upbuilding of his father's draying business, which was the sole means 
of support for the family. 

Thus it was that John P. Glynn, with his father's reputation for 
square and honest dealing, and his father's one horse dray as a founda- 
tion for the future, began the upbuilding of a general drayage and 
transfer business which rapidly grew out of all proportions to his most 
sanguine hopes or expectations. For a time the boy found himself in 
a somewhat awkward predicament. He disliked to take the reins of 
authority from his father's hands, but his innate business ability was 
such that he knew that very thing to be what the ultimate success of the 
business demanded. But the father, possessing his own share of wisdom, 
even though not of the variety which makes wealthy men, early recog- 
nized in his bright young son the making of a thorough-going business 
man, and when he saw that his fellow townspeople were inclined to 
place confidence in the boy and, moreover, to throw unusual business in 
his way, and when he saw the ready ability of the boy to handle the 
business quickly, accurately and with the minimum expense and the 
maximum profit, he was glad to shift the burden of responsibility to 
younger shoulders and content to step down to second place and permit 
his stripling son to succeed him as head of the business. Thus, from a 
humble origin, was evolved one of the most flourishing business organ- 
izations known to the city of Cairo. 

The one horse dray soon became a heavy truck of the regulation 
order, drawn by a pair of stout and willing horses. Later another dray 
was added, and gradually the business grew from a mere hauling of 
trunks and boxes and odd jobs of all kinds to a dray and transfer busi- 
ness, embracing every detail of practical and efficient service, such as 
Cairo had never known before and well knew how to appreciate. 

"The boy is father to the man" it is said, and true enough in the 
case of John P. Glynn and his father. The prosperous, ambitious and 
successful boy made the father's later years the happiest of his life, 
and great was his joy in his ability to do so, but no less great was the 
father's pride in the son who had helped him to make a success of his 
later years of business life. 

As the city grew the dray and transfer business of the Glynns ex- 
panded accordingly, and it became obligatory for them to make some 
preparations for future housing. Already John Glynn 's natural busi- 
ness acumen has caused him to acquire various and sundry bits of 
property in the business and residence district of the city, and when 
it became apparent that the crying need of the business was a building 
of commodious space for a home for their ever spreading interests, he 
decided to build in the down-town district. He accordingly, in the year 
1906, erected a three story building on Commonwealth street, at No. 
1214 and 1216, with a depth of one hundred and twenty-five feet. The 
business, however, proved itself in the short space of three years to be 
entirely inadequate to their needs and in 1909 he was encouraged by 
local financiers, who were not slow to recognize his splendid possibili- 
ties, to increase his building. This he did by erecting a similar struct- 
ure at 1210 and 1212 Commonwealth street, immediately adjoining his 
first building. This structure bears the happy distinction of being the 
only absolutely fireproof building in Southern Illinois. It is built 
completely of cement and equipped with a thoroughly modern sprinkler 
and firefighting apparatus, installed at an immense cost, while two 
elevators ply busily to and fro and further bear out its distinctly 
modern character. 

Additional space made it possible for Mr. Glynn to again branch 



602 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

out into hitherto unexplored waters. He now added to his already 
ample outfits complete equipments for the safe and easy moving of 
household goods, pianos, etc., and more modern means of handling 
freight in car load lots. He opened his fireproof storage rooms to the 
public, and gave over a portion of one floor to the business of dealing 
in second hand and new furniture of all kinds. He engaged in the 
furniture and carpet business, and later established an implement, 
wagon and harness line, having a large implement warehouse, covering 
a space of one hundred and twenty -five by two hundred feet. In short, 
this splendid building is entirely given over to the carrying on in its 
various departments and branches the mammoth business which has 
grown apace from the hour of its inception or, more correctly speak- 
ing, since the boy of seventeen years took the reins into his young hands 
and willed to make of his father's ill paying business a financial success. 

Today John P. Glynn commands a place of highest respect in the 
town of his birth and in the lives of all who have known him. Great 
enthusiasm is one of his most marked characteristics. No obstacle is too 
great to be removed by his unfailing optimism and will to overcome 
every difficulty. A brilliant mind, a vigorous body, indomitable will, 
courage and unfailing cheerfulness, all unite to form a combination that 
Fate must surely find hard to vanquish for long. 

Three times has Mr. Glynn fared forth on matrimonial ventures. 
His first wife was Miss Elizabeth McCarthy, who died, leaving a son of 
eighteen years, Joseph Glynn, who has been educated in business meth- 
ods to be his father's helper in his later years. He later married Mary 
Clare Byers, of Nashville, Tennessee, of which union one daughter, 
Marie Byers Glynn, is the result. 

Mr. Glynn, contrary to the average man of Celtic origin, has held 
himself aloof from all political entanglements. He has eschewed every- 
thing that might be calculated to take his mind from the work of con- 
ducting the splendid business of which he is the heart and soul. He has 
never been affiliated with any financial or business society, with the 
single exception of connection with the Building & Loan Association of 
Cairo. The property holdings of Mr. Glynn are of great scope, and 
exceedingly well conducted. One of the finest things ever done for the 
upbuilding of Cairo was the reclaiming by him of a vast tract of swamp 
land in the city and the subsequent erecting of modern homes for ten- 
ants. In myriad ways has the life of John P. Glynn been a boon and 
benefit to the city of Cairo and its people and best of all is the undying 
example of the truth of the old saying: "Great oaks from little acorns 
grow." For in very twith, the splendid organization which has come 
out from the little acorn of honest manly endeavor is today a great oak 
that flourishes abundantly in the city of its establishment and growth. 

GEORGE BARBINGER. Farmers who have been elected to positions of 
trust and honor are not by any means few in America, but it is the 
exception that the tiller of the soil continues to be such long after he has 
won success in any sphere outside his regular calling. The allurements 
of city life in the great majority of cases quickly overcome the inborn 
love of nature unadorned, and the farmer is known by another name. 
George Barringer. of Jonesboro, Illinois, is one of the few. After terms 
in township and county offices he continued to plant, c\iltivate and reap, 
and to raise stock, until he felt it time to retire from active agricultural 
pursuits, at which time he located in Jonesboro and engaged in the real 
estate business, although he still owns considerable farming land, which 
is now rented, in Union county. Mr. Barringer was born on a farm in 
Union county, northeast of Anna. January 2, 1849. and is a son of 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 603 

Charles and Matilda (Hileman) Barringer, both natives of this county. 
Charles Barringer was born September 29, 1825, and for many years 
carried on agricultural pursuits, but after coming to Jonesboro entered 
the mercantile field and was so engaged until about two years prior to 
his death. 

The education of George Barringer was secured in the district and 
town schools, and later he entered a seminary here. He also went to 
Union Academy and the Commercial School for Boys, and while at 
these institutions taught district school for four or five years while 
being engaged in study during the summer months. Giving up the 
profession of teaching, Mr. Barringer entered the tin and stove business, 
in which he continued one or two years, he having furnished the capital 
and his partner the tools, and during 1871 and 1872 held the office of 
deputy assessor. Subsequently he became deputy under Sheriffs Hile- 
man and Nimmo, and in 1878 was elected sheriff of Union county, serv- 
ing in that office for a full term of two years. At that time his health 
failed, and in 1880 he purchased a farm in Union county, on which he 
continued to reside until 1883, then moved to Cape Girardeau county, 
Missouri. In that state Mr. Barringer carried on farming on a tract 
situated near the city of Jackson until the fall of 1891, when he pur- 
chased his present property in Jonesboro, Union county. He now rents 
his land and follows the real estate business, in which he has had con- 
siderable success. He has served as justice of the peace and postmaster 
of Union Point while living on the farm, and from 1894 until 1902 
acted as county superintendent of schools. During his incumbency of 
the latter office, he introduced the eighth grade commencement exer- 
cises, issued certificates to those who passed the examination and re- 
ported to the State Department the first high schools reported from this 
county. Mr. Barringer served as marshal of Jonesboro before he was 
of age, and even at that early time he displayed the same conscientious- 
ness to duty that has characterized his later terms of office. Progressive 
in all matters, he has done much to advance this section, and he is 
regarded as one of Union county's substantial, public-spirited men. 
His fraternal connection is with the A. 0. U. "W., which he joined in 
Missouri, and he also belongs to Jonesboro, Lodge, No. Ill, A. P. & 
A. M. 

Mr. Barringer 's first marriage was to Miss Belle Byrd, of Jackson, 
Missouri, who died August 16, 1891, leaving these children: Georgia 
Belle, who married J. B. Colard, Jr., and died June 28, 1909; Byrd 
Polk, unmarried, who is in the real estate business and owns a pocket 
and carom billiard hall at Cairo; Matilda Hileman, who married J. F. 
Karraker, of Cypress, Illinois; and Mary, who married N. R. Crooks 
and lives in Denver Colorado. Mr. Barringer was married in 1892 to 
Miss Mary Chase, who was born in Jonesboro, daughter of Charles S. 
and Ellen (Cruse) Chase, the former a well-known stone contractor 
and builder, and four children have been born to this union, namely : 
Bessie, Paul, Grace and Ruth. Mr. and Mrs. Barringer and their 
children attend the Methodist Episcopal church. 

JOHN "W. BALLANCE, M. D. The medical profession of Johnson 
county is represented by some of the most skilled and learned men of 
this calling to be found in the state. They have devoted themselves, 
their time, energy and lives to the preservation of public health and the 
alleviation of human ills, but their work is not always appreciated nor 
is it always remunerated as befits the efforts they have expended, yet 
they have cheerfully accepted conditions as they are and have con- 
tinued to carry on the great work without which no community could 



604 HISTOKY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

thrive. One of the successful physicians and surgeons of Johnson 
county who has attained a high place in his profession is Dr. John W. 
Ballance, engaged in practice in his home place, the nourishing city of 
New Burnside, Illinois, where he was born October 6, 1871. 

His father, James H. Ballance, was a son of James H. and a Miss 
(Farland) Ballance, and was fifteen years of age when brought to 
Johnson county from Kentucky in 1851. He was reared on his father's 
farm, and at the age of twenty-one years was married to Jency A. 
Whiteaker, a sister of Captain Whiteaker, and daughter of Hall and 
Elvira (Dameron) Whiteaker, natives of Tennessee. Hall Whiteaker 
was a son of Mark Whiteaker, who came to Southern Illinois in 1818 
and lost his life soon thereafter, while Elvira Dameron was the daugh- 
ter of John Dameron, a Revolutionary soldier and one of the early 
pioneer settlers of Burnside township, Johnson county. In 1862 James 
H. Ballance enlisted in the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but after one and one-half years' service 
contracted sciatic rheumatism and was invalided home. He served as 
first lieutenant of Company G, under Captain Mark Whiteaker, and 
was stationed in and around Memphis, also doing scout duty in 
Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, and taking part in a number of 
battles, including Vicksburg. On his return home he resumed his farm- 
ing operations and became a successful and prominent agriculturist, 
accumulating one hundred and sixty acres of land, in two farms of 
eighty acres each, and died in 1909, his wife passing away when she was 
sixty-five years of age. They had a family of seven children, namely: 
George, who is a court reporter and resides in Johnson county ; Thomas, 
an agriculturist of this county ; M. W., a well-known dentist of Marion, 
Illinois; Adam, a physician of Tulsa, Okla; Earl, a bookkeeper of 
Hutchinson, Kansas; Mrs. Sarah Wood; and John W. 

John W. Ballance received his preliminary education in the public 
schools in the vicinity of his father's farm and the Southern Illinois 
State Normal University, at Carbondale, Illinois, and after teaching 
school for two years entered Rush Medical College, Chicago, from which 
he was graduated with the degree of M. D., in 1896. Beginning the 
practice of medicine at Harrisburg, Illinois, he continued there until 
1909, as surgeon for the Big Four Railroad, and in that year came to 
his home town of New Burnside, which has since been his field of prac- 
tice. Dr. Ballance 's skill as a surgeon has been demonstrated in a 
number of complicated and discouraging cases, and as a physician he 
stands among the foremost medical men of this section. He belongs to 
the American Medical Association, the Association of Railway Surgeons 
and the Illinois State Medical Society, in all of which he is well and 
favorably known. As a public-spirited citizen of New Burnside he has 
always given of his time and means in supporting progressive move- 
ments, and although he has never allowed his name to be used in con- 
nection with public office he takes a keen interest in matters that pertain 
to the welfare of his native county. 

Dr. Ballance was married in 1897, to Miss Emma G. Cummings, of 
Chicago, daughter of Charles and Abigail (Hadlock) Cummings, of 
that city, and to this union there has been born one son, Senn, who is 
now four years old. 

PETER WASTIER. Southern Illinois has recruited some of its lead- 
ing financiers from the agricultural districts, men who have spent the 
major portion of their lives in farming and then, on retiring from that 
vocation, have taken up their residence in the cities and villages, where 
r they have made their abilities and influence felt in various lines of en- 



OF THE 
WffERSITY OF ILLIIiGB 



HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 605 

deavor. Prominent among this class may be mentioned Peter Wastier, 
president of the Johnston City State Bank, who has retired from agri- 
cultural pursuits and is actively and prominently connected with the 
financial interests of Williamson and Franklin counties. He was born 
on the border line of St. Glair and Madison counties, Illinois, December 
16, 1841, and is descended from Franco-German parents. 

The father of Mr. Wastier, also named Peter Wastier, was born in 
Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, at that time French territory, and he came 
to the United States in young manhood, locating in the St. Louis re- 
gion of Illinois. He was married in Madison county, it is believed, to 
Mary Wesser, who died in 1846, while he survived until 1861, and was 
about seventy years old at the time of his death. He was a laborer, 
humble in his home and without pretentions, and left only a good name 
as a heritage for his children. The issue of his marriage were : Faldine, 
who reared his family at Belleville, Illinois, and died there; Michael, 
who was drowned as a young and unmarried man; Mary, who became 
Mrs. Keinbolt and lived in Minnesota; Henry, who never reached ma- 
ture life, and Peter, of Johnston City. 

Peter Wastier inherited a vigorous physique, plenty of industry but 
little disposition to seek knowledge. Opportunities were not numerous 
then, as now, yet what few passed near him were brushed aside and he 
came to maturity barely able to read and write. He made his home with 
his uncle during the last years of his youth and accompanied him into 
Williamson county. They reached here in 1859, and settled on a 
farm some three miles north of the site of Johnston City. In that 
vicinity Peter located when- he was married, and there he made his in- 
dustry count as a farmer for forty years. Nature provided him with an 
aptitude for business and a general atmosphere of thrift prevaded his 
life from the beginning, and he amassed a competence long before he 
reached the evening of life. When the railroad built through the county 
and made a station at Frankfort, he took advantage of the opportunity 
to realize the possibilities of building a town there, and subsequently 
bought land adjacent and laid off one addition after another until Was- 
tier 's Ninth Addition to Frankfort was platted and disposed of. He 
became connected with a movement to locate a bank there, and was 
made president of the Frankfort State Bank. Having more than met 
his expectation from Frankfort, he invested in property in Johnston 
City, did a little building here, and moved to the city in 1902. His 
known standing and business acumen prompted his associates in the 
Johnston City State Bank to elect him president of their institution, 
and he has occupied that position from its organization. 

Although his age and health would have warranted it, Mr. Wastier 
was not connected with military affairs of his state during the Civil 
war. He lent his sympathy to the Federal cause, and, although a 
civilian, had an experience in the fall of 1863 with a squad of robbers 
passing through the country under the disguise of soldiers. As events 
subsequently revealed, they were "bushwhackers," bent on loot, and 
before they reached the home of Mr. Wastier 's uncle they decoyed two 
neighbors away from their homes and murdered them on the pretense 
of having them show the way. This ruse failed of accomplishment at 
the Wastier home, and when they appeared and stated they wanted 
their horses fed and something to eat themselves, Peter refused to go 
to the barn to feed the horses. They then stated that they did not want 
money but were waiting for food, but Peter slipped outside with a six- 
shooter concealed under his coat and awaited developments through the 
door. Presently he heard the "soldiers" make a demand on his aunt 
for money, and he at once opened fire on the robbers and in turn was 



606 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

shot at by them. But the robbers were as badly frightened as the youth 
and his aunt and made their escape without accomplishing their designs. 

On May 30, 1864, Mr. Wastier was married in Williamson county, 
to Miss Barbara Rigel, who died in February, 1906, leaving these chil- 
dren : Minnie, who died unmarried ; Caroline, the wife of Henry Baker, 
a farmer of this county, and Lucy, who married John Hook, and resides 
near Johnston City, on a farm. In February, 1909, Mr. Wastier was 
married to Mrs. Annie Gardner, in Evansville, Indiana. She has one 
daughter by her former marriage, Mrs. Lula Laubscher, the wife of 
Edward Laubscher, a photographer of Johnston City. 

Although Mr. Wastier was brought up under church influences, he 
has not identified himself with any orthodox denomination. His people 
were Lutherans and his attitude is that of a disinterested spectator of 
the work of the church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Blue Lodge 
of Masonry, and his political views are those of the Republican party. 
Mr. Wastier has never faltered in his upward course nor allowed him- 
self to be discouraged, but has pushed steadily onward, and now is con- 
nected with some of the most substantial institutions in the county, and 
is recognized as one of the most progressive men of his part of the 
state. 

GEORGE H. WOOD, the most prominent druggist in Mounds, Illinois, 
has been a resident of this city since the year 1896. During the period 
of his residence here he has not been in any sense a shirker, but has 
borne with unfailing cheerfulness his share of the burdens of civic life. 

Mr. Wood was born in Genoa, Wisconsin, on October 7, 1870, and 
is the son of David S. Wood. The latter named was born near Albany, 
New York, in 1828. In the early seventies he brought his family to 
Labette county, Kansas, where he engaged in the milling industry, and 
he enjoys the peculiar distinction of having erected at Oswego, Kansas, 
the first grist mill to be operated in the southeasterly part of that state. 
While enroute for the West, Mr. Wood stopped in Ohio, and it was in 
that state that he was wedded to Margaret Choate, who still survives 
her husband, he having died in Mound Valley, Kansas, in 1878. The 
widow now resides in Redondo, California. The issue of their union 
are : Mrs. R. J. Hart, of Sherman, California ; Mrs. Jennie Jones, of 
Pasadena, California ; David M., of Los Angeles, California ; Albert S., 
of Redondo, California; George H., of Mounds, Illinois, of whom we 
write; and Walter E. and Clyde, both of Los Angeles, California. 

George H. Wood was dependent upon the common schools of his 
community for his educational preparation for life's battles. His first 
employment was in a drug store in Mound Valley, Kansas, and it was 
there he received his training in pharmaceutics, in the school of prac- 
tical experience. He later worked at various points in the state, and it 
was while he was employed at Frankfort that the opportunity was 
afforded him to become druggist and assistant clerk for the asylum at 
Osawatomie, during part of 1891 and 1892. Following that period of 
service he came to Illinois and secured the position of druggist for the 
State Hospital for the Insane at Anna in 1894, where he remained for 
four years, coming from Anna to Mounds and engaging in business in 
his chosen profession, which business he still conducts. 

During the years of Mr. Wood's residence in Mounds he has given 
generously of his time and ability to the service of the city of his adop- 
tion. No civic duty has been to him an irksome task. He has served 
his city as both its clerk and treasurer. He has served on the City 
Council of Mounds. He has been mayor of the city, and it was under 
his administration that the era of the granitoid walk was inaugurated 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 607 

in Mounds. He is president of the Mounds Building and Loan Associ- 
ation, as well as being a director of the First State Bank of the city. 
In all of these offices, both of a civic and private nature, he has given 
valuable service, always acquitting himself honorably and creditably. 

Mr. Wood was married in Carbondale, Illinois, June 27, 1893, to 
Miss Ada M. Hickam, a daughter of Curtis Hickam. Mrs. Wood is one 
of three children, the others being Mrs. Dan M. Anderson, of Carbon- 
dale, and Miss Ida Hickam. 

In the fifteen years of Mr. Wood's residence in Mounds he has been 
especially successful in a financial way, and has accumulated a goodly 
share of this world's goods. He is the owner of his place of business, 
as well as his splendid residence and numerous other pieces of valuable 
property in and about Mounds. He is not a man of great fraternal in- 
clination, the only society of which he is a member being the Knights 
of Columbus, of which order he is an enthusiastic and valuable member. 

JOHN D. DILL. Exhibiting in everything he undertakes the all- 
conquering enterprise, tireless energy and sturdy self-reliance of 
Illinois manhood, which has made the great Prairie state one of the 
leading commonwealths of the American Union, built its mighty 
metropolis and other imposing marts of industry and commerce, and 
developed all its enormous resources to their present magnitude and 
power, John D. Dill, of Carbondale, has achieved a success so far in 
life which is gratifying in its character and extent, but is only the 
logical result of his well applied diligence and business capacity. 

Mr. Dill is a native of this state, born in Pope county on September 
30, 1878, and a son of Andrew B. and Miranda C. (Hughes) Dill, long 
residents and highly respected citizens of that county. The father is a 
carpenter and builder, always interested in public improvements and 
the growth and improvement of the region around him, and contrib- 
uting his full share in promoting its advancement. The son inherited 
this trait of his character, and he, too, has taken a great interest and an 
active part in helping to strengthen, improve and make more influential 
every community in which he has lived since arriving at man's estate. 

John D. Dill began his education in the public schools of Johnson 
county and completed it at the high school in Vienna in the same 
county. Soon after leaviner school he went to Sikeston in southeastern 
Missouri, and there clerked for some time in a general store. He 
entered the employ of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company at 
Sikeston in May, 1905, and eight months later was promoted to an 
assisting superintendency. After serving in that capacity two years he 
was promoted to the superintendency and placed in charge of the Car- 
bondale district, in 1908, which includes about thirty-five towns and 
five branch offices, and has thirty-one men regularly employed, all 
under the direct control and supervision of Mr. Dill. He has been a 
resident of Carbondale since February, 1908, and has made rapid 
progress in gaining the confidence and esteem of the people of the city 
and attaining a high rank in its business circles. He is also a director of 
the Citizens Water, Light and Power Company. 

On January 7. 1901, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Martha J. 
Carter, a native of Vienna, Illinois, and a daughter of William H. and 
Cornelia J. (Verhines) Carter, former residents of that city but now 
living in Sikeston, Missouri, where the father is prosperously engaged 
in merchandising. For a number of years before entering mercantile 
life he was a vigorous and successful farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Dill have 
one child of their own, their son, John McMullin, and an adopted 



608 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

daughter, whose name is Bessie M., both of whom are attending school 
in Carbondale. 

The parents belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and are 
active in every phase of its evangelizing and improving work. The 
father is a member of the official board of his congregation and presi- 
dent of the Epworth League attached to it. He is also president of the 
Mt. Vernon District Epworth League, of which the Carbondale organ- 
ization is a part. He takes a great interest in all that concerns the 
League, and is a regular attendant of all its meetings, local, state and 
national. In fraternal relations he is a Freemason and an Odd Fellow. 
In the Order of Odd Fellows he is a past vice grand, and has served as 
treasurer and trustee of his lodge. He was particularly active in this 
fraternity while living in Sikeston, Missouri, but he has by no means 
neglected its claims or those of the Masonic order during his residence 
in Carbondale, and his membership in both is warmly appreciated. 

JUDGE K. C. RONALDS. Long and varied experience in legal juris- 
prudence is not sufficient to fit a man for the high office of Judge of the 
County Court, for he must also be possessed of sound judgment, an 
analytical turn of mind and a keen insight into human nature. Such 
qualities, combined with a high sense of honor and a thorough ground- 
ing in the various cases which form precedence for all judges, must 
ultimately work out to a dignified success. The Hon. K. C. Ronalds, 
judge of the County Court of Saline county, Illinois, is one of the emi- 
nent members of the Southern Illinois legal profession. He was born 
in Grayville, White county, Illinois, June 6, 1878, and there received his 
education in the common schools. He graduated from the high school 
in 1899, studied law in a law office, and was admitted to the bar in 1900, 
and in the following year located in Eldorado. He served as city at- 
torney of Grayville for one term and in a like capacity in Eldorado for 
a term, and was then elected and served as a member of the Forty-fourth 
General Assembly from the fifty-first district. In 1911 he was elected 
county judge of Saline county, and he has since held that office with 
ability and dignity. 

In 1901 Judge Ronalds was united in marriage with Miss Blanche 
Westbrook, and three children have been born to this union, namely: 
Marjory, who is five years old ; Lucille, seven years of age ; and Nairive 
W., who has reached the age of ten. Judge Ronalds is engaged in a 
private practice under the firm name of Ronalds & Grable, and they 
represent a number of the leading fire and life insurance companies. 

JAMES N. WOOD. One of the leading business industries of Anna, 
Illinois, is the plant of James N. Wood, who for twenty years has been 
identified with the commercial interests of this city as a manufacturer 
of boxes, barrels, baskets and fruit packages, and has developed his pres- 
ent enterprise from a small beginning into one of the leading factories of 
its kind in Southern Illinois. Mr. Wood belongs to the class of self- 
made men who have done so much toward building up this section of the 
state. He started in life as a poor boy, without either educational or 
financial advantages, and the success which has attended his endeavors 
has been the result of persistency, industry and a determination to win 
in the face of all obstacles. A native of Johnson county, Illinois, Mr. 
Wood was born in 1855, and is a son of Henry and Nancy (Reed) Wood, 
natives of Tennessee. 

The education of Mr. Wood was limited to several months attend- 
ance in the public schools, and he was obliged to go to work after the. 
death of his father, who was first a farmer in Johnson county and later 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 609 

a teamster in Anna, whence he came in 1869. As a youth Mr. Wood 
contributed to the support of his widowed mother and his younger 
brother, his first employer being R. B. Stinson, who conducted a stave 
and heading factory. During the six years that he remained with Mr. 
Stinson he became familiar with all the details of the business, and after 
leaving his employ worked at the cooper trade until 1891, at which time 
he established himself in business as a manufacturer of barrels, boxes, 
baskets and fruit packages, and the business has grown steadily year by 
year. He now ships his goods to various points, and his sales aggregate 
on an average of $10,000 per annum. Mr. Wood is possessed of excel- 
lent business tact and ability as well as indefatigable energy, and has 
an extensive acquaintance and solid reputation, not only throughout the 
section in which he does business, but also in the counties adjoining. He 
has found time from his business activities to serve his adopted city in 
public positions, was mayor of Anna in 1906 and 1907, and served as 
alderman from the First Ward for two terms, displaying unquestionable 
administrative abilities. His career has been a credit to himself in every 
respect, and creditable to the city in which he has so long lived and is 
so well known. His fraternal connection is with the Modern Woodmen 
of America. 

In 1878 Mr. Wood was united in marriage with Miss Margaret 
Faulkner, of Illinois, and they had three children : Charles, who died at 
the age of four years ; Clara, born in St. Louis, who is now the wife of 
Cilus Bishop ; and Susie, who died in infancy. Mr. Wood's second mar- 
riage was to Miss Alice Maxfield, of Union county, and to this union 
there have been born children as follows: Stella and Birdie, who died in 
infancy; Harry, who is engaged in the cooper business in Anna; Fred, 
who is assisting his father in business; Sybil, John and Glenn, residing 
at home ; Ralph, who died in infancy ; Helen ; Robert, who is deceased ; 
and Orlean. Mrs. Wood and the children are members of the Baptist 
church, and Mr. Wood, while not a member of any special denomination, 
has been a liberal supporter of religious and charitable movements. 

WILLIAM P. GREEN. It is with pleasure that the biographer takes 
up the life record of William P. Green, one of the most prosperous and 
best known of the citizens of Cobden and a man who is identified in an 
important sense with its development and that of the country surround- 
ing. A man of strong commercial instinct and of considerable executive 
ability, all enterprises with which he becomes identified seem pretty sure 
of success. For twenty-three years a salesman, he has dealt since 1903 
in coal and ice in Cobden and he is also leasing four valuable farms for 
apple-growing, being associated in this with the Lamer Brothers under 
the firm name of Lamer, Green & Lamer. They have devoted two hun- 
dred and forty acres to this branch of agriculture and have 9,000 fine 
trees, all apple. Since 1900, when they first engaged in this interesting 
work they have made sales to the amount of $11,043 and have 1,200 
barrels in storage, which raises this amount to $15,000. Mr. Green also 
sells spraying machines and has recently sold one car-load of these 
commodities to fruitgrowers. 

William P. Green was born October 28, 1854, in Union county, 
Illinois, the son of William and Cornelia (Bennett) Green. Nathaniel 
Green, the grandfather, an energetic South Carolinian, came to this 
county about 1803. He was the father of Mastin, David and William 
Green. Mastin and David were born in South Carolina and William 
was born in this county in 1806. The father died here soon after and 
the boys located in the Mississippi Bottoms. These brothers are all 
dead. 



610 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

When they located in the Mississippi Bottoms they resided for a time 
with an uncle who managed Green's Ferry on the Father of Waters. 
The boys lived the wholesome, strenuous life of the pioneer, raising 
crops in the summer and in the fall and winter going into the woods 
where they made a flat-boat on which they floated their produce down to 
New Orleans and sold it. They were industrious and thrifty and in 
this way accumulated considerable money. In 1844 they were driven 
out of the bottoms by floods and they went to the hills. David Green 
settled on his farm at Green's Crossing near Cobden and opened a 
general merchandise store at that place in 1854. William Green, father 
of him whose name inaugurates this review, removed to Jonesboro and 
continued farming. He owned a section of land west of that place, and this 
he tilled up to the time of his death in 1865. This good man, who was 
respected and influential in his community, reared a family of four 
children. Florence W., born October 26, 1834, died August 15, 1899. 
He married Annetta Cover January 17, 1865, and their surviving chil- 
dren are as follows: Otis, Daniel, John H., Florence E., James A. and 
Roy. Mollie. second of the subject's sisters, married Calvin Miller first 
and after his death became the wife of A. C. Stage, her present residence 
being in Chicago. The subject is third in order of birth and the young- 
est member of the family is David M., an Arkansas farmer. The father, 
William Green Sr., was one of the organizers of the Union County 
Agricultural & Mechanical Society, which held the first county fair in 
this county. He was a member and deacon in the Baptist church of 
Jonesboro and his hand was given to all good causes. In his time he 
accumulated considerable wealth. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Cornelia Bennett, died in 1855, in the infancy of William, Jr. 

William P. Green received his education in the public schools and 
continued to reside upon the paternal homestead until 1877. Even as a 
very young man he manifested commercial instincts and was most suc- 
cessful as a salesman. He has ever since been active in this line and in 
1880 he established himself independently in the mercantile business, 
in which, as previously mentioned, he remained continuously engaged 
until 1903. His subsequent interests and activities have been touched 
upon. Longfellow has said, "The talent of success is nothing more than 
what you can do well and doing well whatever you do, without any 
thought of fame. ' ' Illustrative of this sentiment has been the life of the 
subject and his career should serve as an incentive and inspiration for 
others. 

No one could be more loyal to the best interests of the section than 
Mr. Green, for it is dear to him with many associations and for over a 
century has been the scene of the family history, of which he has every 
reason to be proud. Whenever he has served in public office it has been 
with faithfulness and efficiency and doubtless even higher honors lie 
before him. From 1908 to the spring of 1912 he served as police magis- 
trate ; he has acted as town clerk several times and for nine years was 
a member of the Cobden board of education. In addition to his activ- 
ities previously mentioned, Mr. Green has other interests of exceedingly 
broad scope and importance and has leased 40,000 acres from the Finley 
Oil & Gas Development Company in Southern Illinois for the purpose 
of prospective oil and gas development. His executive ability, tireless 
energy, engineering skill and genius in the broad combination and con- 
centration of applicable forces, it is safe to say, will make a success of 
this vast enterprise. The company of Lamer, Green & Lamer have 
also recently engaged in the buying and selling of fruits and products 
in carload lots. 

Mr. Green laid the foundations of a happy household and congenial 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 611 

life companionship by his union in 1886 to Ada B. Lind, of Cobden, 
daughter of A. Lind, one of the old residents. Of the five children born 
to them, three are living, namely: Joseph B., of California; Cornelia, 
teller of the Cobden Bank ; and Clarence. The family are active in the 
good work of the Baptist church and the fraternal affiliation of the head 
of the house is with the Knights of Pythias. The name of Green is 
widely and favorably known, the third generation in this section reflect- 
ing the good qualities of the first. 

JOHN L. OZBURN. One of the best known and most highly esteemed 
citizens and representative business men of Jackson county is this well 
known resident of Murphysboro, where he is now engaged in the lumber 
and building-supply business. Mr. Ozburn is a native of Jackson 
county and a member of one of its honored pioneer families. The high 
regard in which he is held in his home county has been significantly 
shown by his having been called upon to serve in numerous city and 
county offices, in each of which his course was such as to justify to the 
fullest extent the public trust reposed in him. His standing in the 
community is such as to entitle him to special recognition in this history 
of southern Illinois. 

John Logan Ozburn was born on a farm in Jackson township, Jack- 
son county, Illinois, on the 20th of February, 1851, and is a son of Lin- 
dorf and Diza Ann (Glenn) Ozburn, natives of Virginia. The father 
of Mr. Ozburn was one of the pioneer settlers of Jackson county and 
here became a citizen of prominence and influence and an aggressive 
and successful business man. In addition to developing an excellent 
farm he also operated a saw and grist mill, and as a citizen he was 
distinctively progressive and public-spirited. He espoused the cause 
of the Republican party at the time of its organization and thereafter 
continued his allegiance to the same until his death. He served as a 
valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil "War, for which he enlisted in 
an Illinois regiment of volunteer infantry and' he became colonel of his 
regiment, which he commanded with marked ability. He met his death 
in 1864, at the hands of a cowardly assassin, this tragic event occurring 
at Carbondale, Jackson county. His widow passed to the life eternal in 
1895, and of their children three sons and two daughters are now living. 

John L. Ozburn is indebted to the public schools and summer schools 
of his native county for his early educational discipline and his initi- 
atory experience in connection with the practical duties and responsi- 
bilities of life was that acquired on the farm. In an independent way 
he was identified with the great basic industry of agriculture for a 
period of ten years, and for a time he was concerned with coal-mining 
operations in his home county. Twenty years thereafter were devoted 
to clerical or official work as bookkeeper and executive, and his record in 
all these relations has been marked by the utmost fidelity and by ef- 
fective service. 

In 1878 Mr. Ozburn was elected county surveyor, and of this office he 
continued the incumbent until 1882, in which year he was appointed 
postmaster of Murphysboro, the thriving judicial center and metropo- 
lis of his native county. He remained in tenure of this office for four 
and one-half years, and in 1894 he was elected county clerk. He held 
this office until 1898 and was forthwith given further evidence of popu- 
lar esteem and confidence in his election to the office of master in 
chancery. The duties of this position engrossed his attention from 
1898 to 1900. and for the ensuing three years he served as deputy county 
treasurer. These brief data show that Mr. Ozburn was retained in 
public office in virtually a consecutive way for a full quarter of a cen- 



612 . HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

tury, and the county of his birth gives in its official records due evidence 
of his long and acceptable service as an executive, the while his home 
city has not failed to mark its appreciation in a similar way. Thus it 
should be noted that he has served as city engineer of Murphysboro, 
as a member of its board of aldermen and as city treasurer. Finally 
he was nominated for mayor, on an independent ticket, but he was 
unable to overcome the organized forces of the two dominating parties 
and consequently met defeat, though he received a representative en- 
dorsement at the polls. 

In 1903 Mr. Ozburn purchased the lumber and building-supply 
business which he has since conducted with vigor and success and in 
connection with which he has gained prestige as one of 'the substantial 
and representative business men of his native county. 

In a generic way, where national and state issues are involved, Mr. 
Ozburn gives his support to the principles and policies for which the 
Republican party stands sponser, but in local affairs he has maintained 
an independent attitude to a large extent by giving his support to the 
candidates and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. He 
is affiliated with the Murphysboro lodges of the Knights of Pythias and 
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and both he and his wife 
are zealous and valued members of the First Methodist Episcopal 
church, of the board of trustees of which he is a member. 

At Mount Vernon, Jefferson county, this state, on the 12th of 
August, 1874, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ozburn to Miss Fan- 
nie Morris, daughter of Rev. Charles W. Morris, who was long in 
zealous service as a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church and 
who passed the closing years of his life at Murphysboro, Illinois. Mr. 
and Mrs. Ozburn became the parents of three sons : Harry O. is cashier 
of the Citizens' State & Savings Bank of Murphysboro; Thomas L., 
who was graduated in the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, 
Maryland, as a member of the class of 1902, became lieutenant com- 
mander in the navy and for a year was in command of the battleship 
"Texas." His promising career was cut short by his death, which 
occurred at the Brooklyn navy yard, on the 2d of July, 1911, at which 
time he was thirty-two years of age. He had made an admirable record 
as an officer in the navy and his personal popularity was on a parity 
with his sterling attributes of character. His death was the severest 
bereavement that has marked the ideal married life of Mr. and Mrs. 
Ozburn. George J., the youngest son, remains at the parental home. 

MELANCTHON EASTEBDAT is well known to the citizenship of Cairo 
as one of the early title men of Alexander county. He identified him- 
self with this part of Illinois in 1879 and the business phase of his life 
here has been devoted to making abstracts and examining titles to real 
estate. He has not limited the outflow of his energies to business, how- 
ever, for he has given much time and energy to those great moral and 
spiritual movements that make for the betterment of mankind. He has 
been prominently identified with the movements to save children, to 
encourage temperance, to combat the influence of the saloon and to 
strengthen and extend the church. 

Mr. Easterday has lived in Illinois since 1853, but he was born in 
Jefferson county, Ohio, June 6, 1840. By ancestry he comes from one 
of the old German families of Frederick county, Maryland. His great- 
grandfather, Martin Easterday, was the German ancestor who settled 
upon the noted Carroll Manor, between Middletown and Frederick, 
Maryland. There he passed a peaceful and successful life as a farmer. 
He married a Miss Rheinhardt, and one of their children was Christian 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 613 

Easterday, the grandfather of Melancthon, the subject of this review. 
Away back in the time of Martin Luther and of Melancthon, the great 
German reformers, the first of the Easterdays was found. He was a 
foundling, and it was upon the doorstep of a church on an easter 
morning that the babe was discovered, and when he was taken into the 
church to be christened it was decided to honor him with the name of 
the day and of the religion into which he was baptized by calling him 
"Christian Easterday." In each generation of this family since there 
has been a "Christian." There usually also, has been a Martin, and 
the founder of the American branch was the seventh Martin removed 
from the head of the Easterday house. 

Melancthon Easterday 's father was David Easterday, who was born 
in Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1815. Fifteen years before David's birth 
his father left the Maryland home and brought his family down the 
Ohio river by flatboat and made another home among the frontiersmen 
of that new commonwealth. He died there, and his children grew up 
and scattered to various parts of the land. Christian married Maria 
Stemple, and of this union were born Daniel, David, Martin V., Elias, 
Catherine (who became the wife of 0. J. Cooper and died in Carroll 
county, Ohio), Elizabeth (who married George Gulp and died in Noko- 
mis, Illinois), and Charlotte (who became the wife of William Cooper 
and passed away in Jefferson county, Ohio). 

David Easterday came to mature years with only a moderate edu- 
cation, but he made it serve him in the further acquirement of a fund 
of general information as the years went by. He was a man of studious 
habits, carefully followed the religious and political thought of his day, 
was a member of the Lutheran church and attended its synods and took 
a modest part in its every day life. He married Margaret Zimmerman, 
who died at Nokomis, Illinois, in 1904, at the age of eighty-seven, while 
her husband died in 1892. Their children were Melancthon, the sub- 
ject of this biography; Luther, of Vandalia, Illinois; John Z., of Sidney, 
Nebraska; Elias, of Fredericktown, Missouri; Elizabeth A., wife of 
Monroe Bost, who resides in Irving, Illinois; Dr. George S., of Watson- 
ville, California ; Dr. Jacob S., of Albuquerque, New Mexico ; Sidney 
D., of Greeley, Colorado ; and the Misses Charlotte J. and Maria F., 
of Albuquerque, New Mexico, both ranch women of that section. 

Melancthon Easterday was a lad of thirteen when his father con- 
tinued the family journey, begun by his ancestor, down the Ohio and 
up the Mississippi to St. Louis and established the name on the soil of 
Illinois. He left the steamboat, the "Twin City," at St. Louis and 
crossed the unclaimed domain to Montgomery county and opened a 
farm. In such a country home his eldest son grew up and attended the 
district school, spending some months at the State University, then 
located at Springfield. He taught school for a short time before the 
opening of the Civil war. He enlisted in 1862, at Ramsey, Illinois, in 
Company D, Sixty-eighth Infantry, under Captain J. C. Hall and 
Colonel 'Elias Stuart. The command had its rendezvous at Spring- 
field until it was ordered east to defend the capital. After making 
the trip across the Allegheny Mountains in cattle cars, exposed to the 
cold and rain of early spring, Mr. Easterday was ready for the hospi- 
tal when the command reached Washington and he lay in a hospital 
for several months and was then discharged as unfit for service. He 
resumed teaching first in Shelby county and then at Vandalia for some 
time. He then left the school room to take up service with the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company, and on giving up this employment he en- 
gaged in merchandising with a brother at Vandalia. This he con- 
tinued till 1879, when he came to Cairo and established his future home. 



614 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

On taking up his labors in this city, Mr. Easterday purchased a set 
of abstracts, completed them and has grown into the affairs of the town, 
as well as having made for himself a desirable livelihood. He has re- 
mained a private citizen, save as he has aided movements in opposition 
to evil. He is one of the champions of Prohibition and makes his politi- 
cal home in that party. He has served as chairman of the Anti-Saloon 
League and has been for many years actively identified with the work 
of rescuing children and of finding homes for orphans through the 
Orphan Asylum of Southern Illinois, of which he is the secretary. He 
is a member of the Presbyterian church and is clerk of the session. He 
has done active Sabbath-school work both as assistant and as super- 
intendent of the school, and has frequently represented the congre- 
gation at Presbytery. He has often attended the Synod of his church 
and was a delegate to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church 
at Buffalo in 1904. 

He was married first in Montgomery county, Illinois, his wife being 
Miss Irene Derr. She died, leaving a son, Elmer P., circuit clerk and 
recorder of Pulaski county, Illinois. His second wife was Miss Ada 
J. Dieckman, whom he married in Vandalia, Illinois. She passed away 
within a year, and he married his present wife, Rosa Nagel, February 
22, 1877, in Greenville, Illinois. Their only child is Ruth Olive. 

COLUMBUS BROWN, M. D. Some of the most successful members 
of the medical profession have found their practice and the exhaustive 
study necessary to keep abreast of the constant discoveries of science 
so engrossive as to preclude the possibility of active participation in 
outside matters. Without exception such men have won the confidence 
and approval not only of their patients but those with whom they are 
associated, to appreciate their conscientious fidelity to duty. Dr. Colum- 
bus Brown belongs to this class of medical men and is recognized as 
one of the most able of his profession in Williamson county. Dr. Brown 
was born on a farm between Herrin and Carterville, November 2, 1868, 
and. is a son of Captain John Brown, whose birth occurred in Union 
county in 1826. 

Rev. Jeremiah Brown, the grandfather of Dr. Brown, came as an 
early settler of Illinois from the state of North Carolina, beginning his 
labors as a Baptist minister here in 1845. His children were Grant 
Wagoner ; Captain John ; Mrs. Betty Miller ; Frank, who died in Marion 
in 1893 ; George, who died at Carterville ; Mrs. Mary Davis, who died 
at Creal Springs; and Henderson, whose death occurred in Union 
county. Captain John Brown came into his majority when this section 
was much like the frontier. He had just passed his minority when the 
war with Mexico broke out over the admission of Texas, and he joined 
the army raised to carry on the war. Serving through to the close of 
that struggle, he resumed the duties incident to farm life, which he had 
abandoned only temporarily, and continued to engage therein until his 
death, in February, 1899, save for a period he spent as a merchant at 
Metropolis and Crainville, Illinois. Locating in Williamson county 
prior to the Civil war, he entered the volunteer service in August, 1862, 
and was commissioned captain of Company D, One Hundred and Twenty- 
eighth Regiment, Illinois Infantry, which rendezvoused at Camp 
Butler, Springfield, and was then ordered to Cairo, where it was disor- 
ganized in May, 1864, and all of its officers, save the colonel, discharged. 
Captain Brown then returned home and took up farming again. He 
never entered the political field, being content to serve the Democratic 
party only as a voter. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Martha 
J. Wilkins, was a daughter of Jacob Wilkins, of Union county, and 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 615 

died in June, 1910, at the age of eighty-three years, having been the 
mother of the following children : Fatima, the wife of Ephraim Herrin, 
father of the city of Herrin; Mrs. Josie Herrin, of Creal Springs; 
Gertrude, who married C. H. Murrah and resides in Creal Springs; 
Curtis, living in Boulder, Colorado ; Cornelia, the widow of Isaac Ham- 
mer, residing in East St. Louis; Florence, who became the wife of 
Thomas Stotlar, living in Herrin ; Orion J., who married A. K. Elles, 
of Herrin ; Cora, who married E. T. Steele and lives at Urbana ; and 
Dr. Columbus, of this article. 

Columbus Brown's early life was spent on his father's farm, where 
he worked while attending school at Creal Springs. Equipped to enter 
either a business or professional life, he chose the latter and studied 
medicine at the Missouri Medical College, St. Louis, from which he was 
graduated March 29, 1899. He first chose the town of Creal Springs 
for his field of practice and remained there eight years, and since that 
time has practiced in Herrin. He has served as vice-president of the 
Williamson county Medical Society, and is a member of the Illinois, 
Southern Illinois and American Medical Associations. Dr. Brown's 
practice receives his whole attention, but he has shown his public spirit 
by serving as a member of the board of education from the Fourth 
Ward. Like his father, he is a Democrat. 

On August 12, 1902, Dr. Brown was married in Independence, Mis- 
souri, to Miss Lula Slack, daughter of Anthony Slack, a retired mer- 
chant of that city, and sister to Miss Josephine, of Independence, and 
Edward, Anthony and Paul Slack, business men of Kansas City. Dr. 
and Mrs. Brown have had four children, namely : Martha, John, An- 
thony and Curtis. 

WILLIAM AUGUSTUS LOONEY, M. D. Among those whose activities 
in the field of medicine have made their names well known in Southern 
Illinois was the late William Augustus Looney, M. D., who for more 
than forty years followed his profession in Vienna, and who also at- 
tained an eminent position in public and social life. Starting life as a 
poor lad without influence or financial aid, he earned the means with 
which to pursue his medical studies, and eventually rose to such a high 
position that his death was a distinct loss to the community where he 
labored for so long. William Augustus Looney was born in Henry 
county, Tennessee, April 9, 1831, and was a son of William E. Looney, 
and grandson of Samuel Looney, a native of the Isle of Man, of Scotch- 
Irish descent. William E. Looney migrated from his native state of 
North Carolina to Tennessee, and in 1834 removed to Hinds county, 
Mississippi, where he died in 1836, after spending his life as a stock 
buyer. He married Phetna M. Frazier, daughter of Julian and Eliza- 
beth (McBee) Frazier. 

William A. Looney was two years of age when his father died, and 
his mother engaged in school teaching in order to rear her son and give 
him educational advantages. After her death, in 1855, he removed to 
Illinois and began teaching school in Johnson county, in order to ac- 
cumulate enough money to put him through medical college. He began 
the practice of his profession in Williamson county in 1865, during 
which year he attended a course of lectures at Rush Medical College, 
Chicago, and graduated from that institution in 1868. In 1861 he 
raised the first company for the war in Williamson county, Company 
C, of the Thirty-first Illinois Infantry, of which he was elected captain. 
On November 7, 1861, at Belmont. Missouri, he was severely wounded, 
but took part in the siege of Corinth, after which he was honorably dis- 
charged on accoiint of disability. In January, 1862, he removed to Vienna 



616 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

where he continued to follow his profession until his death, January 
5, 1903. He was one of the leading practitioners of his city, and also 
became prominent in politics, serving with distinction in the State 
Legislature in 1864. His profession connected him with the Southern 
Illinois Medical Association, and he was also a member of Vienna 
Lodge, No. 150, Vienna Chapter, No. 67, and Cairo Commandery, No. 
13, of Masonry. Dr. Looney was a popular comrade of Vienna Post, 
No. 221, G. A. R., and was an intimate friend of General John A. Logan. 
He was a strong feature in the Methodist Episcopal church work of 
Southern Illinois. 

In 1856 Dr. Looney was married in Galloway county, Kentucky, 
to Miss Rachel F. Caldwell, who died in 1872, leaving three children : 
James E., John T. and Fanny A. His second marriage occurred in 
1874, when he married Miss Maria Oliver, who died in 1884, and in 
March, 1886, he was united with Fannie E. Whitehead, in Indiana, 

Fanny E. Whitehead was born in Vienna, Johnson county, Illinois, 
daughter of Charles Fletcher and Maria Theresa (Weismeyer) White- 
head, natives of Illinois and Germany, respectively. Her grandfather, 
Silas Whitehead, who resided near Martinsville, Illinois, reared a family 
of several sons, one of whom, Silas, was a journalist at Marshall, Illi- 
nois. He was a prominent pioneer lawyer and subsequently became a 
judge. Her father was a veteran of the Civil war and wielded a power- 
ful influence among his fellows. Charles Fletcher Whitehead was born 
in 1835, and was reared near Marshall, Illinois, where he received his 
education in the public school. He early learned the tinner and hard- 
ware business at Evansville, Illinois, with an uncle, Thomas Scantlin, 
who was a pioneer of Evansville, Indiana, and but lately died, at the 
age of ninety-eight years and five months. About 1850 the father came 
to Vienna, where he was employed in a hardware establishment. At 
the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in Company M, Sixth Illinois 
Cavalry, in which he served two years, and his death occurred in 1868, 
from the effects of typhoid fever contracted during the war. His first 
wife died in 1860, leaving one daughter, Fanny E., and he married 
(second) Ann Caldwell, who died in 1867, leaving two children, L. C. 
and Henry Parks Whitehead. His third marriage was to Romaine 
Whitney, of near Martinsville, and she now resides at Casey, Illinois, 
and has a daughter, Cassandra. After her father's death, Fannie E. 
Whitehead went to live with an aunt in Pike county, Indiana, who edu- 
cated her, and with whom she was living at the time of her marriage 
to Dr. Looney in 1886. Dr. and Mrs. Looney had three children : Mrs. 
Esther Dill, who resides in St. Louis ; Joseph Whitehead, who is attend- 
ing high school ; and Harold Frazier. 

Mrs. Looney is now the owner of an excellent farm of one hundred 
and forty-three acres situated near Vienna, which she manages success- 
fully. She is a faithful member of the Methodist church, and is widely 
known in religious and charitable work. 

HON. GEORGE E. MARTIN. One of the able and representative mem- 
bers of the Mound City bar is Hon. George E. Martin, who has not 
only won success as a practitioner of law but has also exerted a wide- 
felt and beneficial influence in public affairs, his service as representa- 
tive from the Fifty-first assembly district in the Forty-first General As- 
sembly of Illinois having been marked for its strict devotion to duty 
and a keen discrimination in regard to those interests which largely 
concern the public at large and bear upon general progress. 

Mr. Martin is a native of Franklin county, Illinois, born on a farm 
in the southwest corner of that county on July 7, 1865. Stephen B. 



OF THE 
ttBVEBSITy OF 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 617 

Martin, his father, gave the whole of his active career to agricultural 
pursuits and died on his Illinois farm in 1887, when sixty-four years 
of age. He was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1823, was reared 
to farm pursuits, and there acquired an ordinary common school educa- 
tion. In 1857 he left his native state and removed to Illinois, where 
he spent the remainder of his life. Stephen B. Martin was the son 
of Stephen Martin, a native of Virginia, who migrated to Kentucky in 
the pioneer days of that state and made it his final home. Of the 
children born to Stephen Martin and his wife, Stephen B., Clayton, 
Caswell, Melvina and John J., the first and fourth mentioned came 
to Illinois. The other children remained in their native state. The 
sister Melvina married William Stayton and died in Illinois. Stephen 
B. Martin wedded Narcissa J. Russell, a daughter of James S. and 
Lucy (Tiner) Russell, who were prominent farmer citizens of William- 
son county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Russell were the parents of the 
following children: James; Milton; John; Bettie, who became Mrs. 
Benjamin Stocks; Sophronia, who became the wife of Henry Stocks; 
Mary, who is now Mrs. William Chamberlain, of Junction City, Kan- 
sas; Mrs. Martin, who passed away in 1888, at the age of sixty-four; 
and Samuel Russell, the youngest child, who became a very prominent 
man in the public life of Williamson county, Illinois. The patriotism 
of the Russell family cannot be questioned. James S. Russell was a 
veteran of the Black Hawk war, and two of his sons, John and Milton, 
were numbered among the brave and gallant defenders of our National 
life during the war of the Rebellion, each having given up his life as a 
sacrifice to the Union cause. Milton was killed, in the siege of Vicks- 
burg, and John was wounded at the battle of Shiloh and died from the 
effects of his wound while at home on furlough. To Stephen B. and 
Narcissa (Russell) Martin were born four children, namely: Eva, who 
is the wife of John Vaughan, of Herrin, Illinois; Melvina, now Mrs. 
Philip Kirkpatrick, who resides near Paducah, Kentucky ; John L. 
Martin, who married Miss Jennie Hood and who is a prominent 
farmer near Olmstead, Illinois; and George E. Martin, the subject of 
this review. 

Mr. Martin was reared a farmer boy and remained at the parental 
home until past his majority. He finished his literary education at the 
Southern Illinois Normal University and spent nine years in the school 
room as a teacher of country and village schools, his final work in that 
line being as principal of the schools at Ullin, Illinois. This, however, 
he made an initial step to other professional labor, for he had decided 
to take up law, and to this end he began a course of reading under 
Judge Wall, of Mound City. Later he became a student in the law 
department of the Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, and 
was graduated from that institution in 1893. He was admitted to the 
bar by supreme court examination in August of his graduation year, 
and at once began the active practice of his profession in Mound City. 
He subsequently entered into partnership with his former preceptor 
under the firm style of Wall & Martin, which relation continues to the 
present time. Possessing all the requisite qualities of an able lawyer, 
Mr. Martin has from the time of his admission to the bar continued in 
practice in Mound City, his labors accompanied by a success that has 
gained for him a place among the representative members of the Pulaski 
county bar. 

He is a Republican in politics, and as such was elected to represent 
the Fifty -first assembly district in the Forty-first General Assembly of 
Illinois, his district comprising the counties of Pulaski, Johnson, Mas- 
sac, Pope and Saline. His service in that body was marked for its 



618 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

vigorous and careful application to the interests of his State and his 
constituency, and the standing which he held among his colleagues in 
the Assembly was attested by his important committee duties. He was 
made chairman of the committee on judicial department and practice, 
and served as a member of the committee on elections, the judiciary and 
insurance committees, and the committee to visit state institutions. He 
was also a constructive legislator, having secured the passage of a law 
increasing the term of school one month, thus requiring a term of not 
less than six months each year instead of five months in all public 
schools of the state. This one accomplishment alone entitles him to 
rank as one of his state 's greatest benefactors, for the law 's good results 
are beyond measure. 

In 1900 Mr. Martin was elected state's attorney of Pulaski county, 
and in 1904 was re-elected to that office. He was renominated without 
opposition in 1908, but resigned the nomination, and has since devoted 
his attention to the private practice of law, though at the present time 
he is city attorney of Mound City. He is a prominent worker in his 
party and has served as a delegate to different Republican county, con- 
gressional and state conventions. 

On December 24, 1895, at Mound City, Mr. Martin married Miss Ada 
L. Read, a daughter of I. W. Read, a veteran Union soldier from middle 
Tennessee. They have one son. Russell Read, born in 1900. Mr. and 
Mrs. Martin are members of Grace Methodist Episcopal church of Mound 
City. 

Mr. Martin is a director of the Mound City Building and Loan Asso- 
ciation. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of 
America. He represented his lodge of the last named order at a special 
Head Camp meeting in Chicago in 1912, and prior to that, or in 1911, 
had served as a delegate to the Head Camp at Buffalo, New York. 

As a lawyer Mr. Martin is enterprising, able and upright, a careful 
and conscientious counsel and advisor, a strong advocate, and an honor 
to the profession ; his official career was marked for its fidelity to public 
interest; and as a citizen he stands in the highest repute. 

THEODORE M. FOKD is a retired business man of Mound City who 
has passed a third of a century in this city, and has been a particularly 
important factor in the business life of the district with which he has 
been identified for so many years. 

Mr. Ford is a native of McMinn county, Tennessee, having been born 
there on February 3, 1853, his father being William Ford, also a resi- 
dent of McMinn county and of Maryland ancestry. The life of the 
elder Ford was, for the greater part, devoted to the pursuit of mechanics 
in a practical way, he having been for years a millwright and black- 
smith in Tennessee, which was the field of his operations throughout 
the extent of his busy career. He passed away at Irving College, a 
small town near McMinnville, Tennessee, in the year 1900, at the ven- 
erable age of eighty-four years. 

The father of William Ford and the founder of the Tennessee branch 
of the family settled in McMinn county in the early part of the nine- 
teenth century, coming to Tennessee from Maryland. He was the 
father of several children, among them being Margaret, Andrew and 
William, the latter named being the father of Theodore M. Ford, of 
whom we write. William Ford married Elvira Meyers, who passed 
away in 1893, and of their twelve sons and daughters seven attained 
to years of manhood and womanhood. Those now surviving are : James, 
Thomas, Theodore M., Edward, Florence and Elizabeth. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 619 

The early life of Theodore Ford was passed in a country town near 
McMinnville, and his education was, for the greater part, acquired in 
the district school. While yet a mere youth he evinced a strongly 
marked tendency towards mechancis, and at the age of fifteen years 
he began to study the carpenter's trade. He followed that line of work 
for a few years, after which he drifted into the sawmilling industry at 
Paducah, Kentucky, where he was employed for a few years, and he 
later engaged in the same line of industry in Williamsville, Missouri. 
Out of his t wages while employed in these two mills he managed to save 
the money which, combined with his practical knowledge and unfailing 
energy, represented his only assets when he branched out into a mill 
and lumber career on his own responsibility. 

In 1881 he moved to Mound City, and for a short time he operated 
a small shingle mill in Ballard county, Kentucky, later removing it to 
Mound City, where he and his partner, Mr. Alfred W. Williamson, 
conducted it as a lumber and planing mill until he sold out his interest 
to his partner and took up the business of merchandising in Mound 
City. For fifteen years Mr. Ford carried on a general merchandise 
business with most pleasing success, and in the year 1900 he retired 
from active business. However, he did not relinquish all his business 
interests, as he is still more or less involved in various industrial and 
financial organizations, being a stockholder in the Mound City Crystal 
Ice and Coal Company, and in the Metropolis Ice Company, as well as 
in both of the Mound City banks. He is also vice-president of the 
Williamson-Kuhny Mill & Lumber Company in Mound City. 

Mr. Ford has never taken any marked interest in the civic affairs 
of his home city. He is concerned for the welfare of the town, but his 
labors in that direction have not been of the order that would necessitate 
any especial affiliation with local politics. He served as a councilman 
for one term. He is a member of the Mound City Commercial Club, 
in which he is active and influential. Mr. Ford is a' Democrat in his 
political persuasions, and the chairmanship of the County Central Com- 
mittee of his party was pressed upon him for one campaign. 

In the year 1880 Mr. Ford married Miss Ella Williamson, a sister 
of his one-time partner, Alfred W. Williamson. Mr. Ford is not con- 
nected with any fraternal orders, but he and his wife are earnest mem- 
bers of the Congregational church. 

WILLIAM HARPER PHILLIPS. During all of the last sixteen years 
William IT. Phillips has been a resident of Carbondale, and through- 
out that period has been carrying on an extensive business which has 
been profitable to him and beneficial to the city and its people. His 
enterprise has given employment to a number of men, kept a consider- 
able sum of money regularly in circulation in the community and 
added materially to the mercantile and industrial activity and im- 
portance of the place and a large extent of the surrounding country. 

Mr. Phillips has lived in several different places, and long enough 
in each to make his merits known to the people and win their good 
opinion and esteem. He was born in Clarksville, Mecklenburg county, 
Virginia, in July, 1846, and is a son of Robert Allen and Caroline 
(Leneave) Phillips, who passed the major portion of their lives in the 
Old Dominion, and their forefathers for many generations had lived 
there. The father was a wagon maker and flourished at the trade 
until the Civil war came and paralyzed every industry in the South. 
Even during that awful conflict he was able to maintain his standing 
and keep his head above water, difficult as it must have been at times. 



620 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

He and his wife passed away in Kentucky, which state had been their 
home a few years prior to their death. 

The son was educated 'at private schools, and by the time he was 
ready to leave them and start a business career for himself the war 
was in full blast, and he determined to join the Confederate army in 
defense of the political theories in which he had been trained. He 
was not yet a man in age, but was one in spirit and courage, and hesi- 
tated not a moment when he heard the voice of duty ordering him to 
the field. He enlisted in Company A, Fifty-sixth Virginia Infantry, 
and, youth as he was, was made second lieutenant of the company. 

His record in the war was like that of many thousands of other 
brave men on both sides of the sanguinary sectional strife. Whatever 
the danger before him, he faced it without flinching ; whatever the 
toil, hardship and privation, he endured without complaining ; what- 
ever the final result, he did his whole duty without shirking; and 
when the flag he followed so faithfully went down in everlasting de- 
feat at Appomattox, he accepted the disaster without repining. His 
regiment took part in the battle of Bull Run and shared in its tri- . 
umph. It also participated in many subsequent engagements, victor- 
ious in some and defeated in others. He was with it to the end of the 
war, and was mustered out of the service in September, 1865, worn in 
body, wasted in wordly possessions, with no employment immediately 
available to provide for his wants, but undaunted in spirit, and still 
ready to encounter the worst that Pate might send him. 

When the army to which he belonged was reorganized in 1863 he 
was made captain of his company ; and in a subsequent reorganiza- 
tion was promoted to major, but his commission for the latter rank 
never reached him. At the end of his military service he returned 
to his Virginia home to begin again the struggle for advancement 
among men, but found the conditions in his native state altogether 
unpromising for a man without means, and likely to continue so for 
many years. He therefore determined to seek better opportunities in 
a state which had not been ground under the iron heel of war, and in 
1869 left Virginia. For a number of years he worked in various 
places at his trade of wagon making, which he had learned under the 
tuition of his father. In 1875 he came to Illinois and located at Car- 
terville in Williamson county. 

There he wrought at manufacturing wagons for a time, then sold 
farming machinery for some years. In 1885 he moved to Marion, the 
county seat, where he remained ten years employed as he had been at 
Carterville. In 1893, beginning in September, he took charge of the 
Scurlock estate for the purpose of winding up its affairs. There was 
a business in the farm implement trade belonging to this estate, and 
when he had the other affairs of the estate all settled and disposed 
of he bought this business and its equipment arid stock, and began to 
carry on the enterprise himself. Subsequently he added furniture, 
hardware and builders' supplies to his lines of commodities, and so 
enlarged his operations and increased his business to considerable pro- 
portions. It is now located in a two-story brick building of substan- 
tial construction, forty by one hundred and thirty-two feet in dimen- 
sions. 

Wherever he has lived Mr. Phillips has taken a warm interest in 
public affairs and done what he could to secure for the interests of his 
community proper control and administration. He was for some 
years president of the board of aldermen in Carterville, and served 
one term as alderman from the ward in which he lived in Marion. In 
Carbondale he has performed all the duties of citizenship in a man- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 621 

ner very creditable to him and servicable to the city and its inhab- 
itants. 

On December 31, 1872, he was married to Miss Cannie Jones, of 
Cerulean Springs, Trigg county, Kentucky, the daughter of a highly 
respected and prosperous blacksmith of that place, Jefferson Jones. 
They have three children, all of whom are living, but only one of them 
in this state. They are : Otis Blakely, a partner of his father in the 
implement establishment ; Maud, the wife of J. P. Daniels, of Wichita, 
Kansas, a traveling salesman; and Grace, the wife of Rush T. Lewis, 
who also lives in Wichita, Kansas, and is likewise a traveling sales- 
man. The father belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and is 
a member of the official board of his congregation. His fraternal con- 
nection is with the Masonic order, of which he has long been a mem- 
ber. 

PAYTON S. POPE. For nearly a hundred years the Pope family has 
set the stamp of its influence upon the history and development of 
Southern Illinois, especially in Franklin county, which has served as 
the center of their activities since pioneer days, and in Payton S. Pope, 
the popular clothing merchant of Benton, we find a prominent repre- 
sentative of the present generation of the line. Mr. Pope was born in 
Franklin county, August 12, 1850, the son of Benjamin W. and Abigail 
(Richards) Pope. His father, who was born in South Carolina, moved 
with his parents to Tennessee, and from there migrated to Illinois, 
following his sister, Mrs. Nancy Gasaway, and settling on a farm here 
in 1828. The elder Pope spent his entire lifetime in this section and 
was one of the wealthiest and most widely acquainted men in Frank- 
lin and adjoining counties, it being his boast that at one time he knew 
every family in Franklin and Williamson counties. As the physi- 
cian who ministered to the physical ailment of the people for miles 
around, he was revered and respected beyond the degree of those 
engaged in no less honorable but less human and personal service to 
fellow human beings. He also assisted in protecting the pioneer in- 
habitants against the raids of the Indians who occupied the country 
so extensively in the early part of the nineteenth century, and served 
in the Black Hawk war under DeMent. His death occurred in 1868, 
near the point where Ziegler is now located. 

The Richards family, also, belonged to the pioneers, and our sub- 
ject's maternal grandfather, who was an Ohioan by birth, of Quaker 
parentage, became an early resident of Wayne county, Illinois, where 
he continued to live until the time of his death. Mrs. Pope survived 
her husband five years, the date of her demise being in 1873. Both 
she and her husband were members of the Christian church, and well 
known for their activities in religious affairs. 

Payton S. Pope enjoyed excellent educational advantages and 
after completing the study of the common branches in the grade 
schools attended the institution of learning at Carbondale for a por- 
tion of two terms, was a student at the State University at Cham- 
paign and also went to Ewing College in Franklin county. After 
completing his studies in these institutions he taught school for two 
years and then took up the study of medicine, intending to follow the 
profession of his father for a life work. In pursuance of this inten- 
tion he entered the Missouri Medical College, remaining there for a 
time, but completed his professional course at the Nashville Medical 
College, of Nashville, Tennessee, receiving his degree in 1877. After 
engaging in active medical practice for a time. Mr. Pope discovered, 
however, that his tastes were such as would give him greater satis- 



622 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

faction to take up other lines of work, and he accordingly decided 
to go into business. His first commercial venture was as a live stock 
and grain dealer, his method in this business being to travel all over 
the county buying and selling from farmers to city dealers. Finding 
this line of endeavor profitable, Mr. Pope continued in it for ten 
years. 

In 1886 he made a change in his business operations and purchased 
a general store, in Benton, which he continued to conduct until 1907, 
when he decided to devote his energies exclusively to clothing lines, 
that being the class of stock he has since continued to carry, his 
trade being a very extensive and profitable one. Mr. Pope is a man 
of sagacity and broad business talents and has succeeded in acquiring 
a considerable amount of property. He is the possessor of large in- 
terests, including some valuable coal lands. 

It was in 1877 that Mr. Pope's marriage to Sarah E. Mitchell oc- 
curred. She was the daughter of Jesse G. Mitchell, one of the promi- 
nent residents of Franklin county, he having been up to the time of 
his death, in 1891, engaged in agricultural and mercantile pursuits at 
Locust Grove. His wife survives him and is living in Benton at the 
present time. 

Mr. and Mrs. Pope are the parents of four living children: Benja- 
min W., a resident of Texas; Mrs. George Powers, of Benton, whose 
husband is connected with the Hart & Williams Coal Company ; John 
E. and Florence E., twins, whose home is still under the parental roof. 
The family are leading members of the Christian church here, and 
Mr. Pope is especially interested in religious affairs as conducted by 
the church and Sunday-school of his denomination. He is a Prohibi- 
tionist in political faith, a man of high moral standards, staunch in- 
tegrity and progressive thought and action. 

JOHN W. SHAW, member of the State Board of Agriculture, Harris- 
burg, Illinois, was born in what is now Carriers Mills township, Sa- 
line county, March 5, 1866, son of John E. and Mary E. (Cook) Shaw. 
His ancestors were Welsh-English, and his grandfather, Amos Shaw, 
was among the early settlers of Wilson county, Tennessee, from 
whence about 1830 he came up into Illinois and established his home 
in Carriers Mills township, Saline county. Here he spent the last 
decade of his life and died about 1840, at near the age of sixty years. 
He was twice married and had four sons: Le Roy, who was a resi- 
dent of Williamson county, Illinois, was the child of his first wife; 
the other sons, Ambrose, John E. and Hayward, being by his last 
wife. Ambrose settled in Franklin county, Illinois, where his chil- 
dren still live. Haywood never married, and lived and died at the 
home of his brother, John E. 

John E. Shaw was still a child at the time the family came to 
Illinois. He was twenty-three when he and Miss Mary E. Cook were 
married, and his life was spent on his father's farm, where he died 
in the prime of life, at the age of forty-three years. His widow sur- 
vived him ten years, and continued her residence on the farm during 
that time. She was a sister of Mack Cook, of Harrisburg. Of the 
eight children born to them, five reached maturity, namely: Mary, 
who married George Stallings near Harrisburg; Sarah, who is the 
wife of John Chase, also near Harrisburg; Christopher C., a farmer 
at the old homestead, died at the age of thirty-three years; James R., 
who lives retired in Harrisburg; and John W., the subject of this 
review. 

John W. Shaw was three years old at the time of his father's 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 623 

death, and thirteen when he was bereft of a mother's loving care. 
At that early age he drifted around from place to place, a part of the 
time making his home with his brother. He worked by the day or 
the month at whatever he could find to do. Among other places he 
worked 011 the farm of Mr. W. H. Blackman, a brother of J. B. Black- 
man, one of the large realty owners of Harrisburg. One winter he 
cut and hauled wood to pay for his board while he attended school. 
In 1887 he taught school in Missouri. The following year he opened 
a store at Elizabethtown, in company with Thomas Ozment, now a 
merchant at Harrisburg. After being in a general store there four 
years Mr. Shaw sold out. He had only six hundred and fifty dollars 
to invest at the beginning, and at the end of the four years the stock, 
all paid for, was valued at seven thousand dollars. Then he went to 
Marion, Kentucky, where he kept a general store one year. In 1892 
he came to Harrisburg. Here, in partnership with B. P. Weaver, he 
opened a general store under the name of Shaw & Weaver, and was 
identified with this business for a period of ten years. The store 
was then purchased by George G. Mugge, who at one time clerked 
for Shaw & Weaver for thirty-five dollars per month ; now Mr. Weaver 
is a clerk for Mr. Mugge. This business had its inception in a small 
way, but in two years it was the leading mercantile house of the 
town. 

Since he disposed of his interest in the store Mr. Shaw has de- 
voted his energies to agricultural pursuits and stock raising, con- 
ducting operations on a large scale, having a thousand acres of land, 
in three farms, and keeping a large number and high quality of both 
cattle and horses. He is a breeder of both Shorthorn cattle and 
Percheron horses, and at this writing has fifty head of the former and 
twenty-five head of the latter. He is a fine judge of stock, buys, sells 
and trades, and has taken no little pride in the exhibit of his stock at 
the local fairs, also at the State Fair. In 1907 he was elected a mem- 
ber of the State Board of Agriculture ; at the expiration of his term 
was re-elected, and is now serving his second term. During the early 
part of his identity with the Board he was superintendent of farm 
products. He was afterward made superintendent of heavy horses, 
and under his direction heavy horses became a leading feature at 
the State Fair and is growing in favor here. In 1911 Mr. Shaw visited 
the State fairs of Indiana and Iowa, as representative of the State 
Board, and made special study of the exhibits of horses. 

Politically he has always been a Democrat, and for years has been 
active and influential in the councils of his party. In 1904 he was 
honored by election to the State Legislature, and served as a repre- 
sentative in the forty-fourth general assembly. During this term he 
was a member of the committee on education, also mines and mining. 

Mr. Shaw has a wife and seven children, all at home at this writ- 
ing Elma, Mary. Ardis, Harry E., Ward E., John W. and Wayne R. 
Mrs. Shaw was formerly Miss Mary L. Price, of Hardin county, 
Illinois. 

Fraternally Mr. Shaw is identified with the B. P. O. E., the I. O. 
O. F., and the A. F. and A. M. He has passed all the chairs in the 
subordinate lodge of the Odd Fellows. In Masonry he has received 
all the degrees except those of the Commandery and thirty-third, 
and he has membership in Oriental Consistory and Medinah Temple, 
Chicago. 



624 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

THOMAS M. COOK, retired, now living with his children at Harris- 
burg, Illinois, is one of the venerable citizens of Saline county, of 
which he is a native. He was born March 25, 1828, one mile south of 
Harrisburg, in a pioneer home, the son of early settlers of this locality, 
Thomas and Mary (Hampton) Cook, who were natives of adjoining 
counties, the former in North Carolina and the latter in South Caro- 
lina. Thomas Cook had resided in Tennessee for some time and had 
studied medicine there, and soon after coming to Illinois to establish 
himself in medical practice he met -and married Mary Hampton. 
Smith Hampton, Mary Hampton's father, had moved here from 
South Carolina about 1820, and it was about 1823 that they 
were married. Dr. Cook soon built up a large practice, which he con- 
tinued up to the time of his death, in 1855, at the age of fifty-six 
years. While he lived on a farm the greater part of this time and 
supervised its cultivation, his attention was given chiefly to his prac- 
tice the old fashioned "saddle-bag" practice and he was known in 
the remote parts of the county as well as in the immediate vicinity of 
his home, and by all who knew him he was held in high esteem. Dur- 
ing the Black Hawk war he enlisted for service, but his brother-in- 
law, David Hampton, whom he had reared, asked to go in his place 
and was allowed the privilege. Politically he was a Democrat, and 
his religious faith was that of the Missionary Baptist church, he and 
his wife being original members of Liberty church of that denomina- 
tion, which was near his home. She survived him about twelve years. 
Of their eight children, Sarah, who married Jackson Dodds, a farmer 
of Saline county, died in middle life ; Patience died in Macoupin 
county, Illinois, where she moved with her husband, Absalom Duncan ; 
Elizabeth married Ethelbert Shaw, one of the nephews of John W. 
Shaw ; Benjamin, who lived on the home farm with his mother, died 
in the prime of life, leaving a widow and four children ; Martha, de- 
ceased, was the wife of Jesse Parks, of Williamson county, Illinois; 
Elmira, wife of James C. Ozment, is deceased. 

Dr. Cook had a brother, Turner Cook, who preceded him to Illi- 
nois and was living here when the Doctor came. He afterward re- 
turned to the South, but a few years later came back to Saline county 
and took up his residence at Texas City, where he died at the age of 
eighty-four years. 

Thomas M. Cook, the third born in his father's family, was reared 
on the farm, and spent his life as a farmer until four years ago, when 
he retired and has since made his home with his children. 

At the age of twenty he married Miss Margaret Hamilton, a na- 
tive of Jefferson county, Illinois, about his own age and a daughter 
of Thomas and Mary Hamilton, with whom he traveled life's pathway 
for nearly sixty years, until her death in 1907. Their children are: 
Mary Ann, wife of Richard Oliver, a retired farmer of Harrisburg ; 
Thomas, engaged in the dairy business; Joel, a Saline county farmer 
who died in April, 1911 ; Jackson, of Harrisburg ; and Wilson, also 
of Harrisburg, the last named being a traveling man. 

Like his worthy parents, Thomas M. Cook has long been identified 
with the Missionary Baptist church, he having been ordained a 
deacon in the Bankston Fork church, five miles west of Harrisburg, 
in 1852. And he has so conducted his life, according to the principles 
and ideals he has tried to follow, that he is justly entitled to the high 
respect and esteem in which he is held by those among whom he has 
lived and who know him well. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 625 

WILLIAM BKUCHHAUSEB. The life of the late William Bruchhauser, 
who for more than twenty years was connected with the milling in- 
terests of Anna, Illinois, presents a striking example of industry and 
integrity, and his career was one that should prove inspiring to the 
youths of today who are starting out to win success in the business 
world. Mr. Bruchhauser was born in the province of Waldeck, Ger- 
many, August 15, 1838, and like many other of his worthy country- 
men who in their native land had no other prospects than to always 
work hard and be poor, came to the United States in search of his 
fortune. He was thirty-six years of age when he settled in St. Louis, 
Missouri, where he entered a flouring mill, but soon thereafter re- 
moved to Red Bud, Randolph county, Illinois, and remained there two 
or three years in the same line. He then associated himself with a 
Mr. Melzer, at Worden, Illinois, but after one year removed to Joiies- 
ooro. In 1885 the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Bruchhauser 
came to Anna, where he established the Anna Roller Mills, with 
which he was identified up to within two or three years previous to 
his death. He then handled flour and feed as a retailer, and he was 
engaged in this business when his death occurred after a short illness, 
April 27, 1911. Mr. Bruchhauser was instrumental to a great extent in 
building up the city of Anna, was identified with others in promoting 
several business concerns, and proved himself one of its most active 
and enterprising citizens, as well as a typical, self-made successful 
man. His genial manners and warm-hearted sympathies made for 
him many sincere personal friendships and his death was deeply 
mourned. On July 1, 1906, his three sons purchased the Phoenix Mill- 
ing property from the Union County Milling Company. Mr. Bruch- 
hauser was for eleven years a director of the Anna Building and 
Loan Association. He was a charter member of the Southern Illinois 
Millers Association, and the owner of considerable city property in 
Anna. His religious connection was with the- Kornthal German Lu- 
theran church, of which his wife and children are now members. 

On April 25, 1872, Mr. Bruchhauser was married to Miss Phillip- 
pina Heck, of St. Louis, and they had three children : William P., who 
was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1874, was city treasurer of Anna 
for two years ; August F., born at Red Bud, Illinois, in 1876, who was 
city alderman for four years and is now identified with the milling 
business at Anna ; and Henry C., born at Worden, Illinois, in 1879, 
engaged in looking after his father's estate at Anna. The three sons 
are now operating the Phoenix Mills, which have a capacity of 100 
barrels per day, while the Anna Mill is used as a retail distributing 
point. 

William F. Bruchhauser, son of William, attended the public 
schools and the schools of the Lutheran church, and grew up in the 
milling business. He has been identified with various public enter- 
prises. The Brothers have been awarded the contract for the Anna 
Water Works, the construction of which will soon be started. They 
are well known in business circles of Anna and the surrounding coun- 
try, and the family name has always stood for honest business dealing 
and public-spirited citizenship. 

THOMAS A. BRADLEY. Ranking hierh among the active and valued 
business men of Johnson county is Thomas A. Bradley, who is not 
only identified with its mercantile and financial interests as one of 
Goreville's leading merchants and bankers, but is a large landholder 
and associated with the advancement of the agricultural prosperity 
of the county. He was born, November 12, 1863, in Williamson county, 



626 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Illinois, where his father, Jasper Bradley, also first opened his eyes 
to the light of this world. 

Jasper Bradley was of pioneer stock, his father, Pleasant Bradley, 
having migrated from North Carolina, his native state, to Illinois 
when young, becoming an early settler of Williamson county. He be- 
came a farmer from choice, and for many years was engaged in his 
independent occupation in the vicinity of his birthplace. He is now, 
however, living 'in Goreville, with his son Thomas. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Elizabeth Nelson, bore him six children, of whom, 
two are living, namely : W. M. Bradley, of Williamson county ; and 
Thomas A., the special subject of this brief biographical sketch. 

Growing to manhood beneath the parental roof-tree, Thomas A. 
Bradley was early initiated into the practical work of general farm- 
ing, although but little attention was paid to his education, his school 
life having been limited to a few terms in the district schools. Com- 
ing to Johnson county in 1887, he, in company with Major Z. Hudgins, 
opened a general store in Goreville. The Major sold his interest in 
the store the following year to H. A. Hudgins, with whom Mr. Brad- 
ley continued in partnership until 1910. In the meantime, in 1898, the 
railroad coming through the town was completed, and the firm of 
Hudgins & Bradley moved to the new site of Goreville and erected one 
of the first business buildings in the new town. In 1889 this enter- 
prising firm, with C. H. Dennison and II. M. Parks, of Marion, and 
M. M. Pickles, opened a private bank in their store, and conducted it 
successfully many years. 

In 1903 the First National Bank of Goreville was organized, and 
is one of the most nourishing institutions of its size in the county, at 
the present time, in 1911, having a capital of twenty-five thousand 
dollars, with a reserve of eighty-eight thousand dollars. Thomas A. 
Bradley has served as its president from the start, while M. M. Pickles, 
now principal of the high school in Anna, Illinois, was vice-president 
until 1910, when he was succeeded by 0. S. Cole; the bank's first 
cashier, W. S. Buckhart, of Marion, was succeeded in 1889 by R. A. 
Parker, of Marion, who served until 1906, when J. B. Hudgins, its 
present cashier, was elected to the position. 

In October, 1910, Mr. Bradley bought out the interests of Mr. 
Hudgins in the mercantile firm, and having admitted his son Ray to 
partnership has since continued the business as head of the firm of 
T. A. Bradley & Son. He carries a stock of general merchandise val- 
ued at six thousand dollars, and has a large annual trade. Mr. Brad- 
ley owns a handsome residence in Goreville, and has an interest in a 
valuable farming estate in Williamson county. 

Mr. Bradley married, in 1887, Alice Hudgins, a daughter of Major 
Z. and Mary (Corksey) Hudgins. Her father was in business in John- 
son county for three score years, for a long time having been engaged 
in mercantile pursuits in Goreville, having been senior member of the 
firm of Hudgins & Bradley for a year or more. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley 
have five children, namely : Carrie, who married W. M. Trovillion, has 
one child, Leon Trovillion ; Ray, in partnership with his father : Rolla 
Lee.; Don B. ; and Muriel. Fraternally Mr. Bradley is a member of 
Marion Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Marion ; 
of Goreville Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Goreville ; 
and of the Modern Woodmen of America. 

PHIL C. BARCLAY. A well-known figure in the insurance field, Phil 
C. Barclay, of Cairo, is the manager for Southern Illinois of the Mas- 
sachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and is the successor of 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 627 

the old firm of P. W. Barclay & Son, which was originated by the 
senior Barclay in 1892 and conducted actively by him until his death, 
in 1907. The Barclay family identified itself with Cairo in 1868, when 
P. W. and J. S. Barclay, his brother, engaged in the drug business as 
wholesalers and retailers, and they continued therein until J. S. moved 
to Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, and continued the same business 
alone until his death, in 1901. 

P. W. Barclay entered the insurance business late in life. His 
whole business career had been given to merchandising, but he en- 
tered his new field with the same zeal that had characterized his mer- 
cantile efforts, and he made his agency a productive factor for this 
pioneer among life insurance companies. In 1897 his son entered into 
partnership with him, and ten years later became the successor of his 
worthy father. By nativity, this branch of the Barclay family were 
Kentuckians, with a Virginia ancestry. P. W. Barclay was born at 
Russellville, Kentucky, in 1832, and was a son of Hugh Barclay, who 
moved to that state as a young man, established himself in a tanyard, 
and continued that industry while in vigorous life. He married Miss 
Lou Ann Hall, and both died at Russellville, having been the parents 
of nine children. The minority of P. W. Barclay was spent about his 
father's tanyard and in gaining a fair education, and even as a young 
man he became interested in drug work, making it an important part 
of his life work. He was married to Miss Mary F. Crews, daughter 
of Rev. Hooper Crews, of Chicago, but originally of Kentucky, a 
Methodist minister who spent more than half a century in the pulpit. 
Mrs. Barclay passed away in 1896. To Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Barclay 
were born the following children: Phil C. ; Hugh, who died at Tucson, 
Arizona, after spending some years in the government service in Porto 
Rico ; and Mrs. J. A. Naugle, of Cairo, whose husband was prominent 
in railroad circles of Old Mexico for more than thirty years. 

Phil C. Barclay was educated in the schools of Cairo, and after 
completing his education entered business with his father, in which 
he has continued to the present time. He is a native of Chicago, and 
he was married at Versailles, Kentucky, in September, 1881, to Miss 
Fannie Hinkle, a Cairo lady, daughter of Jesse Hinkle, a native of 
Kentucky who lived for many years in Cairo, and later went to Por- 
terville, California, where Mr. Hinkle died. Mrs. Barclay's only 
brother, Robert, died in Cairo in 1910. 

Mr. Barclay is a Master Mason and a member of the Elks Lodge 
of Cairo, and his father was one of the prominent Masons of Illinois, 
being past grand commander of the Knights Templar, past grand high 
priest of the chapter, and a thirty-third degree Mason. Phil C. Bar- 
clay is a member of the Cairo Commercial Club and is secretary of 
the Cairo Board of Trade. He is serving his second term as one of the 
election commissioners of Cairo, has been three years a member of the 
board of education, and is serving his second term as a member of the 
Public Library board of directors. He is a popular member of the 
Alexander Club, the popular social men's club of the city. 

ANDREW J. LYERLY, M. D., physician and surgeon at Jonesboro, 
Illinois, is one of the eminent professional men of this part of the 
State, and his activities as doctor, civic official and public-spirited 
citizen have marked him as a representative of the best type of pro- 
gressive American citizenship, and gained him the respect and esteem 
of his fellow-townsmen and the sincere confidence of a wide circle of 
warm, personal friends. Since locating in Jonesboro, in 1900, Dr. 
Lyerly has identified himself with various movements for the public 



628 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

welfare, his connection with which has caused his election to various 
positions of honor and trust, and in the discharge of his official duties 
he has displayed the same faithfulness and conscientiousness that have 
marked his professional career. 

Dr. Lyerly was born in Union county in 1865, and after attending 
the district schools and teaching for one term, entered Ewing College, 
where he remained for four months. He then taught another term of 
school, and for some time was engaged in farming, in the meanwhile 
diligently pursuing his medical studies. On March 4, 1890, he was 
graduated from the Missouri Medical College, St. Louis, and began 
practice at Wolf Lake, where he remained until November, 1900. In 
that year he came to Jonesboro, where he has since built up a large 
patronage. Dr. Lyerly has been a close student, and is the possessor 
of a large and valuable medical library where he spends whatever 
time he can spare from his arduous duties. He has a well-appointed 
office, equipped with the latest inventions of his profession, and every- 
thing that will in any way add to the comfort and convenience of his 
patients. He belongs to the Union County Medical Society, of which 
he has served as vice-president, secretary and treasurer, and also 
holds membership in the Illinois State Medical Society and the Ameri- 
can Medical Association. Fraternally he is connected with the Jones- 
boro Blue Lodge of Masons, No. Ill, in which he has passed through 
the chairs, and with the Modern Woodmen of America, of which he 
is at present clerk. Politically a Democrat, the Doctor served for four 
years as postmaster at Wolf Lake, while he was in practice there, dur- 
ing President Cleveland's second administration, and has been elected 
to the office of alderman of Jonesboro. He owns 320 acres of well- 
improved land in Union county, which is operated by tenants, and 
on which considerable fruit is grown. 

In September, 1891, Dr. Lyerly was married to Mrs. Sarah Doty, 
and five children have been born to this union : Frances, Grover, Ruth, 
Esther and Electa, all at home. Dr. and Mrs. Lyerly are consistent 
members of the Baptist church, where he has been an active Sunday 
school worker, and of which he is now deacon. He is known over a 
large territory, has an extensive general practice, and enjoys the con- 
fidence of the people in a marked degree. 

JAMES I. HALE, M. D. After forty years spent in the practice of 
medicine and surgery in the city of Anna, Dr. James I. Hale has risen 
to a foremost position among the medical practitioners of Southern 
Illinois, and during this time has held various positions of honor and 
trust, in all of which he has discharged his duties with the utmost fidelity. 
Possessed of a vigorous and active physical constitution and an attractive 
personality, of a hopeful and ardent disposition, and a man with deter- 
mined and persistent purpose, he is admirably fitted to carry on the great 
work with which he is identified and the kind of a man who will at once 
win the confidence, respect and admiration of those with whom he comes 
in contact. Dr. Hale was born April 16, 1844, in a log cabin on a farm 
which was located on the present site of the city of Anna, and he has 
always resided in Union county. 

The Hale family is of English descent and traces its ancestry in this 
country back to Colonial times, many of the family name residing in or 
near Mayfield, Kentucky, at this time. Dr. Hale's parents, James V. and 
Susan (Hale) Hale, cousins, were both born in Kentucky and came to 
Illinois at an early day, settling in the wilderness of Union county. 
After some time here, James V. Hale returned on a visit to some relatives 
in Kentucky, and as he was never again heard from it is supposed that he 



OMHt 
8ISVERSITY OF ILUK&T, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 629 

was drowned. Later his widow married John Black, a farmer, who died 
one year later, while she survived him many years and died when sixty- 
six. "When he was six years of age, James I. Hale was apprenticed to 
Adam Lence, a farmer of Union county, and by the time he had reached 
the age of eighteen years he had a fair education, most of which he had 
picked up by himself, and had also learned the trades of wheelwright 
and cabinet-maker. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Com- 
panjr C, 109th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was later 
transferred to Company A, Eleventh Regiment. He was early detailed 
to hospital work, and while there was able to read numerous medical 
works, which ended in his decision to become a doctor. On his re- 
turn from the war he located in Anna, and began to study medicine 
under Dr. S. S. Condon, and during the fall of 1868 entered the Chi- 
cago Medical College, attending the winter and spring terms. In 
May, 1869, he felt qualified to begin practice, and subsequently estab- 
lished himself at Saratoga, Illinois, but soon thereafter moved to Pen- 
ninger, where from 1870 until 1872 he acted as postmaster. He re- 
turned to Anna in the latter year, and in the fall of 1873 again entered 
the Chicago Medical College, from which he was graduated in March, 
1874. During the year 1877 Dr. Hale was commissioned surgeon of 
the Eleventh Regiment, Illinois National Guard, with the rank of 
major, in which position he continued for five years, subsequently act- 
ing as local pension examiner for eight years. He was a member of 
the city council of Anna from 1874 to 1876, coroner of Union county 
from 1881 to 1885, and again alderman from 1882 to 1884. Dr. Hale 
was active in establishing Union Academy, now one of the best known 
educational institutions in Southern Illinois, and was one of the 
founders of the Union County News, now published as The Talk, in 
addition to which he has aided materially in the development of the 
building interests of Anna by erecting several brick business struct- 
ures. 

In 1875 Dr. Hale became the prime mover in the organization of 
the Southern Illinois Medical Association, of which he has been sec- 
retary, vice-president and president on various occasions, and he is 
also a member of the American Medical Association which he joined 
in 1884, the Illinois State Medical Society, with which he became con- 
nected in 1896, and the Association of Military Surgeons of the United 
States. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1871, 
joined the Royal Arch Chapter in 1877, and since 1886 has belonged 
to the Knights Templar, serving as master of the local lodge on a num- 
ber of occasions and as High Priest six times. He belongs to Hiawatha 
Lodge No. 219, Odd Fellows, and Lodge No. 315, Knights and Ladies 
of Honor. Dr. Hale has been interested in the work of the Presby- 
terian church, in which he has served as elder, and has given his in- 
fluence and support to various movements of a religious and charitable 
nature. He is a Prohibitionist in his political views. 

On October 17, 1865, Dr. Hale was married to Miss Mary J. Wilson, 
of Caledonia, Pulaski county, Illinois, daughter of John and Ann M. 
Wilson, ea'rly pioneer settlers of that county, and granddaughter of 
George Lingle, who came early to that section from North Carolina. 
Three children have been born to the union of Dr. and Mrs. Hale, 
namely : Dr. John A., who is engaged in practice at Alto Pass, Illi- 
nois, and who married Jessie Lewis, of Pulaski county; Dr. E. V., who 
is engaged in practice with Dr. Martin, at Anna, and who married 
Amelia Spengeman of Carmi, Illinois; and Flora, who married James 
Fitzpatrick, of Anna. 

Dr. Hale is the owner of a finely-cultivated farm of 235 acres located 



630 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

in Union county, on which are two tenant houses, and a part of this 
land is devoted to fruit-raising. He is a stockholder in the First 
National Bank, and also has an interest in a large lumber concern and 
a fruit package company at Anna. The greater part of his attention, 
however, has been given to his profession, and he has build up a repu- 
tation that extends throughout Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri, from 
whence his patients come. He specializes in surgery, chronic diseases 
and diseases of women, and makes no calls except in consultation. In 
1900 he erected a brick hospital building, with fifty rooms and a capac- 
ity for taking care of thirty patients, and this has been recently en- 
larged, being now three stories in height, with basement, and fully 
equipped with elevator service and all modern conveniences. From 
twelve to fifteen patients are treated regularly. In 1905 he opened a 
sanatorium to the public, and since that time has had about 1,900 resi- 
dent patients, or those who remain one week or more. Since that year, 
Dr. Hale has performed 262 surgical operations, and his success in 
many complicated cases has stamped him as one of the leading sur- 
geons of his time and locality. A fearless, untiring, energetic, force- 
ful and thoroughly sincere laborer, Dr. Hale's efforts have borne rich 
fruit, and in naming the eminent medical men of today his name 
should stand among the foremost in the ranks of the men of his 
profession. 

JOHN M. BROWN. Probably there is no better known family in 
Johnson county than that of Brown, which was established here as 
early as the year 1820, and members of which have been prominently 
identified with the agricultural and political life of Southern Illinois 
for many years. It traces its ancestry back to the time when the 
county included the greater part of Southern Illinois, and its founder, 
James Brown, was in all probability the first sheriff of this section. 
One of the worthy representatives of this old and honored family is 
found in the person of John M. Brown, one of the leading farmers and 
stockmen of Cache township, who owns an excellent tract of farming 
land two miles west of the city of Vienna. He was born on a farm 
in the western part of Johnson county, near the Union county line, 
September 21, 1867, and is a son of Samuel T. and Amanda (Dubois) 
Brown. 

James Brown, the grandfather of John M., was born in 1784, in the 
state of North Carolina, and in 1820 migrated to Johnson county and 
became one of the earliest settlers here. He took up a tract of Govern- 
ment land, cleared and cultivated it in pioneer fashion, and rose to 
a prominent position among his fellows, being elected sheriff of John- 
son county. He maintained headquarters at Kaskaskia, and during 
the years that he held his official position his duties caused him to 
travel on horseback all over the southern part of the state. His death 
occurred in 1861. James Brown married Betty Carter, a native of 
Orange county, North Carolina, and among their children was Samuel 
T. Brown, the father of John M., of Cache township. Samuel T. Brown 
was born June 29, 1825, and like his father he became a successful 
agriculturist and well-known public official. He accumulated a vast 
property, but during his later years retired from active pursuits, and 
at the time of his death, September 25, 1897, had disposed of all of his 
land except one hundred and twenty acres. A man who was held in 
high esteem by his fellow-townsmen, he served for more than forty 
years as a justice of the peace, and in every walk of life was known 
as a man of strict honesty and sterling integrity. From his boyhood 
he was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 631 

was always an active participant in all of its work. Mr. Brown was 
married to Miss Amanda Dubois, who was born in Madison county, 
Illinois, March 1, 1830, daughter of Joel Dubois. Mr. Dubois, who 
was a native of Tennessee, migrated to Madison county at an early 
date, but while making a trip to Tennessee by flat-boat was murdered 
in a tavern on the Mississippi river, when Mrs. Brown was a child. 
She died in November, 1907, having been the mother of eleven chil- 
dren, of whom one died in infancy, while the others were as follows: 
Mrs. Nancy J. Mulkey ; James M., who resides at Mount Vernon ; W. 
J., a resident of Carbondale; Wilson B., baggage master at the Cairo 
railroad depot; Mary A., the widow of James Enos; Samuel T., Jr., 
who is engaged in farming in West Vienna; Mrs. Amanda J. Jones; 
John M. ; Alonzo V., who lives at Cypress ; and Mrs. Ella Wilhelm. 

John M. Brown was given the best of educational advantages, at- 
tending first the common schools, and later the Southern Illinois Nor- 
mal University at Carbondale, Illinois. In 1885, when only eighteen 
years of age, he began teaching school, his first charge being at Mos- 
cow, in Union county. During the nine years that followed he taught 
in Union, Pulaski and Johnson counties, and followed farming during 
vacations. The first land of his own, a tract of eight acres which he 
purchased in 1892, was located near the old homestead, and when he 
was married he erected a home thereon. In 1895 Mr. Brown gave up 
teaching in order to give his whole time and attention to agricultural 
pursuits, and in that year sold his first small farm and purchased 
seventy acres situated some distance north of his present place. An 
enterprising and energetic farmer, Mr. Brown invested his earnings 
in more property, and he is now the owner of four hundred and 
twenty-six acres of land. The present home place, a tract of eighty 
acres, was purchased by him in 1908, and during the following year 
he erected a handsome residence, which is modern in every respect. 
Since then he has built substantial barns and outbuildings and a fine 
silo, and has improved his property in many ways. Mr. Brown has al- 
ways been a successful stock-raiser, and since 1907 has given the 
greater part of his time to specializing in Angus cattle, having an 
excellent herd of forty-five head, and for five years has been a large 
buyer and shipper of corn and hay. Most of his shipping is done 
from West Vienna, and his product is about ten carloads of hay and 
fifty of corn annually. Scientific methods in both tilling the soil and 
breeding cattle have always found a stanch adherent in Mr. Brown. 
He has devoted a great deal of study to soil and climatic conditions, 
his land is well drained and tiled, and he makes a regular practice of 
crop rotation, while among his neighbors he is acknowledged to be 
an excellent judge of registered stock. Although his operations have 
been so extensive as to make him a remarkably busy man, he has 
found leisure to participate in events of a social nature, and is a popu- 
lar member of the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Brotherhood, the 
Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors, being affili- 
ated with the lodges of these orders at Vienna. He and his family are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Mr. Brown was married (first) in 1892 to Miss Ellen Enos, daugh- 
ter of James Enos, and she died in January, 1901, leaving two chil- 
dren : Edith, who is fifteen years of age ; and Blanche, who has reached 
her eleventh year. On December 2, 1906, Mr. Brown took for his 
second wife Miss Leila Mackey, daughter of John C. Mackey, and to 
this union there has been born one child : Waldron M., who was born 
December 9, 1907. 



632 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

OSCAR L. BARTLETT. In the ten years of his residence in Mound 
City, Illinois, Oscar L. Bartlett has, from a small beginning in the 
manufacturing business, steadily upbuilt his factories and enlarged 
the scope of his operations until he is now recognized as one of the 
leading manufacturers of his product (that of hoops, paper plugs 
and meat blocks) in the United States today. 

Oscar L. Bartlett was born in Delaware county, Indiana, April 
20, 1865, and is a son of William T. Bartlett and a grandson of Elisha 
Bartlett, the father of William Bartlett. Elisha Bartlett was origi- 
nally a native of Virginia, and as a young man he moved into Albany, 
Indiana, where he settled and spent the remainder of his life and 
finally passed away at the home which he had established and main- 
tained there. He was the husband of Mary Strong, and William T. 
Bartlett was their first child. They were the parents of nine children 
in all, the others being: James, Reuben, John, Calvin, George, Flora, 
(the wife of Abram Cline), Elizabeth and Minnie (who was the wife 
of Hal Wolverton at the time of her demise). 

William T. Bartlett was born on November 3, 1844, and he lived 
the quiet life of the country boy at their farm home near Albany, re- 
ceiving only such education as the public schools of their district af- 
forded. In early manhood he bought a farm in Delaware county, In- 
diana, and on this place he spent his life. He was a quiet, unpreten- 
tious man, a good citizen, and always a valuable friend and neighbor. 
He was drawn for service in the Federal army during the last year 
of the Civil war and reported for duty, but was furloughed home un- 
til called for. By some oversight, he was never notified to report, and 
technically speaking was in the employ of the Government until the 
day of his death, a peculiar circumstance and of exceeding rare occur- 
rence. 

While still a very young man Mr. Bartlett married Dorothy Bales, 
a daughter of a well known farmer of the Albany district. She was 
born October 25, 1845, being but little more than a year her husband's 
junior, and she died at the family home December 22, 1879. Their union 
was blessed with four children. They were: Oscar L., of whom we 
write ; Mary Wilday, who became the wife of B. F. Houseman and now 
resides in Dunkirk, Indiana ; Nina Bessie, who wedded Charles Clark ; 
and Tina Bessie, a twin of the former, who married Charles Barnes, 
and the two families are also residents of Dunkirk. William Bartlett 
passed away at the family home on July 25, 1903, having survived 
his wife by twenty-four years. 

Oscar Bartlett received in his youth such advantages as were 
made possible by attendance upon the district schools of his locality. 
As a youth he spent some time at work in the logging district, where 
he learned something of the business, and it was there he conceived 
the idea of establishing himself in the milling industry. When, af- 
ter a few years, he saw an opportunity to get into the milling busi- 
ness, in a small way, he readily embraced it, and his first enterprise in 
that line was the establishment of a hoop factory at Eaton, Indiana. 
He devoted his time to this business between 1892 and 1894, after 
which he transferred his operations to Muncie, Indiana, and added the 
process of heading to his hoop manufactory. This plant he conducted, 
exclusive of other interests, until 1901. His practical experience by 
this time was such that he was emboldened to enlarge the field of his 
operations, and in the year 1901 he established his hoop factory in 
Mound City. The industry has grown steadily from its inception, so 
that today his hoop mill has a capacity of fourteen millions of hoops 
annually, and is without any exception the largest plant of its kind in 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 633 

the United States. The products of his factories are now entering 
into the export trade of the country, and butchers in many European 
countries carve their steaks upon a sycamore meat-block made in the 
Bartlett plant in Mound City, Illinois. It is an established fact that 
his factory supplies three-fourths of all the meat-blocks used in the 
United States today, and it would be a difficult feat to find a township 
in this broad land which does not make daily use of at least one 
butcher's block from the plant of Oscar Bartlett. His paper plugs, 
which department he has added in recent years, supplies plugs to 
multitudinous paper mills in the United States, and twenty millions of 
them are annually placed upon the market. The combined industries 
of the Bartlett plant provides a market for a goodly amount of both 
skilled and common labor, and the payroll of the Bartlett interests 
is no small item in Mound City. 

Mr. Bartlett was married February 5, 1887, at Muncie, Indiana, to 
Miss Viola Brandt, daughter of the late David Brandt, an Eaton, In- 
diana, merchant of repute, and Susan (Ashenfelter) Brandt, both of 
German extraction. Mr. and Mrs. Brandt were the parents of three 
children, Mrs. Louie Peterson, William Brandt, and Viola, now Mrs. 
Bartlett. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett is a daughter, Lur- 
leane, now the wife of W. L. Harris, a cotton merchant in New York 
city, and one daughter, Eleanor Lurleane, is the issue of that union. 

Mr. Bartlett is not a man who has displayed any marked interest 
in civic affairs, which is no doubt due for the most part to the neces- 
sarily temporary residence at various points which his scattered busi- 
ness interests have until recent years enjoined upon him. However, his 
operations in the industrial sphere make him a valuable factor in any 
municipality which is so fortunate as to hold any of his varied interests, 
and Mound City owes a deal of her growth and advancement to the in- 
dustry of which Oscar L. Bartlett is the head. 

Mr. Bartlett is a member of the Knights Templar in Masonry but 
beyond that he has no especial fraternal interests. His political in- 
clinations are always in accordance with the demands of the moment, 
independent of party interests. 

FRANK CLEMENTS. The successful son of a distinguished and ven- 
erated father, and the scion of families resident in this country from 
very early colonial times, and strong factors in all phases of its history 
in many localities and all worthy walks of life, Frank Clements, of 
Carbondale, has shown himself to be fully entitled to the high and 
general esteem in which he is held by his exemplification in his own life 
and the manly spirit of his ancestors. 

Mr. Clements was born in Carbondale on September 17, 1865, and 
grew to manhood in that city, attending the public schools for a time 
and completing his academic education' at the Southern Illinois Normal 
University. After leaving the University he clerked in a dry goods 
store in Carbondale a short time, then passed ten years in the same 
capacity in the employ of John V. Farwell, of Chicago. In the great 
metropolis of the "West, which is one of the modern wonders Of the 
world, he manifested the same qualities of upright and elevated man- 
hood that have since distinguished him in his long residence in Car- 
bondale and won the admiration or the friendship of every acquain- 
tance he had there. 

In 1893 he returned to his native city and bought an interest in the 
business of A. F. Bridges, which subsequently became the firm of 
Clements & Etherton. Mr. Clements is also connected in a leading way 
with other business institutions in Carbondale with benefit to them 



634 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

and the public. He is one of the directors of the First National Bank 
and secretary of the Carbondale Mill and Elevator Company. He has 
taken a warm and serviceable interest, too, in the public affairs of the 
community, having served as alderman two years and as a member of 
the board of school trustees twelve years. In these offices he has kept 
his eye firmly on the interests of the people and done all he could to 
protect and promote them. 

In religious faith and alliance he is connected with the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and faithfully serves the congregation to which he 
belongs as its treasurer. Fraternally he is a Freemason, and is the 
treasurer, also, of his lodge in the order. Politically he is a Republi- 
can, always loyal to his party, but not an active partisan and never 
desirous of the honors or emoluments of public office, although he is 
everywhere recognized as capable in a high degree of discharging official 
duties in a manner most beneficial and satisfactory to all for whom 
they are performed. 

Mr. Clements is a son of Isaac and Josephine (Nutt) Clements, the 
former born in Franklin county, Indiana, on March 31, 1837. The 
mother's father was Rev. Cyrus Nutt, D. D. LL., D., at the time of her 
marriage president of the Indiana University, and one of the prominent 
and distinguished educators of the country, everywhere recognized as 
such and everywhere revered for his high character as a man, his un- 
affected and impressive piety, and his great intellectual powers, as well 
as for his exact and exhaustive learning. 

Isaac Clements, the father of Frank, at the time of his death, which 
occurred on May 30, 1909, was governor of the Soldiers' Home at Dan- 
ville in this state, a position which he accepted on January 6, 1899, 
after a long and brilliant career in other departments of the public 
service and in professional life. It is high praise but only a just tribute 
to demonstrated merit of a high order, and to a disposition that always 
radiated genial sunshine, brightening and warming all with whom it 
came in contact, to state that during his ten years' tenure of this trying 
office he was not known to make one enemy, and he was known to seal 
to himself the cordial devotion and loyal friendship of thousands of 
persons, including not only the inmates of the Home and all their 
friends, but also all the residents of Danville who were brought into 
association with him or heard of his genuine kindness of heart, un- 
varying courtesy and seasoned wisdom. 

The ancestors of Isaac Clements were among the founders of Mary- 
land, being members of the colony which made the first settlement in 
that state under the lead of Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Balti- 
more. They received a large grant of land in the new colony by a 
"king's patent" which made them owners of "sixteen square miles 
anywhere within Lord Baltimore's domain." They selected as their 
portion and as the home of the family in the new world a tract of the 
designated size on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake bay, on which 
they located and began to take a leading part in the activities of the 
first palatinate on this side of the Atlantic. 

The grandfather of the late governor of the Soldiers' Home fought 
under Washington in the Revolution and felt that great commander 
lean on him for support, even though he walked serenely under his 
mighty burden of care. The father of the governor, whose name was 
Isaac also, was a valiant soldier in the "War of 1812, and in that short 
but significant contest with the mother country well maintained the 
reputation of the family and the glory of the "Old Maryland Line," 
for both he and his wife, whose maiden name was Nancy Burt, were 
born in Maryland in 1790, and lived there until sometime after the war. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 635 

They then moved to Lebanon, Ohio, and some years later to Frank- 
lin county, Indiana, where their son Isaac was born, as has been stated, 
on March 31, 1837. He attended the common schools of the time and 
place, but was not satisfied with the education they could afford him, 
and determined to secure a better one. When he was but fourteen he 
entered a private school, sawing wood and sweeping the school room to 
pay his tuition. In this way he prepared himself for college, and in 
the fall of 1854 matriculated in what was then Asbury but is now De 
Pauw University, at Greencastle in his native state, from which he was 
graduated with high honors in 1859, delivering the Latin oration for his 
class as a mark of his exalted rank in it. 

During vacations he taught school to pay his way through the Uni- 
versity, and after his graduation continued to teach to prepare himself 
for the law. This he did in Illinois, moving to this state a short time 
after he received his diploma. In 1860 he opened a law office in Car- 
bondale, and at once began, taking an active part in politics. In the 
exciting presidential election of that year he supported Mr. Douglas 
for the presidency, but after the election showed his loyalty to the 
Union by opposing the secession sentiment then prevalent in Southern 
Illinois in public speeches vigorous in argument and ardent with pa- 
triotism. 

Before the call for troops to defend the Union was made Mr. 
Clements organized a company of infantry which afterward became 
Company G of the Ninth Illinois regiment, and was chosen its second 
lieutenant. He was mustered into the service on July 27, 1861, and 
remained in it three years, being mustered out on August 3, 1864. His 
regiment took part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, and he 
was wounded three times, twice at the battle of Shiloh and once at the 
battle of Corinth. 

From the close of the war until his death he was almost continuously 
in office, so well was he qualified for executive and administrative duties. 
In 1868 he was appointed register in bankruptcy, and in 1872 was 
elected to congress. A political upheaval defeated him for re-election 
in 1874, and President Grant at once appointed him pension agent for 
the Southern Illinois district. An act of congress consolidated the two 
districts in the state in 1878, and Mr. Clements retired from office for 
a few months. Before the end of the year, however, Governor Cullom 
appointed him commissioner of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary, and 
he held this position until President Harrison appointed him pension 
agent for Illinois. 

Soon after the accession of Cleveland to the presidency Mr. Clements 
again became a private citizen, and he remained one until 1897, when 
Governor Tanner appointed him superintendent of the Soldiers' 
Orphans' Home at Normal, and thereby found a way out of great 
difficulties he had in connection with the management of that institu- 
tion. He served the state well and wisely in that position until he re- 
ceived his last appointment as governor of the Federal Soldiers' Home 
at Danville. In all these various offices he rendered service so signal 
and satisfactory that there was never a word of criticism of his admin- 
istration of them even by innuendo. 

Mr. Clements became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
while yet a young man, and during all his subsequent years was devout, 
sincere and consistent in his daily exemplification of the teachings of 
Christianity. He was a charter member of John W. Lawrence Post, 
No. 297, Grand Army of the Republic, and its commander several 
years and a member of the Loyal Legion. He also belonged for many 
years to Shekinah Lodge, No. 241, A. F. and A. M., and for two years 



636 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

served as grand orator of the Grand Lodge of Illinois in the Masonic 
order. He was the life and soul of the Grand Army post while com- 
manding it, and a luminous and eloquent expounder of the ritual and 
principles of Freemasonry while serving as grand orator of the order 
in this state. 

When his remains were laid to rest amid the lamentations of the 
whole community, and with the highest funeral honors his companions 
in arms and all other soldiers at hand could pay him, the bench and 
bar of the city and the fraternal organizations to which he had given 
so much life and light attended the funeral in a body, and they all after- 
ward placed on enduring record strong tributes to his merits as a man 
and citizen; his capacity and fidelity to duty in office; his loyalty to 
every obligation he ever took; his obedience to the behests of honor, 
truth, humanity and duty, which exists in the nature of things and need 
not be expressed in formal codes and creeds, and the powerful influence 
for good of his example wherever he had been known and in connection 
with every line of human endeavor in which he had ever been employed. 

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that 
man is peace." 

ISAAC RAPP. This venerable and well beloved citizen of Carbon- 
dale, who is the oldest resident of the city, both by reason of the num- 
ber of his years in age and because of the length of time he has had his 
home here, has been elevated to the rank of a patriarch by the esteem 
and affection of the people, who know no better man now living among 
them, and have never known a better one anywhere. They revere him 
for his high character, for his clean and upright life, for the unyielding 
fidelity with which he has performed every duty in peace and war, 
and for the conspicuous services he has rendered to the community as 
one of its founders and most zealous practical workers for the promo- 
tion of its progress and improvement. 

Mr. Rapp was born in Orange county. New York, on June 24, 1830, 
and in 1832 was taken by his parents to New York city, where they had 
decided to reside. He grew to manhood in the great metropolis of the 
Western world and was educated in its public schools. The circum- 
stances of the family were such that he was obliged to leave school at 
an early age and prepare himself for the practical requirements of life 
in this busy sphere. So he was apprenticed to an architect and house- 
joiner to acquire a thorough knowledge of the business. He devoted 
himself particularly and with studious attention to the architectural 
part of the business, which was of great interest to him and well adapted 
to his distinctive bent of mind toward designing and construction work. 

When he had finished his training he became an architect and 
builder, and began operations in New York city. On June 24, 1851, 
his twenty-first birth day, he was married to Miss Georgiana Shaw, a 
native of the Island of Jersey, England, but at the time of the marriage 
a resident of New York. With the establishment of his domestic shrine 
Mr. Rapp found his long cherished desire for a life in a freer and more 
open environment, and one more fruitful in opportunities for a man 
without capital, intensifying year by year, until at length it became 
irresistible. 

Accordingly, in 1856, five years after his marriage, he set his face in 
the direction of the established ' ' course of empire, ' ' the great West, 
determined to become a part of its sweeping enterprise and strident 
progress. He moved to Carbondale that year, and soon after his arrival 
was engaged by the late General D. H. Brush to build him a residence. 
The manner in which he performed this task gave him reputation and 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 637 

standing as a capable architect and builder, and he found his services 
in great demand. 

But when the Civil war descended like a besom of destruction on 
the country, he could not withstand the promptings of his patriotism, 
and in 1862 enlisted for the defense of the Union in Company D, Eighty- 
first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a private. He was at once elected 
second lieutenant of his company and assigned to the commissary de- 
partment on detailed duty. Notwithstanding this assignment he par- 
ticipated in many engagements with the enemy, and saw active service 
in the midst of unrolling columns on many a field of carnage, although 
in none of the great battles of the war. His term of enlistment ex- 
pired in 1863 and he was discharged at the end of it. He then returned 
to Carbondale and resumed his occupation as a contractor and builder. 
The town was then in its embryo, and he found plenty to do, as it was 
on the move and required fiomes for the incoming population and busi- 
ness structures to provide for their wants in trade. He erected many 
of the earlier houses in the city, and many outside of its limits in various 
places in Southern Illinois. He put up a number of the first buildings 
on the Southern Illinois Normal University grounds, and after the dis- 
astrous fire which destroyed most of his work, and that of others, he 
was the leading factor in building new and more ambitious structures 
to take the place of the old ones. 

The course of the patriarch has led him beyond the four score years 
fixed by the sacred writer as the limit of human life, and, in the nature 
of the case, is nearly spent. But he is still hale and vigorous beyond 
many men much younger, and the sunniness of his nature yet abides 
with him, even in larger measure than ever, if that is possible. He 
reminds all who know him of some genial year, hastening to its close 
without doubt, but with its seasons of warmth, and beauty and fruit- 
fulness not yet wholly spent. The people of Carbondale cherish the 
hope that they may have him with them for many years more to brighten 
their lives and keep before them the strong influence of his great ex- 
ample of usefulness and upright manhood. 

JUDGE JAMES P. MOONEYHAM, *of Benton, Illinois, belongs to one 
of the oldest pioneer families in this section of the state, his grand- 
father, Shadrach Mooneyham, having come here with his family in 
1838. One of the members of the household was the son John, who 
became the father of James P. John Mooneyham was born in Alabama, 
on December 23, 1825, and was therefore a lad of thirteen years when 
his parents moved to Illinois. When a young man he purchased a 
farm in Franklin county and was a well known and highly respected 
resident here throughout the remainder of his life. Although he 
naturally favored the principles of the Democratic party in a political 
way, he was not wedded to their precepts and exercised commendable 
independence in his thoughts and actions. He at one time received the 
nomination for sheriff of Franklin county at the hands of an inde- 
pendent aggregation and, although he met with defeat, gave his op- 
ponents a hard run. His ability to fill that character of office did not 
remain unrecognized, however, and he served as deputy sheriff for some 
time under Carroll Moore. 

In the war of the rebellion John Mooneyham, father of the subject, 
championed the cause of the North and served in the army with honor 
and distinction. He was a member of Company I, Thirty-first Regi- 
ment, for a time and was first lieutenant under General (then Colonel) 
John A. Logan. Resigning from the Thirty-first Regiment, he later 
enlisted with the Fifteenth Illinois Cavalry, in which he served first 



638 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

as first sergeant but was promoted and when his company was mustered 
out he was a first lieutenant. The total length of his service in the 
army was three years and eleven months. 

On his mother's side of the house also Judge James P. Mooneyham 
traces his ancestry to early pioneers. His mother was Minerva Man- 
ering, a native of Greene county, Illinois, where she was born on August 
4, 1841, the daughter of James Manering, one of Virginia's sturdy sons. 
Mr. Manering moved to Greene county at a time when the whole 
country was very sparsely settled. He was engaged in agriculture in 
Greene county for several years, but later moved to Franklin county, 
transporting his family and possessions by ox team. In Franklin 
county, near Six Mile Prairie, he secured a fine tract of land from the 
Government, which he cleared and put under cultivation, retaining the 
ownership of this farm throughout his life. The death of Mrs. Mooney- 
ham, the mother of James P., occurred on February 20, 1893, but little 
over a month after the demise of her husband, on January 10, 1893. 
They were both members of the Town Mount Prairie Missionary Bap- 
tist church and were held in the highest esteem by a large circle of 
friends. 

Judge James P. Mooneyham was born near Benton, Franklin 
county, Illinois, December 12, 1871. His early education was such as 
the common schools afforded, but this was later supplemented by the 
better advantages of the town schools and college. He attended at dif- 
ferent times a select school at Benton, the State Normal at Carbondale 
and finally took a two term course at Ewing College, Ewing, Illinois. 
This gave him a good foundation for success at teaching and for five 
years he engaged in that profession. During those years he devoted 
what time he could spare from his regular duties to the study of law, 
reciting under a relative's tuition, and was admitted to the bar in 
November, 1896. 

Judge Mooneyham has filled a number of public offices, both elective 
and appointive, performing state and county service in various capaci- 
ties. His political proclivities are Republican and he has been one 
of that party's most zealous workers in this section of the state. In 
1896, immediately after his admittance to practice, he became a candi- 
date for the nomination for state's attorney of Franklin county and re- 
ceived the honor without opposition at the hands of his party constit- 
uents. The election, however, resulted in his defeat. 

On March 4, 1897, he was offered and accepted the appointment 
of chief clerk at the Hospital for the Insane at Anna, Illinois, at the 
hands of Governor John R. Tanner. He proved himself well fitted for 
the duties of that important position and remained in it until Septem- 
ber 21, 1901, when he handed in his resignation and upon its acceptance 
returned to Benton and took up actively the practice of his profession. 

Judge Mooneyham formed a partnership with W. P. Seeber and 
pursued law work until 1902, when he was elected county judge, run- 
ning on the Republican ticket. During the subsequent four years Judge 
Mooneyham devoted his time assiduously to the faithful discharge of 
his judicial position, then wishing to engage again in private practice 
declined to become a candidate for re-election to the judgeship. He 
re-opened a law office at Benton, conducting it individually for a time, 
but in December, 1908, his old partner, W. P. Seeber, joined him in the 
formation of a firm and the business has since been conducted by these 
two gentlemen. Judge Mooneyham is eligible to plead in all of the 
courts in Illinois and enjoys a splendid practice, not only serving clients 
in Franklin county, but in other parts of the state as well. While he 
devotes his entire time to his large and growing practice he retains an 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 639 

enthusiastic interest in civic and political matters and is a valued ad- 
viser of the leaders in the Republican party. 

On November 15, 1899, occurred the marriage of Mr. Mooneyham 
to Miss Anna Spangler, daughter of Jacob Spangler, and a native of 
Union county, Illinois. 

In social matters as well as business and professional affairs Mr. 
Mooneyham is recognized as a leader and one whose influence is always 
found on the side of right and justice. He is a member of Benton 
Lodge, No. 64, A. F. & A. M., also of W. R. Ward Royal Arch Chapter, 
No. 223, and he likewise is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias order. 
He is a man of broad gauge, liberal and progressive in his ideas and 
methods, and is held in the highest esteem by all who know him. 

FLETCHER A. TBOUSDALE. A resident of Metropolis since 1875, 
Fletcher A. Trousdale, who is associated with the Journal-Republican 
of that city, has devoted his energies to various activities, mercantile, 
journalistic, industrial and political, his life being so interwoven with 
that of Metropolis as to render him a part of the urban fabric. He was 
born January 15, 1846, in White county, Illinois, and grew up on a farm 
near Enfield, being a descendant many generations removed from the 
immigrant ancestor of the Trousdale family, who came from county 
Antrim, Ireland, to America in early colonial days, locating in South 
Carolina. 

The Trousdales of the earlier regime were men of moment in their 
times, noted for their patriotism and ability. Two of the family, at 
least, served in the Revolutionary war, James Trousdale and William 
Trousdale, one of whom was the founder of the family from which 
Fletcher A. is sprung. Soon after the close of the war these two soldier 
brothers removed to Tennessee, taking up the land grants given them 
by the Government for their services during the heroic struggle for 
independence, the grants being located in the vicinity of Clarksville. 
There they spent their remaining days, and there reared their children 
to lives of usefulness, many of their descendants becoming prominent 
in public and professional life. One of them, James Trousdale, a great 
uncle of Fletcher A., served as governor of Tennessee ; Leonidas Trous- 
dale was at one time state superintendent of Public Instruction in that 
state; while others acquired note in ministerial and other professions. 

William McCoy Trousdale, father of Fletcher- A., was born Septem- 
ber 23, 1823, in White county, Illinois, where his father settled on 
leaving his Tennessee home. With the exception of a short time spent 
in the pioneer schools of his day he, was a self-educated and self-made 
man. Choosing for his work the occupation to which he was reared, 
he spent a quiet life on his farm, but as a man of strong personality 
he exerted a marked influence for good in his community, and was noted 
for his ability to tell a good story. He died in September, 1888, his 
death being mourned as a loss to the neighborhood. He married Jane 
Miller, a daughter of Peter and Susan (McCleary) Miller, the former 
of whom was of Scotch-Irish descent, while the McCleary family came 
from Scotland to this country, and took an active part in the Revolu- 
tion. She died aged forty-four years. 

The only member of the parental household to grow to years of ma- 
turity, Fletcher A. Trousdale spent his boyhood days in a semi-frontier 
country, and in the district schools acquired a practical education, be- 
coming fitted for the teacher's profession, which' he followed for a short 
time. Early in the seventies he became traveling salesman for Evans- 
ville and Cincinnati houses. Leaving the road, Mr. Trousdale was for 
a few years engaged in mercantile pursuits in Metropolis, and was 



640 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

later associated with the Massac Iron Company, an industry formed for 
the purpose of manufacturing cast iron water pipe, and which for 
several years was a flourishing concern, going to the wall in 1893, when 
it was sapped of its nourishment by the influence of the trust. While 
connected with that company Mr. Trousdale entered the field of jour- 
nalism, his first association in that line having been with the Metropolis 
Democrat, which was sold to A. N. Starkes, and his second venture with 
the Metropolis Herald, which later became the property of A. T. Barnes. 
On January 1, 1911, Mr. Trousdale, in association with County Super- 
intendent W. A. Spence and Senator D. W. Helm, became identified 
with the Journal-Republican, which is one of the old landmarks of the 
city, having been founded in 1865. This paper is strongly Republican 
in politics, and a vigorous advocate of temperance and good morals. 

In his political beliefs Mr. Trousdale is a Democrat, and acts with 
his party in national and state affairs, where the principles of pure 
Democracy are uppermost, but he has ever lined up with the movement 
for nation-wide prohibition. His fight against liquor is eternal, and 
his antagonism of that interest and of the business of selling poison to 
our citizenship, under license, or otherwise, has a permanent place in 
his make-up. During the first administration of President Cleveland, 
Mr. Trousdale served as postmaster of Metropolis, and in 1896 he was 
elected to represent his district in the General Assembly for one term. 
This service opened his eyes to many things hitherto unknown to him 
in regard to the acts of many of the legislators, and it sufficed to cure 
him of the office habit. Party affiliation means less to him than the 
standing and character of the candidate for public office, and he sup- 
ports men rather than party in both local and state affairs. 

While in the Legislature Mr. Trousdale introduced the question 
of draining the swamp lands of Massac. Union and Johnson counties 
in a bill calculated to bring the subject under agitation rather than with 
a hope of securing legislation favorable to such a move. Since that 
time he has persistently and consistently kept this matter before the 
people, with the result that some eighty thousand acres of hitherto sub- 
merged land will soon be drained, and new farms and new homes will 
spring up in places formerly inhabited by snakes and frogs. So, after 
a score of years of hammering through the press and by his voice, Mr. 
Trousdale sees the culmination of a movement that will add great 
wealth to his county and create a new agricultural district that will 
challenge in fertility the richest garden spots of our national domain. 

Mr. Trousdale has been twice married, his first wife, whose maiden 
name was Mary Shelby, having died, in Metropolis, leaving no children. 
He subsequently married, in 1892, Mrs. Grace McCartney Smith, a 
daughter of the late Captain McCartney, to whom reference is made 
elsewhere in this volume. Five children have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Trousdale, namely : William, Virginia, Dorothy, Frances Blessing, 
and Stewart, who died in childhood. Mr. Trousdale and his family be- 
long to the Methodist church, and he is a member of the Ancient Free 
and Accepted Order of Masons^ 

H. H. KOHN. The flourishing, prosperous cities and villages of 
Union county, Illinois, have furnished a field for the successful develop- 
ment of the careers of some of the foremost citizens of Southern Illinois, 
and this fact has been demonstrated in no uncertain manner in the life 
of H. H. Kohn, a prominent business man and able public official of 
Anna, whose activities have also served as an example of what may be 
accomplished by the man of industry, perseverance and ability, no 
matter how humble his start in life may be. Mr. Kohn is a native of 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 641 

Europe, and came to America as an orphan boy in 1874, when only thir- 
teen years of age. He had no relatives in this country, nor even acquain- 
tances, but on arriving in Boston managed to secure employment as a 
cash boy at a salary of $2.50 per week, on which he supported himself. 
Later, by his industry and good habits, he was advanced to $3.00 per 
week, and after a year was given the position of bookkeeper with the 
same concern, his wages being again increased. In all Mr. Kohn spent 
two years in Boston, and in 1876, deciding there was a better future for 
him farther West he went to St. Louis, Missouri, and for three years 
was employed as a clerk. 

In 1879, having saved between $300 and $400, Mr. Kohn came to 
the conclusion that he was ready to enter the business field on his own 
account, and subsequently located in Jerseyville, Illinois, where, with 
a friend from the old country he established himself as a general store- 
keeper. This business, however, did not prove such a successful ven- 
ture as had been anticipated, and the partnership was dissolved, Mr. 
Kohn returning to his duties as a clerk. About fifteen months later, 
having established a good line of credit, Mr. Kohn was able to secure 
backing from Mr. A. W. Cross, of Jerseyville, Illinois, and opened a 
store at Chesterfield. Here he was again met by discouraging circum- 
stances, for the mine failed, and the town thus losing the industry 
upon which all business depended, he was forced to close out his stock. 
These several disappointments would have caused some men to lose 
heart, but Mr. Kohn was made of sterner stuff and, nothing daunted, 
started all over again as a commercial traveler for a wholesale house, 
being given the Southern Illinois territory. When twenty-seven years 
of age, on his first trip, he had occasion to visit the village of Anna, 
and was quick to recognize the fact that this was to be some day a pros- 
perous community. Two years later, therefore, he opened a business 
here, and it was successful from the start. He is a director of the 
Anna National Bank, and president of the Commercial Club, having 
been the only incumbent of that position which he has held for two 
years. 

In 1886 Mr. Kohn was married to Miss Peebles, who was born at 
Chesterfield, Illinois, in 1860. She is a member of the Presbyterian 
church. Mr. Kohn belongs to Lodge No. 520, A. F. & A. M., R. A. C., 
and Knight Templar No. 13, Cairo. Politically a stanch Republican 
he has been active in the ranks of his party, is present secretary of the 
Congressional Committee, and for ten successive years was chairman 
of the County Central Committee. He \vas first appointed a member 
of the board of trustees of the Southern Illinois Hospital for the Insane 
by Governor Tanner, and has since received appointments to the same 
office from Governors Yates and Deneen, being an incumbent thereof 
for twelve years up to the present time. In May, 1910, he was ap- 
pointed by Governor Deneen a member of the commissioners to dispose 
of lands on Kaskaskia Island. Mr. Kohn's activities have always been 
along lines of progress, and while developing his own interests has 
always been ready to assist in anything that would be of benefit to his 
adopted locality. He bears a high reputation among his business asso- 
ciates, and his advice is often sought on matters of commercial impor- 
tance. As a man who has worked himself up from a poor emigrant boy, 
without .friends or means, in a strange country, to a position among the 
most substantial men of his locality, Mr. Kohn merits the respect in 
which he is held by his fellow townsmen, and as he has been successful 
in making his fortune, so has he been equally fortunate in making 
friends, who are to be found all over this part of the county. 



642 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

FRANCIS A. SWANNER, a progressive hotel man, farmer and mer- 
chant of Parker, Johnson county, was born in Logan county, Kentucky, 
September 7, 1854, but almost all of his life has been spent in Illinois, 
where since attaining his majority he has been prominent in business 
ventures, agriculture and public-spirited movements. His father, 
Richard Swanner, was born in North Carolina, February 9, 1814, a son 
of John Swanner, a native and farmer of Virginia, who died on his own 
farm in Tennessee at a ripe old age. He had nine children, five sons 
and four daughters, of whom Richard, who married Miss Tabitha Hunt, 
of Tennessee, was one of the eldest. 

Richard Swanner and his wife moved from Tennessee to Kentucky 
about 1850, and from the latter state to Southern Illinois about ten 
years later, making the last journey in wagons drawn by oxen, in true 
pioneer style. They settled near Eldorado, Saline county, renting a 
farm there for two years, after which they purchased eighty acres of 
wild land from the Illinois Central Railroad Company, near Carbon- 
dale, upon which they built a rude log cabin in the woods, where they 
resided for three years. When they first came to Illinois they had eight 
children, five of whom were sons, and one daughter was born to them 
after they settled in this state, making a family of nine children. In 
1867 they sold their farm near Carbondale and returned to Eldorado, 
and there purchased a tract of two hundred acres, which was sold in 
1872. At this. time they moved to a farm in Saline county, near Stone- 
fort, but in 1875 disposed of this land and moved to Johnson county, 
one and one-half miles from Parker City, where they purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres, and lived here during the remainder of their 
lives, the father passing away in 1886 and the mother in 1890. 

Francis A. Swanner had but few advantages in the educational line 
in his youth, but during later years much study and close observation 
has made him a well-informed man. He remained at home until twenty- 
four years of age, marrying Miss Malinda Cheat on September 26, 
1878, she being the daughter of Silas and Emily (Vaughn) Choat, of 
Tunnel Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Swanner followed farming in Johnson 
county until 1890, at which time they moved to Parker City, and here 
Mr. Swanner has since carried on a successful general merchandise 
business, and associated himself with various movements of public in- 
terest. In 1892 he was appointed postmaster, and served in that office 
for ten years, displaying great executive ability. He is a great friend 
to education, and although he has no children of his own has been 
prominent in movements that have tended to advance the development 
of the school system in his community. He is the owner of an excellent 
farm of one hundred and fifty-six acres in New Burnside, which he 
keeps well stocked, and it is supposed that the mineral on this land 
contains coal and a quartz that is thought to contain gold. In addition 
to this he has a farm of eighty acres in Tunnel Hill, which is in grass, 
Parker, situated between the Illinois Central and New York Central 
Railroads, being an excellent shipping point. Mr. Swanner has also 
interested himself somewhat in selling railroad ties, and all large 
ventures of a legitimate nature have received his consideration. 

As a citizen and public official Mr. Swanner has discharged his 
duties in the same faithful manner that he displays in his private busi- 
ness. His trade is a large one, not only in Parker but in the surround- 
ing territory for a radius of some miles, and his store is also a market 
for the produce of the farmers, who appreciate his liberal methods as 
to price and a "square deal." 



WWERSITY 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 643 

JOHN L. SCHMIDGALL. It is due to the efforts of the public-spirited 
citizens of Murphysboro that this city is at present in such a flourishing 
condition industrially and commercially, and to the fact that they have 
found time to lay aside their private interests and take up the work of 
promoting the movements that have pertained to the civic welfare. Ex- 
Mayor John L. Schmidgall, a business citizen of high standing and a 
leader of Republican politics in Jackson county, occupies a prominent 
place among the representative men of this class. He has been a resi- 
dent of Murphysboro all of his life, and was born April 17, 1870, a son 
of Henry and Sarah (Cooper) Schmidgall. 

Henry Schmidgall, who is well remembered in Murphysboro as a 
business man of excellent reputation, was a soldier during the Civil 
war, enlisting August 12, 1862, in Company D, Eighty-first Regiment, 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and serving until he received his honor- 
able discharge at Vicksburg, August 5, 1865. He had a fine war record, 
and when he took up the occupations of peace was as faithful to his 
city 's interests as he had been to his country 's and "during a long period 
spent in farming and the transfer business established a reputation 
for fair dealing and public-spirited citizenship. His death occurred 
March 20, 1911. 

John L. Schmidgall received his early educational training in the 
public schools of Murphysboro, after leaving which he entered Wash- 
ington University, St. Louis, Missouri, from which institution he was 
graduated in 1891, with the degree of C. E. Until 1894 he was engaged 
in civil engineering, and in that year became an operator, but in 1900 
sold out and became the owner of the Schmidgall Coal Company, which 
employs sixty-five men and has an output of two hundred and fifty tons 
of coal daily. Smce his father's death Mr. Schmidgall has been the 
manager of his estate, and he is also a director in the Southern Illinois 
Milling Company. He has been very prominent in Republican politics 
here, and has served the city as alderman for three years, resigning that 
office to accept the nomination for the mayoralty chair, to which he 
was eventually elected and served faithfully and efficiently from 1909 
until 1911. He was for a long period a member of the city school board 
and is now trustee of the township high schools. Formerly he was 
secretary of the Republican County Central Committee, and he now 
serves as a member of the executive board. Mr. Schmidgall is a mem- 
ber of the Illinois Mine Rescue Commission, and has interested himself 
in other movements of a progressive nature. 

On June 16, 1897, Mr. Schmidgall was united in marriage with Miss 
Edna Davis, daughter of G. B. Davis, a well known pharmacist of De Soto, 
Illinois, and three children have been born to this union, namely : Henry 
Arthur, John Raymond and Robert Green. Fraternally Mr. Schmid- 
gall is a thirty-second degree Mason, being past high priest in the 
chapter, a member of the Knights Templar at Cairo and the Consistory 
at Chicago, and he also holds membership in the Elks. Years of activ- 
ities in the business and political fields have given him a wide acquaint- 
ance, and it is safe to say that there is no more popular citizen in 
Murphysboro. 

ALEXANDER S. FKASEB. Conspicuous among the younger generation 
of men who have been active in aiding the upbuilding, growth and 
material improvement of Cairo is Alexander S. Fraser, now serving as 
sheriff of Alexander county. He was born in this city, June 3, 1869, 
coming from pure Scotch ancestry. 

His father, Alexander Fraser, was born in 1832, in Michigan, where 
his parents settled on coming from Scotland to the United States. A 



644 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

natural mechanic, he belonged to that class of industrious citizens who 
make history with their hands only, and whose combined labors are a 
potent force in the development of. every community. During the Civil 
war he fought valiantly in the Federal army, and was afterwards en- 
gaged in business as a coppersmith in Cairo, where he resided until his 
death, in 1884. His wife, whose name before marriage was Mary Eliza- 
beth Morris, survived him many years, passing away in Cairo in 1907. 
Five children blessed their union, as follows: George, who was employed 
in the office of the Illinois Central Railway Company, died while yet 
in the prime of manhood ; Llewellyn, who married Herman Schuh, died 
in Cairo; William P. who is serving as deputy sheriff under his 
brother; Charles lived but a few brief years; and Alexander S. 

Completing his early studies in the city schools of Cairo, Alexan- 
der S. Fraser was graduated from the Glendale Institute, at Kirk- 
wood, Missouri, in 1889. Possessing an unlimited amount of energy 
and ambition, he then embarked in the business of contracting, gen- 
eral construction, grading and paving, and in the course of a few years 
made the firm of A. S. Fraser one of vast importance in the affairs of 
the city. He was one of the bidders in the first paving contract let 
in Cairo, and initiated the work of making a modern town by paving 
Levee and Twenty-eighth streets. The fruit of his labors as a builder 
and contractor may be seen in the Lohr Bottling Works ; the Booker 
Packing Company's buildings; the Cairo Brewery; the Marks block; 
and in many of the finest residences in the city. 

Having inherited the political faith in which he was reared, Mr. 
Fraser is a steadfast Democrat, and in 1910 was selected as the party 
candidate for sheriff of Alexander county, at the election defeating 
his Republican opponent by fourteen hundred votes, which he secured 
in a county that has a normal Republican majority of eighteen hun- 
dred. He has now the distinction of being the first Democratic sheriff 
that the county ever elected. A prominent member of his party, Mr. 
Fraser has been regularly chosen as a member of the Alexander County 
Democratic Committee, and has served his party as a delegate to the 
state conventions. 

On April 3, 1901, Mr. Fraser was united in marriage with Tillie 
Blattau, who was born in Cairo, of German parents, in 1874, and two 
children have been born of their union, namely : William L., who 
died in childhood ; and Elizabeth Llewellyn. Fraternally Mr. Fraser 
is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, in 
which he has taken the Knights Templar degrees; of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows ; of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ; 
and of the Order of Eagles. 

PETER T. LANGAN. A man whose perseverance, industry and busi- 
ness sagacity has been largely instrumental in the establishment of 
one of Cairo's greatest industries is Peter T. Langan, a man in 
whom those potential elements that are essential in every success- 
ful career seem to center. He has been a citizen of Cairo since 1872. 
His advent hither marked the entry of an orphan boy without in- 
fluential friends to equip him for life's battles or to make an open- 
ing for a successful career, and while he has won the fight and placed 
himself upon a footing with the strong men of commercial and fi- 
nancial power in this city, his achievement has only come after many 
sacrifices, numerous disappointments and embarrassing situations, to 
detail which it is not the province of this sketch to do. 

Peter T. Langan was born near Louisville, Kentucky, June 16, 
1859. He was the only child of his parents, and his mother died in 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 645 

1861, soon after which date his father seemed to have abandoned him 
and left him to the care and keeping of his grandmother. When 
she died in 1872 his anchor to a home was cut off, and he came to a 
relative in Cairo. He saw so little of a schoolroom that he can 
hardly be said to have acquired any education as a lad, and the ne- 
cessity of the situation placed him in the employ of a mill owner and 
for two years he took his first lessons about a sawmill, which ser- 
vice proved to be the entering wedge to his greatest achievement. 
Mr. Langan next learned the machinists trade in the shop of J. B. 
Reed, of Cairo, a business that is yet a part of modern Cairo, but 
when he had completed his service he resumed work in a sawmill 
with T. W. Leahigh, and remained with him eight years. He then 
became yard foreman for the Cairo Box Factory with DeMoncourt & Hal- 
liday, and acquired additional education in the lumber business there. 
Having accumulated some little capital, he purchased a sawmill and 
went into the forest region of southeastern Missouri, where he was 
engaged for five years in cutting lumber, during which time he laid 
the real foundation for a business career. Having acquired capital, 
Mr. Langan now returned to Cairo and purchased the old J. V. Al- 
len lumber yard, founded by Samuel Walters, and the main retail 
yard of the city, and from 1892 to the present his time has been de- 
voted to the expansion of his business to cover all departments re- 
lating to house-building and to the development of a planing mill 
business with a capacity requisite to the demands of an area em- 
bracing portions of five states and ranking as a first-class builders' 
supply factory. His mill and yards cover more than three blocks in 
the business section of the city and his various industries give em- 
ployment to a small army of men. He does both a wholesale and a 
are doors, sash, blinds, mouldings, stairs, balusters, newels, stair- 
retail business and his billhead shows that his chief articles of stock 
railings, mantels, frames, dressed and rough lumber, lath, shingles, 
store counters, shelving, scroll sawing and turning, brackets, floor- 
ing, ceiling, weather-boarding, builders' hardware and paints. The 
management of his varied and complex enterprise requires all the 
time that a busy man ought to devote to each working day, and it is 
this continuous application for the past twenty years which has built 
up his inter-state reputation and brought him from the area of rough 
waters to a smooth sea and a safe harbor. 

Mr. Langan is a director in the Cairo National Bank and of the 
Central Building and Loan Association. He is a member of the 
Board of Trade, of the Commercial Club and of the Retail Merchants' 
Association. His attitude toward his city has earned him recognition 
among those who are counted upon to do responsible service for the 
municipality, and he has frequently been selected by the Mayor, as 
well as by the Governor of Illinois, to act as delegate to conventions 
which meet to discuss deep waterways and other subjects pertain- 
ing to improved facilities for domestic transportation. He has ac- 
quired other property interests in Cairo beside his immense mill and 
business property. He is an Elk and a Knight of Columbus, and his 
religious affiliation is with the Catholic church. 

Mr. Langan was first married in October, 1883, and to this union 
there were born the following children : William, who is associated 
with his father in business; Edwin, who is married and in business 
at Mounds, Illinois; and Mabel and Edith. His second marriage was 
with Miss Minnie Rennie, and by this union there are Mary, Jamie, 
Peter T., Jr., Frances Cecile and George Parsons, the latter named in 
honor of the distinguished mayor of Cairo. In conclusion it may be 



646 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

said of Mr. Langan that he has been one of those who have believed 
in the future of his city and by his active and progressive spirit has, 
done much to promote its industrial growth. He has never been actu- 
ated by any narrow, selfish motives, but, prospering himself, he has 
enjoyed the prosperity of others, knowing that the welfare of one 
individual alone never furthers but only retards the growth of a com- 
munity. He has been upright and honorable in all his dealings with 
his fellowmen and has merited the respect and esteem in which he is 
universally held. 

AMBERT D. MORGAN. Among the newer residents in Herrin is one 
who has made for himself a warm place in the hearts of the citizens 
of this town. This is the young lawyer, Ambert D. Morgan. Having 
equipped himself with the best preparation possible, he has put this 
training to such good use that he is fast becoming known as one of 
the most dependable men in the legal profession in his county. A 
convincing tongue and a clear brain ready to grasp the salient points 
of an argument, together with a large fund of legal knowledge stored 
away in his brain, make him a formidable opponent for even the best 
of his fraternity. 

Ambert D. Morgan is a native of the state to whose service he 
has chosen to give his young manhood, being born in Kane county, 
Illinois, on the 29th of October, 1886. His father, Lyman D. Morgan, 
owns a' beautiful country home near Hampshire, and here it was that 
the lad grew up. Small wonder that men find the young lawyer a 
master of persuasive diction. Eloquence is born and bred in open 
fields and under fresh skies, not in smoky cities with all their glow- 
ing picture galleries and theatres. 

Lyman D. Morgan was born in McHenry county, Illinois, in 1844, 
and spent his boyhood near Marengo, acquiring as much of an edu- 
cation as could be obtained from the primitive district schools of 
his day. When his country called for men he gave an eager service, 
enlisting in Company G, of the Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, to fight 
the misguided "Johnny Rebs." His service was such that the opin- 
ions with which he began his term of enlistment, anent the general 
depravity of the enemy, were not likely to be changed as were those 
of his brethren in the Army of the Potomac, for his work was chas- 
ing marauding Indians and fighting bushwhackers, who were dis- 
turbing the peace out on the borders of Kansas and the Indian Terri- 
tory. He was a corporal in his company, while the regiment was 
commanded by Colonel Breckinridge. During the latter part of the 
war his command was ordered to southern Missouri, where a sort of 
intermittent warfare was going on, momentarily exciting and a nec- 
essary duty, but how often must the heart of the boy corporal have 
longed to be over in the blood-stained Virginian valleys where the 
destinies of a people were being hewn out with fire and sword. With 
the restoration of peace Mr. Morgan returned to his deserted farm, 
from whence he eventually moved to Kane county, Illinois. After 
the stirring scenes of his youth he has been content to devote him- 
self to quiet agricultural pursuits during the rest of his life, but when 
the annual encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic rolls 
around he is usually present to exchange reminiscences with his old 
comrades in arms. He has been in command of the local post of the 
above organization, and takes considerable interest in local political 
affairs, his sympathies and support being with the Republican party. 

Lyman D. Morgan married Miss Elizabeth A. Helmer, at Platte, 
Michigan, on the 9th day of May, 1870. She was of Scotch parentage, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 647 

born at Overton, Ohio. Her father, Erastus Helmer, was also a na- 
tive of Ohio. Ambert D. is the fourth of several children, including 
Professor Ora S., principal of the college of agriculture of Columbia 
University, in New York city; Mabel L., of Lansing, Michigan; Izo, 
wife of Earl Crandall, of Kane county; Eugenia, now teaching in the 
public schools of Hampshire; and Judd, a student at the University 
of Illinois. 

This branch of the Morgan family was founded in Illinois by Ly- 
man Morgan, father of Lyman D. When a young man he came into 
this part of the country from New York state, the year being 1835. 
In McHenry county he met and married Polly Thomas, and four chil- 
dren were born to them, Leroy R., who served in the Eighth Illinois 
Infantry during the Civil war and now resides in Platte, Michigan; 
Lyman D. ; Calvin, who died unmarried; and Lucretia, who became 
the wife of D. Bowen and died in Denver, Colorado. 

Ambert D. Morgan prepared himself for college in the high schools 
of Hampshire and Elgin. He was graduated from the former, but 
spent two years in Elgin before entering the State University at 
Champaign. It had always been his purpose to fit himself for the 
profession of medicine, and he entered on his collegiate work with 
that intent, but after two years in the University he was forced to 
leave his books and go to work. The position which he took was 
under the civil service, as postal clerk, running on the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad between Chicago and Carbondale. In addition to his 
duties in this capacity he had the ambition, at the beginning of his 
four years as postal clerk, to take up the study of law in the Illinois 
College of Law, having abandoned the idea of becoming a physician, 
and he had the grit to stick to it until he received his degree in 1909. 
Being now ready for active work in his chosen profession, he re- 
signed from the government service and located in Herrin, as an -at- 
torney at law. During the same year he passed his examinations for 
the bar before the supreme court of the state at Springfield, and was 
admitted to the right to practice in all the state and federal courts 
of Illinois. 

On the 25th of December, 1910, Ambert D. Morgan was married to 
Alberta Eubank, the ceremony taking place in Centralia, Illinois. His 
wife is the daughter of James S. Eubank, a representative of one of 
the oldest families of the county. He is a well known blacksmith, and 
his wife is Olive Whitehead. Mrs. Morgan was born in Williamson 
county, in 1890. A daughter was born of this marriage on December 
16, 1911, Lillian Eugenia. 

Mr. Morgan is a faithful member of the Republican party and is 
interested in the fraternal orders to the extent of belonging to the 
Modern Woodmen. He is also an enthusiastic member of Alpha Kap- 
pa Phi, one of the legal group of college fraternities. 

Mr. Morgan is a man of much promise, one whom his town will 
be proud to own. He now possesses that trait in which the members 
of his profession are supposed to be notoriously lacking, that is, hon- 
esty. The record of his past life tells of too true and fine a nature 
for one not to believe that he will keep his honesty and uprightness 
of purpose in the face of the temptations that will come to him. At 
present his cleverness has won him much admiration and his personal 
charm has brought to him many friends, so that his fellow citizens 
of the older generation look upon him as one of those who will be 
ready to lift the burden from their shoulders when they are ready 
to lay it down. 



648 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

JAMES S. HESTER. A typical example of the virile manhood of 
Southern Illinois is found in James S. Hester. Born in the South, he 
accompanied his parents to Illinois as a youth, resisted the lure of the 
city and of the great West, to which so many of his boyhood companions 
yielded, and after serving his country valiantly as a soldier during 
the Civil war, set himself to the task of extracting wealth from the 
farm. After more than forty years spent in agricultural pursuits he 
has now retired and is enjoying the fruits of his labors as a resident 
of the city of Vienna. 

The grandfather of James S. Hester, B. Hester, was a pioneer set- 
tler of Franklin county, Alabama, and built the first house in 
Franklin, the county seat. -His son, Chesley B. Hester, was born in 
Alabama, and brought his family to Southern Illinois during the fall 
of 1863, when the Union sympathizers, to which class the Hesters 
belonged, were driven from the Southern states. On coming to Illi- 
nois Mr. Hester located on a farm near Vienna, about four miles 
away, having served for eleven months as a member of Company B, 
Sixty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he had enlisted at 
Corinth, Mississippi, September 11, 1862, and from which he received 
his honorable discharge on account of disability. He never recovered 
from the bad effects of his army service, and died in 1881. He had a 
family of six sons and three daughters, but a number of the children 
died on coming North, on account of the great change in climate. Sa- 
maria is deceased ; James S. is the subject of this review ; John C. 
and Louis are deceased; Emily married a Mr. Dooley; and Alfred 
Henry, Clinton, Hannah and Alabama are deceased. Mrs. Hester 
survived her husband only five days. 

James S. Hester was born October 14, 1846, in Franklin county, 
Alabama, and had not yet reached his sixteenth birthday when he 
enlisted in the same company with his father. He was well grown 
and sturdy and much better able to stand the rigors of army life 
than the older man, and would have completed his enlistment of three 
years had not the war closed some three months prior to that time. 
For some time he was engaged in garrison duty around Corinth and 
luka, Mississippi, as well as Glendale, which was his headquarters for 
ten months, and he then went to Pulaski, Tennessee, and Decatur, 
Alabama, subsequently, in the spring of 1864, going to Chattanooga 
to participate in the battles around that place. He then joined Sher- 
man's division and took part in the famous March to the Sea, and 
was in the fighting all through to Savannah, where he boarded ship 
to Buford, South Carolina. Marching through to Goldsboro, the regi- 
ment went on to Raleigh, North Carolina, where they received the 
news of Lee's surrender amid great rejoicing. Mr. Hester's brigade 
then went on to Richmond, and then to "Washington, D. C., where it 
participated in the Grand Review, and he was mustered out of the 
service June 8, 1865, and paid off and discharged at Springfield, Illi- 
nois. His brave and faithful services finished, Mr. Hester went to 
Dongola by rail and joined the family at Vienna, working on his 
father's farm until 1867. In that year he married and began life 
for himself on a rented farm situated two miles northwest of Vienna, 
but in the next year moved to another farm two and one-half miles 
southwest of Vienna, on which he continued operations until 1879. At 
that time he purchased thirty-two acres of land, and from that time on 
his rise as an agriculturist was rapid, his holdings now amounting to 
two hundred and twenty-three acres of excellent land, which is being 
operated by his sons. In November, 1904, Mr. Hester left the farm and 
moved to Vienna, where he purchased a fine residence and nine lots. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 649 

He has been active in civic affairs and county politics and a hard and 
faithful worker in the ranks of the Republican party, serving at va- 
rious times as school director and road commissioner, and at present 
acting for the second time as a member of the Vienna city council. He 
is a popular comrade of Vienna Post, Grand Army of the Republic, 
and he and his family are consistent members of the United Brethren 
church. 

Mr. Hester was married (first) in May, 1867, to Joyce Adeline 
Ridenhower, daughter of A. M. Ridenhower, and she died in 1895, hav- 
ing been the mother of thirteen children, of whom two are deceased, 
William, who passed away at the age of thirteen years, and John, who 
died when six months old, while the survivors are : R. A., A. M., T. P., 
Mary Jane, Nancy Ann, Alfred, Garfield, May, Sarah, Marion Tullis 
and Mrs. Cora Jones. Mr. Hester's second marriage occurred in 1897, 
when he was united with his first wife's sister, Mrs. Mary Jane (Riden- 
hower-Hester) Newby, who married first John Hester and for her sec- 
ond husband William M. Newby, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. 
Hester has fifteen grandchildren. He is one of his community's promi- 
nent and influential citizens, having proved himself as faithful and ca- 
pable in discharging the duties that have fallen to his lot during days 
of peace as he did in his youth as a wearer of the blue during the dark 
days of the Civil war. 

ALBERT W. WILLIAMSON, president of the Williamson-Kuny Mill & 
Lumber Company, has been a resident of Mound City for the past 
thirty years, and it would be indeed difficult to say if any other citizen 
of that city has done more for its development or given greater aid to 
the city and county in the administration of its affairs than has he. 

Albert W. Williamson was born in Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 
1858, in whieh city his father, David C. Williamson, was engaged in the 
manufacture of staves. The latter was born near Oswego, New Fork, 
in 1830, being the son of a farmer and with not more advantages than 
the average country youth is favored with. In his young manhood Mr. 
Williamson engaged in the manufacture of hardwood lumber with a 
small mill near his native town, but he subsequently transferred his ac- 
tivities to Camden, New Jersey, and in the early fifties established him- 
self in Chicago in a manufacturing business. During the ensuing years 
he suffered financial reverses, due to various causes, and he left Chicago, 
taking over the management of a stave mill in Valparaiso, Indiana. He 
was thus occupied until 1866, when he went to Paducah, Kentucky, in 
which town he launched out into business on his own responsibility 
again, and he was connected with the firm of Farley & Williamson as 
one of its partners when he passed away in 1876. 

In the neighborhood where he was born and reared David William- 
son married Miss Angelina Dudley, and she is now a member of the 
family of her son Albert W., in Mound City, at the advanced age of 
eighty-one years. Two children of their union survive: Ella, wife of 
T. M. Ford, and Albert W., of this review. 

Albert W. Williamson was educated in the public schools of Ken- 
tucky. As soon as he arrived at an age when he would be of assistance 
to his father in the business he entered the office of the Farley & Wil- 
liamson Company, where he acquired a concise and far-reaching knowl- 
edge of the technical side of the business, and proved himself so well 
conversant with the intricacies of the business that on the death of his 
parent he remained in the business for five years as the partner of Mr. 
Farley. 

In 1881 he removed from Paducah and established a home in Mound 



650 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

City. For a time he operated a lumber and shingle mill across the river 
in Ballard county, Kentucky, as junior member of the firm of Ford & 
Williamson, but in the year 1885 that plant was brought to Mound 
City and the business continued without any change in its manage- 
ment until in 1893, when Mr. Williamson purchased his partner's in- 
terest in the concern and thereafter conducted the business alone until 
in 1903, when the present firm, the Williamson-Kuny Mill & Lumber 
Company was incorporated with a capital stock of fifty thousand dol- 
lars, since then very materially increased by the earnings of the plant, 
which has flourished abundantly since its establishment. 

The plant of the Williamson-Kuny Mill & Lumber Company is the 
principal industry of Mound City, which boasts a goodly number of 
manufacturing concerns, and has a daily capacity of fifty thousand feet 
of lumber and veneer, with a weekly pay-roll of one thousand two hun- 
dred dollars. 

Mr. Williamson's record regarding his connection with the many 
financial organizations of his city is indeed an enviable one. He is vice- 
president and a director of the First State Bank of Mound City, and 
has been president of the Mound City Building and Loan Association 
since its organization twenty-five years ago, in which positions he has 
done splendid work for those institutions, being in many respects re- 
sponsible for the firm and solid tooting upon which they stand today. 
He has been county commissioner for ten years, and it is generally con- 
ceded that it was through his unceasing endeavor that the county seat 
was retained at its present location no small feat in the face of the 
opposition set forth; while his successful handling and final putting 
through of the bond issue for the erection of a courthouse and jail is a 
service for which his city and county is manifestly indebted to him. 

In all Mr. Williamson's relations to his city has been an attitude of 
service. In 1890 he was elected to the mayoralty, in which capacity 
he served three terms. During his tenure of office many improvements 
in civic affairs came to pass, conspicuous among them being the estab- 
lishment of the concrete or granitoid walk in lieu of the board side- 
walk, and surface drainage by the installation of pumps. Mule-car 
service by the railroad, company between Mound City and Mounds was 
discarded in favor of the locomotive, and steps were taken by means of 
which to encourage manufacturers to establish at this point, admittedly 
an advantageous location when brought to the notice of the outside 
world ; and as a stockholder in the inter-urban railway he largely helped 
to make that railway a possibility. 

In his political activity Mr. Williamson has been the exponent of 
Republican principles and has supported Republican candidates for 
many important offices. It has been his pleasure to frequently see rep- 
resentatives of his party in state conventions and himself a delegate, 
and when occasion demanded he has given freely of his substance for 
the support of the cause. Mr. Williamson is an active member of the 
Commercial Club of Mound City, and has served the Club as its presi- 
dent and variously upon many important committees. 

On June 26, 1893, Mr. Williamson was married to Miss Inez Gulp at 
Anna, Illinois, she being a daughter of Marshall Gulp. The issue of 
their union are a son and daughter, Frederick and Alberta. The fam- 
ily are members of the Congregational church. 

CAPTAIN EZEKIEL J. INGERSOLL. The fabric of human life woven 
by the Fates for the children of men is far too often, nay, almost al- 
ways, of rough and gloomy texture, and presents to the casual observa- 
tion only its darker tints, its rasping and resisting qualities for service, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 651 

and the shadows which inevitably belong to it. There are, there must be, 
bright patches in every expression of it, but for the greater part the 
sombre hues predominate, or seem to, and give class and character to the 
whole web. 

It is a genuine pleasure to chronicle a striking exception to the rule. 
This is to be found in the lives of Ezekiel J. and Harriet Helen (Law- 
rence) Ingersoll, esteemed residents of Carbondale for over fifty-three 
years. Their earthly career, from the time of their union in marriage 
on September 21, 1858, to the present time (1911) has seemed to flow 
steadily on in one calm, full current of active goodness, and to be al- 
together bright with the light shining from their benignant spirits and 
reflected from the happiness they have bestowed on others. 

Mr. Ingersoll was born at Greensburg, Indiana, on November 18, 
1836, and when he was but two years old was taken by his parents to 
Lebanon, Ohio. There he grew to manhood and obtained his education. 
In 1853 he moved to Paris, Illinois, and on June 6, 1859, became a resi- 
dent of Carbondale, which has ever since been his home. Soon after his 
arrival in the city he began business here as a jeweler, in a room of the 
building now occupied by the First National Bank. But this he was 
not destined to continue long without a serious interruption involving 
continued danger to him and apprehension among the numerous friends 
he had in the city even then, after living only a short time among its 
people. 

The Civil war came on and put the patriotism of men all over the 
country to the severest test it had ever known. Early in the contest 
Mr. Ingersoll responded to the call for volunteers to defend the Union 
against forced dismemberment, enlisting on July 20, 1862, in Company 
H, Seventy-third Illinois Infantry, in which he served to the close of 
the conflict. He had received a fair military education by a three years' 
service in a well drilled militia company, and in the Federal army, 
where trained officers were badly needed, his promotion was rapid. He 
passed all the ranks from sergeant-major to captain, reaching the last 
in February, 1863, after the battle of Stone River. In the battle of 
Chickamauga he received a wound, and in that of Franklin another. 
His wounds did not disable him, however, and he was with his regiment 
in other hard fought battles and a great many skirmishes. Near the 
end of the war he acted as major, and at times was in command of the 
regiment, which he handled with intrepid courage and highly com- 
mendable skill and sagacity. 

Mr. Ingersoll 's interest in the welfare of Carbondale and Jackson 
counties, and his services in promoting the progress and improvement of 
both, won for him the regard of the whole people long ago. The resi- 
dents of the city showed their appreciation of his merit and their faith 
in his ability and integrity by electing him mayor four times ; and the 
people of the legislative district theirs by making him their represen- 
tative in the Thirty-eighth General Assembly. In this body he was as- 
signed to several important committees and rendered his district and 
the whole state signal and appreciated service. He assisted in drafting 
the law which transferred the Lincoln monument to the state of Illinois. 
This law proyides that the custodian of the monument shall be an Illi- 
nois soldier as long as one remains in the state. And when the last 
veteran shall have been laid to rest the position must be given to the son 
of a soldier of Illinois, and so on down the line in perpetual succession. 
During the session Mr. Ingersoll also secured an appropriation of forty 
thousand dollars for the erection of the building, on the campus of the 
University, devoted to science, and in many other ways made his pres- 



652 HISTORY .OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

ence in the General Assembly felt greatly to the advantage of the peo- 
ple. 

In fact, during his service in that body he attracted the attention of 
all portions of the state and won the approval of its leading men on 
all sides. Governor Oglesby appointed him a trustee of the Southern 
Illinois Normal School, and he was continued in this position by Gov- 
ernors Fifer, Tanner and Yates, serving in it sixteen years in all. The 
present condition of this great institution shows that it has been well 
managed, and its history during the period of his trusteeship reflects 
great credit on everybody connected with the control and government 
of it. 

In political relations Mr. Ingersoll is an uncompromising Republican, 
and has been from the organization of the party. He called the first Re- 
publican meeting ever held in Jackson county. He assisted in organizing 
the Lincoln and Hamlin Club of Carbondale in 1860, and served as its 
president. He has supported the candidates of the party at every elec- 
tion since then, and expects to stand by the convictions that have guided 
him thus far to the end of his life with unswerving loyalty. . 

In fraternal life he has been an active and enthusiastic member of 
the Masonic order and the Grand Army of the Republic. In the former 
he belongs to Shekinah Lodge, No. 241, and was its worshipful master 
four years. In the latter he holds membership in John W. Lawrence 
Post, No. 297, of which he has been post commander five years and still 
holds the position (1912). He has also been Adjutant of the Southern 
Illinois Soldiers and Sailors' Association. 

As noted above, Mr. Ingersoll was married on September 21, 1858, 
in Paris, Illinois, to Miss Harriet Helen Lawrence, a native and at 
the time of her marriage a resident of that city. On September 21, 1908, 
they celebrated their golden wedding, without pomp or splendor of dis- 
play, but modestly and quietly, in an atmosphere redolent with the fra- 
grance of a half century of true domestic happiness and fidelity, and on 
that occasion received the voluntary and cordial testimony of the whole 
city that they were held in the highest esteem by its people of all classes 
and conditions. 

There was abundant reason for this outpouring of popular approval. 
During the whole time of their previous residence in Carbondale Mr. 
and Mrs. Ingersoll had been potential aids in every good work done in 
the community. In the church, in the Sunday-school, in all organiza- 
tions for the amelioration of human sorrow and the uplifting of mankind 
laboring in the city they had been untiring toilers, and hundreds of un- 
fortunates had been recipients of their bounty. They had reared five 
orphans of other parents from childhood to manhood and womanhood, 
and bestowed on them a full measure of parental care and affection, and 
they had done all their good deeds without ostentation, and from a genu- 
ine love of their fellow creatures. The people of Carbondale revere them 
for the uprightness of their lives, the usefulness of their citizenship, the 
sincerity and largeness of their charity toward all mankind, and their 
intrinsic worth in every way, and were glad of an opportunity to manifest 
their feelings on the subject. 

MRS. DAMIE MOERAY. Some of the most highly improved and produc- 
tive farms of Johnson county are owned and operated by women, and 
among them are found tracts which have remained in the same family 
for many years. Mrs. Damie Morray, of Bloomfield township, belongs to 
the class of women agriculturists who have succeeded in their operations 
because their whole lives have been spent in an agricultural atmosphere 
and they have received the same rigid training that has been given to the 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 653 

male members of their families. Reared on farms, having an intimate 
knowledge of climatic and soil conditions in their neighborhoods, when 
these women are given the management of property they are as well pre- 
pared to get results as the men, and the standard set by the women farm- 
ers of Southern Illinois is something of which the state should be proud. 
Mrs. Morray was born October 10, 1870, in Bloomfield township, and is 
a daughter of Hears P. and Annie (Hester) Fort. 

Mrs. Morray 's parents were born in Tennessee, and in that state were 
married, January 11, 1847. Coming to Illinois during the late 'forties, 
they settled on a farm situated one and one-half miles northeast of Vienna, 
and there resided during the remainder of their lives, Mr. Fort passing 
away May 6, 1882, and his widow following him to the grave July 8, 
1897. They had a family of eleven children, as follows: Amanda L., 
who married a Mr. Hendry and is now deceased ; J. L. ; Emily F., who is 
deceased ; W. G. ; Gustavus, who is deceased ; David W., Samuel H. and 
Margaret V., all of whom are deceased ; Georgia, who married Dr. Thom- 
linson and is now deceased ; Albert, who resides in Texas ; and Damie. 

Mrs. Morray grew up on the homestead farm, receiving an excellent 
training in the duties of domestic life and taking part in much of the 
work on the farm. It was but natural that she should gain much valu- 
able experience as to farming methods, and this has stood her in good 
stead in later years. She was married (first) in 1891, to David Pip- 
pins, a native of Johnson county and a son of Gilbert Pippins, and two 
children were born to them : Edna and Auttie, the latter of whom died in 
infancy. Edna married James B. Garrett, a son of John Garrett and 
Nancy (Harris) Garrett, the former a veteran of the Sixth Illinois Cav- 
alry during the Civil war. One child, James Brooks Garrett, has been 
born to them. David Pippins, who was a farmer near Vienna, and died 
September 17, 1894, was a son of Gilbert Pippins, who served in the 
One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, un- 
der General John A. Logan. 

On December 8, 1898, Mrs. Pippins was married to Joseph Morray, 
and five children were born to this union : William Frank, James Floyd, 
Joseph Eugene, Morris Albert and John Bishop, the last named being de- 
ceased. Joseph Morray was born September 20, 1845, and was a son of 
James Bishop Morray, captain of Company B, Sixth Illinois Cavalry, 
during the Civil war, and saw considerable service. Joseph Morray was 
married (first) to Miss Gussie Haley, who died July 2, 1878, leaving 
three children : Mrs. Minnie Mathis ; Gussie ; and Ollie, who died in in- 
fancy. He married (second) Miss Ola Whittenberg, who died October 8, 
1897, there being three children born to this union : Ralph, Mabel and 
Eulala, of whom Mabel is deceased. Mr. Morray was a successful farmer 
of Johnson county, and at the time of his death, December 29, 1906, 
was the owner of six hundred acres of fine farming land, all of which is 
now owned by his widow and her children, they having purchased the 
interest of the other heirs to the estate. In the home farm there are forty 
acres, on which is situated a handsome farm residence ; forty acres are lo- 
cated one-quarter mile south ; forty-five acres are north one-half mile, and 
three acres are in Bloomfield, the remainder being in Simpson and Burn- 
side townships, which land is leased to renters. 

Mrs. Morray has had considerable success in her operations, and dis- 
plays a progressive and enterprising spirit in regard to movements cal- 
culated to be of benefit to her community. She and her children are 
faithful members of the Methodist church, and all are well and favorably 
known in religious and social circles. 



654 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

SIDNEY C. MARTIN, M. D., who has been engaged in the practice of 
medicine and surgery at Anna, Illinois, for more than a quarter of a 
century, is one of the leading members of the profession in Southern Illi- 
nois, and has also identified himself with business and public life. Dr. 
Martin was born in Union county, January 10, 1851, and is a son of 
Samuel and Matilda (McElhaney) Martin, both families having located 
in Union county at an early day. 

Samuel Martin was born in Jackson county, Alabama, in 1824, and 
was six years of age when brought to Union county by his parents, who 
located on a farm about five miles east of Anna, and in 1851 they moved 
to Port Worth, Texas, where they died. He grew to manhood on the 
old homestead, and spent his life in farming, becoming one of the leading 
agriculturists of his day and serving as county treasurer and assessor for 
five years. His wife was born in Jonesboro, Illinois, in 1827, her parents 
having settled in Union county ten years previous to that time, and owned 
a farm where the town of Jonesboro now stands. Samuel Martin died at 
Anna in 1898. The youth of Sidney C. Martin was spent much the same 
as other farmers' boys, and his preliminary education was secured in 
the common schools. After three years' study in the medical department 
of the Northwestern University, Chicago, he was graduated in 1884 and 
at once settled in Anna, where he formed a partnership with Dr. J. I. 
Hale, with whom he continued to be associated until 1909. Dr. E. V. Hale, 
son of the elder Hale, was admitted to the firm in 1897, and on the dis- 
solution of partnership in 1909, the younger member and Mr. Martin 
formed a connection that has lasted to the present time. Dr. Martin is 
recognized as one of the eminent members of the Union county medical 
profession, and for some years acted as president of the Union County 
Medical Society. He also belongs to the Illinois, Southern Illinois and 
American organizations, and is now serving in the office of health official, 
a position which he has held on several previous occasions. Dr. Martin 
adheres to the principles of the Republican party, and for fifteen years 
has served very acceptably as a member of the school board. The greater 
part of his time and attention have been given to his extensive practice, 
but he has also found time to identify himself with several large business 
enterprises, being at present the president of the Anna Lumber Com- 
pany, a director in the First National Bank of Anna, and a stockholder in 
the Anna Building and Loan Association and the Union Fruit Package 
Company. He is a popular member of the Commercial Club, and be- 
longs to Anna Blue Lodge No. 520, A. F. & A. M., in which he has held 
several offices. 

In 1892, Dr. Martin was married to Miss Minnie Boettner, of Jones- 
boro, Illinois, daughter of J. C. and Julia Boettner, and one daughter 
was born to this union : Esther, born in 1895, who resides at home and is 
now a student in the Union Academy. A close student, a careful ob- 
server, full of energy and possessed of executive ability, Dr. Martin has 
attained a high position in his profession, while the extensive nature of 
the various enterprises with which he has been connected has given him a 
prominent standing in the business world of Union county. 

DOCTOR WILLIAM A. MATTHEWS. In 1868, the very year in which, 
by a pleasant coincidence, a little group of the good citizens of Franklin 
county, Illinois, met together and formulated the plans which resulted in 
the foundation of Ewing College, an institution which, fostered by their 
enlightened and upright ideas, was to constitute a fitting place of edu- 
cational discipline for their children and grandchildren, there was born 
near the city of Birmingham, England, one William A. Matthews, who 
was one day to cross the blue Atlantic and take his place as president of 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 655 

this college. Dr. Matthews is the son of John and Ann (Smart) Mat- 
thews, both deceased. He comes from Welsh and English stock, and, as 
one biographer has said in this connection, "This may account for his 
passion for Evangelism on the one hand and his persistent determination 
to succeed on the other. ' ' "When only a few years of age his parents con- 
cluded to come to this country in search of the wider opportunity which 
they believed America to possess for them and their children. They soon 
found their way to Illinois and located at Centralia. At the age of four- 
teen young William was converted and baptised into the Centralia Bap- 
tist church and in 1888, when only twenty years of age, he was licensed to 
preach by the Fourth Baptist church of St. Louis, Missouri. 

Doctor Matthews, from his boyhood, was ever zealous for learning and 
found his greatest satisfaction in books. He received a very thorough 
training for the ministry, pursuing his studies in the following institu- 
tions of learning: Shurtleff, Ewing, Washington Universities, Morgan 
Park Baptist Seminary and the Divinity School of the University of 
Chicago. He took his Bachelor of Arts degree at Ewing in 1895, M. A. 
in 1898, and in 1904 his alma mater conferred upon him the honorary de- 
gree of Doctor of Divinity. He has held leading pastorates in St. Louis, 
Missouri, Aurora and Chicago, Illinois, and in 1909 he was summer 
supply at Dr. James Spurgeon's Tabernacle in London, England. That 
was followed by, a three weeks' campaign of evangelism in Scotland. He 
came into international prominence in 1909 by reviewing Professor G. B. 
Foster's Theology before the Baptist Ministers' Conference of Chicago 
in such manner that the Professor's name was dropped from the roll 
of the conference. He is widely known in the central west as a lecturer 
against higher criticism and has made himself a recognized authority on 
the subject. 

Doctor Matthews assumed the presidency of Ewing College in 1910, 
and his incumbency has proved a material, intellectual and spiritual 
blessing to school and student, citizen and community. Under his ad- 
ministration a wise and progressive leadership is bringing the school on 
towards the accomplishment of its purposes and realization of its high 
mission. It has been said of him, "Perhaps no man could have been 
elected to the presidency of Ewing who would bring it greater strength 
or better command the confidence and support of E wing's constituency 
than Doctor Matthews. ' ' 

Dr. Matthews was married to Miss Delia M. Burton, of Upper Alton, 
Illinois, in 1892. They have six children: Stewart, Esther, Ruth, De- 
light, William A., Jr., and Dorothy. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON MATHIS. Many of the men who have been 
instrumental in keeping the agricultural standard high in Johnson 
county have started their careers in other vocations and have been unable 
to resist the call of the soil even though they have attained success in 
different lines. There is a certain fascination in the life of the farmer 
to those who come of families whose main occupation has been the tilling 
of the soil, and one who has returned to farming and achieved consid- 
erable success is George Washington Mathis, of Bloomfleld township, 
who was for many years well known as an educator. Mr. Mathis comes 
of an old and honored Johnson county family, and was born not far 
from his present residence, July 18, 1869, a son of Robert D. and Lucinda 
(Fairless) Mathis. 

John Mathis, the great-grandfather of George W., was a native of 
Virginia, and one of the original pioneers of Trigg county, Kentucky. 
He married Margaret Brown, and in 1846' they migrated to Randolph 
county, Illinois, where both passed away. Among their children was 



656 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

William Mathis, who was born and reared in Kentucky, and was there 
married to Cynthia Scott, of Trigg county, daughter of William and 
Mary (Moore) Scott, and to them were born five children, namely: Rob- 
ert D., Elizabeth E., John B., Margaret A. and James P. William Mathis 
accompanied his father's family to Randolph county, Illinois, in 1846, 
but in 1849 migrated to Johnson county by ox-team, purchased Govern- 
ment land in Bloomfield township, and there built a log cabin and settled 
down to clearing his farm. He spent the remainder of his life in farm- 
ing, and died November 22, 1860, his widow surviving until June, 1888. 
They were well known all over Bloomfield township, and Mr. Mathis had 
the reputation of being an excellent farmer and progressive, public- 
spirited citizen. 

Robert D. Mathis was also born in Kentucky, and was a lad when he 
accompanied his parents to Randolph county. He was brought up there 
and in Johnson county, and his education was secured in the district 
schools of his day. When he was married he settled on rented land, but 
after six years was able to purchase a farm of forty acres, to which he 
added from time to time until he was the owner of a finely-cultivated 
tract of one hundred and forty acres. He was active and influential in 
local Republican politics, and his fellow citizens manifested their con- 
fidence in his integrity and ability by electing him collector of taxes two 
years, township treasurer for ten years and justice of the peace for a 
long period. He was successful in his agricultural operations, and the 
same enthusiasm and conscientious labor that give him a position among 
the substantial men of his district were brought into play in his public 
service, and the manner in which he discharged the duties of his various 
offices stamped him as a man who had the best interests of his commu- 
nity at heart. Mr. Mathis married Miss Lucinda Fairless in 1858, daugh- 
ter of Robert and Matilda (Buchanan) Fairless, natives of Gallatin 
county, Illinois, and they had a family of four children : John P., George 
W., Olonzo F. and Lillian V. 

George W. Mathis was brought up to the life of a farmer, and his 
education was secured in the Bloomfield township and Vienna public 
schools. At the age of nineteen years he began teaching in Bloom- 
field, and in all followed that profession for thirteen years, the greater 
part of this time being spent in Johnson county, and seven years of it 
in Bloomfield. He also had a school for one term in Oklahoma. During 
all this time Mr. Mathis had carried on farming during the vacation 
periods, but it was not until 1903 that he began to give all his attention 
to agricultural pursuits. In 1893 he had purchased a tract of one hun- 
dred acres situated in section 16, Bloomfield township, one mile north 
of the homestead, but in 1896 he sold this and secured twenty acres ad- 
joining his present property. He subsequently disposed of the latter 
tract and bought forty acres, which adjoined thirty-three and one-half 
acres owned by his wife, and he now has the entire tract in a high state 
of cultivation. Mr. Mathis has carried on general farming and his oper- 
ations have been very successful. His land is highly productive and he 
finds a ready market for his cattle in the nearby cities, his stock being of 
a superior grade. Although his own interests have kept him busily em- 
ployed, he has found time to engage in local politics, and he is a member 
of the Republican County Central Committee, and an influential worker 
in his party's ranks in this section. Fraternally he is affiliated with 
Vesta Lodge, No. 340, 1. 0. 0. F., at Vienna. 

On August 23, 1893, Mr. Mathis was united in marriage with Miss 
Minnie E. Morray, daughter of J. B. and Gussie (Haley) Morray, both 
of whom are deceased, and eight children have been born to this union, 
namely : Gussie V., a graduate of the county high school ; Alvin, a stu- 



OF 



IHS 



OF THE 
H3WERSITY OF ILIKGT. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 657 

dent in the eighth grade of public school ; and Mabel E., Kate Lucinda, 
Archie, George, Wayne and John H. 

EDWARD G. BRITTON, as the head of the dairy industry in Mounds, 
has been instrumental in developing to its present high standard that 
line of endeavor in Pulaski county, and he has demonstrated to the 
public the splendid possibilities of the genus bovine as a source of profit 
to the systematic farmer. 

He began the dairy business in the summer of 1890, in an exceed- 
ingly small way, when on August 7th of that year he sold his first 
supply of milk at Mounds. The incident was an unimportant one at 
the time, but it marked the beginning of a permanent industry and one 
which has developed into a gigantic enterprise in comparison with the 
sphere of activity of the average Pulaski county farmer. The few cows 
from which Mr. Britton drew his supply of milk were grazed upon an 
eighty acre tract not his own property, and there were various other 
conditions unfavorable to the best success of a tenant farmer in the 
dairy business. As a result, Mr. Britton decided to become the owner 
of a piece of land whereon to pasture his cattle. He began his opera- 
tions in that direction by securing a portion of the old Fawnbell farm, 
then somewhat run down and abandoned, which served as the nucleus 
of his present domain of three hundred and seventy five acres situated 
one and a half miles north of Mounds. His place is an illustration of 
what can be done by way of restoring land to its original fertility, and 
should act as an incentive for others to do likewise. His infantile 
business expanded with remarkable swiftness and precision, and made 
immediate demand for additional grazing grounds and additional acre- 
age for growing feed, and for more modern equipment for housing and 
feeding his herd. He set about expanding the premises, and the acme 
of his preparations for the care of his stock was reached when in 1908 
he erected a barn one hundred and fifty-four by thirty-six feet with 
an L thirty-six by forty-two, two stories, cement floors, drainage canals, 
with three lines of iron track for suspended feeding car, and with a mow 
capacity of one hundred and twenty -five tons of hay for his eighty cows. 
This building is the chief of its kind in the county, and is supplemented 
by two silos eighteen by thirty feet, with an aggregate capacity of one 
hundred and fifty tons of ensilage each. The results achieved after four 
years of experience with this modern equipment are ample justification 
for the necessary outlay for its construction, and the entire plant, now 
rapidly becoming known as an exclusive Holstein dairy, is a fitting monu- 
ment to the efforts of its proprietor, ably assisted by his companion in 
life during a period of twenty years. 

Mr. Britton was born in Knox county, Ohio, January 5, 1862. His 
father, John Britton, was born at Barnstable, Devonshire, England, in 
1823. He came to the United States as a young man in 1849, stopping 
in Knox county, Ohio. There he married and engaged in farming. In 
the spring of 1862 he came to Effingham county, Illinois, where he pur- 
sued the same vocation until 1883, when he made his final move to Pulaski 
county. He located near Villa Ridge, where he was known as a modest, 
unassuming, straight-forward citizen. His wife was Hannah Beeny, a 
daughter of Joseph Beeny, also from Devonshire, England. In 1897 Mr. 
Britton died, and his widow is passing her remaining years with her 
various children. Of their issue there were Rev. Joseph W., pastor 
of the Methodist church at Mount Vernon, Illinois; Sarah C., the wife 
of Albert Gould, of Weston, West Virginia; Ida Sophia, the wife of 
George Bride, of Pulaski county; Edward G., the subject; Charles 
Samuel, ex-circuit clerk of Pulaski county, head of a mercantile house 



658 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

in Cairo and another in Mound City ; Richmond Lee, a farmer near 
Pulaski, Illinois; and Benson Irving, well known as a business man of 
Mounds, and now a resident of Urbana, Illinois. 

As already intimated, the early environment of Edward G. Brit- 
ton was of a rural nature. The country schools gave him a limited 
education, and the parental roof sheltered him until he had reached 
his twenty-eighth year. In April, 1890, he married Miss Alta A. 
Gould, a daughter of Solon Gould, of Bone Gap, Edwards county, 
Illinois, Mrs. Britton being the eldest of four children, the others 
being Edith, Virgil and Alice Flora. Following his marriage in 1890 
Mr. Britton rented a small farm near Pulaski, and the following year 
came to the vicinity of Mounds, where he was a tenant farmer for 
seven years, and while he was preparing to launch out into the dairy 
business, of which he has made such a signal success, he was engaged 
in the producing of grain. 

Mr. and Mrs. Britton are the parents of two children, Ethel, aged 
eighteen, and Ernest, aged eight. "The family are of the Methodist 
faith, and are identified with all departments in the labors of the 
church. 

CHARLES EVERETT HAMILTON. The creative mind, whatever its lo- 
cation and surroundings, is sure to find expression in some production 
of utility or beauty, even if it be only a meager one, and fall far short 
of the conception of its creator, either through lack of resources or want 
of opportunity to work out its full development. But where the creative 
spirit is strong and the circumstances are favorable, the result is very 
likely to be something of magnitude and great practical value, and if 
not produced wholly for beauty, may still be beautiful in its utility and 
the service it renders to mankind. 

In the case of Charles E. Hamilton, of Carbondale, the spirit is 
strong and the circumstances have been favorable, so that what he has 
achieved is well worthy of close consideration and high praise. His 
productions are works of science directed by high art, and combine in 
their make-up and impressiveness both beauty and utility, service for 
the people of the communities in which they operate, and profit for their 
creator as well as renown for his ability and sweep of vision. 

Mr. Hamilton's life began in Jefferson county, Illinois, on March 6, 
1873, where his parents, William J. and Catherine (Garner) Hamilton, 
were prosperously engaged in farming. He grew to manhood on the 
farm and performed his due part of the labor incident to its cultivation. 
He attended the public school in the neighborhood of the farm, and 
made such good use of his opportunity that he prepared himself for en- 
try at the Southern Illinois Normal University, where he completed 
his academic education. 

The bent of his mind was not toward farming, and he determined to 
become a lawyer. With this end in view he studied law three years in 
offices, and then attended lectures at the Illinois College of Law. He 
was admitted to the bar in 1901 and began practicing in Carbondale, 
continuing his devotion to his profession until 1908. In that year he 
and Dr. Lewis organized the Citizens Water, Light and Power com- 
pany, with a capital stock of seventy-five thousand dollars and him- 
self as vice president and general manager. His company bought out the 
Carbondale Lighting and the Carbondale Water Works companies 
when they were sold by a receiver, but the plants of all are still in oper- 
ation and doing excellent work. 

The light and power plant managed by Mr. Hamilton maintains a 
continuous current three hundred kilowatt force, and his water plant 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 659 

operates with wells four hundred to six hundred feet deep, and amply 
able to supply the demand of one hundred and fifty thousand gallons, 
which is the daily consumption in the city from its mains. Its water 
is pure, clean and invigorating, and is used in all homes for drinking 
purposes in preference to any other. The company also operates a 
twenty-ton ice plant to supply the local demand, and finds the capacity 
of this taxed to its limit owing to the excellence of its output and the 
satisfactory character of its service in distributing this. 

Mr. Hamilton also founded the Benton, Illinois, Hamilton Utilities 
Company, which has a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, 
and of which he is also the vice president and the secretary. It sup- 
plies water, light and ice to the city of Benton in the adjoining county 
of Franklin. This company has about the same capacity as the Citi- 
zens Light and Power Company of Carbondale. Both are equipped 
with every modern device of the most approved type for their work, con- 
ducted" according to the best intelligence and latest developments in 
connection with it, and both have come to be prime necessaries to the 
communities in which they operate. 

Mr. Hamilton was married on July 28, 1894, to Miss Dora Hayes, 
of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, a daughter of Richard L. Hayes, a farmer near 
that city. Five children have been born of the union : Ralph Emerson, 
Lola (deceased), Katharine Jewell, Charles Morrison and Helen. They 
are all living and attending school from the home of their parents. The 
latter are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the 
father is one of the trustees of the congregation to which he belongs. 

In fraternal life he is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and 
the Modern Woodmen of America. He has taken a very active and 
helpful part in the affairs of Carbondale and is now president of its 
school board, a position in which he has served the community since 
1905. In politics he is a Democrat, but he has never been an active par- 
tisan and never sought or desired any of the honors or emoluments his 
party has to bestow. Throughout the county, and in every other locality 
where he is known, he is held in the highest estimation as a man and 
citizen, and a very enterprising and productive business force, both 
through his own efforts and through the efforts he awakens and stimu- 
lates in others by his influence and example. Jackson county has no 
better citizen, and none whom the people deem more worthy of their 
esteem or more representative of their genuine manhood. 

ORANGE HAMPTON RHODES. As the popular proprietor of the lead- 
ing livery business of Vienna, Illinois, Orange Hampton Rhodes is well 
known to the citizens of his community, who have realized and appre- 
ciated the fact that he has endeavored to give them the best of service. 
Mr. Rhodes is an excellent example of the self-made men of whom this 
country is so proud, and is gratified by the fact that whatever success 
has come to him has been brought about by his own efforts. Mr. Rhodes 
was born January 19, 1862, in Wabash county, Indiana, and is a son of 
Ezekiel and Clarissa (Johns) Rhodes, natives of Virginia. 

Ezekiel Rhodes, who was a carpenter by trade, followed that occupa- 
tion in his native state and later in Indiana, where he died in 1864, 
leaving twelve children, seven by his first wife and five by the mother of 
Orange H., whose other children were: Alphonsus Jerome, Martha 
Alice, Margaret Catherine and Elzorah Ellen. The brave mother, al- 
though left in humble circumstances, managed to keep her family to- 
gether, rearing her children to sturdy man and womanhood and fitting 
them for the positions which they later took in life. Her death occurred 
at the home of her son, Orange H., in Vienna, January 31, 1910, at the 



660 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

age of eighty-six years, her birth having occurred in Virginia, January 
23, 1824. 

Orange Hampton Rhodes secured his education in the public schools 
of his native county, and began work at a very early age to do his share 
towards supporting the family. When he was only seventeen years of 
age he went to Benton county, Indiana, where he remained until 1894, 
following various occupations. During the winter months he taught 
school, while in the summer he worked as carpenter, painter, telegraph 
operator, or at whatever occupation presented itself, and thus, by the 
spring of 1894, had enough money to bring his family to Johnson county, 
Illinois. From that time until 1901 he managed a farm for the Hon. 
Pleasant T. Chapman, and the next three years were spent on his own 
eighty-acre farm, which he had purchased from his savings, and he is 
now the owner of one hundred and forty-eight acres of well-improved 
property, located one and one-half miles west of Vienna. In 1904 Mr. 
Rhodes purchased the livery business of Dwyer & Company, at Vienna, 
and he now operates a hack line from the Big Four Depot and to West 
Vienna. All of his equipages are modern in every respect, while his 
horses are well groomed and of good breed. In addition to the livery 
business Mr. Rhodes has been engaged in the hay, grain and coal in- 
dustry, and has built up an excellent trade in Vienna and the vicinity. 
He is a stockholder in the First National Bank, is fraternally connected 
with the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife are consistent members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church in this city. 

In 1888 Mr. Rhodes was married to Miss Fannie May Ale, of Benton 
county, Indiana, daughter of John and Rebecca Ale, and five children 
have been born to this union, namely : John, who is twenty-one years of 
age, and associated with his father in business; and Robert. Herbert, 
Clarissa and Alice May, who are attending school. Mr. Rhodes is well 
known and very popular in Vienna, where he has displayed traits of char- 
acter that mark him as an excellent business man, a good friend and a 
public-spirited citizen. 

WILLTAM A. NESBITT. William A. Nesbitt is one of the large mer- 
chants in the busy city of Pinckneyville, and has been active in its com- 
mercial life since his advent to that city in 1892. Starting out in a mod- 
est way, his business has increased and developed until it now embraces 
a small system of mercantile houses throughout the county. He was 
fortunate in his equipment, for he started with a fair education, and ac- 
quired the experience necessary to his career as a merchant in one of the 
largest retail stores in Kansas. It might be surmised that in his strug- 
gle for success Mr. Nesbitt has devoted himself solely to his business, 
but this would be a great mistake, for he has been very active in muni- 
cipal affairs, especially along the lines of civic improvement. He served 
for four years on the council, and during this time a general progressive 
movement was inaugurated, he being one of the leaders. 

William A. Nesbitt is a native son of the "Sucker State," having been 
born at Decatur on the 6th of March, 1860. He came of a family that 
had been founded by his grandfather, William Nesbitt, in this part of 
Illinois, and that had ever since furnished men of prominence in the 
affairs of the section. Uniontown, Pennsylvania, was the childhood home 
of William Nesbitt. the elder, and he migrated to Illinois in 1836. Here 
he became prominent among the pioneer agriculturists of the county, 
and was one of the men who did much toward the development of the 
young town. When his farm was repaying some of the time and labor 
that had been spent on it, he found it possible to enter other fields of 
work, and he was uniformly fortunate. Before the close of his thirty- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 661 

one years of residence, he had accumulated considerable capital and was 
placed in the category of the wealthy men of the city. His wife, who 
was Blynda Doyle died in 1844, and he survived her several years, 
dying in 1867. Their children were Henry ; Wilse ; Samuel A., who was 
the father of the present William Nesbitt ; Helen, who became the wife 
of J. Mortin and died at Fort Scott, Kansas, and Sallie Nesbitt, who 
resides now in Decatur. 

Samuel A. Nesbitt was born at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on August 
27, 1836. He grew up in his father's busy home at Decatur, and almost 
the first thing he learned was the lesson of industry. His education was 
obtained in the Springfield school and as soon as he laid aside his books 
he was introduced to the farming business. From that time forth farm- 
ing was his chief occupation, though he had many other interests. His 
chief source of income was in his fine stock, his horses in particular being 
especially prized. There are many of his neighbors yet living who can 
testify to his knowledge and skill in the handling of horses, and also to 
the sagacity and shrewdness that were necessary qualities to the success- 
ful horse trader of his day. During the Civil war he became an agent 
of the Federal government in the purchase of horses for the army, and he 
added a considerable amount to his material wealth by this connection. 
In 1882 he moved with his family to Kansas, and settled there to a life 
of agriculture, but his heart was back in the land where he had spent so 
many years of his life, and in 1895 he returned to the home of his child- 
hood, and there died on January 28, 1895. 

In 1858, Samuel A. Nesbitt and Elizabeth Willey were married in 
Zanesville, Ohio. She was a daughter of Henry Willey, whose ancestors 
had come to this country in colonial times, from that odd little section 
of the English isle, Wales. These Welsh ancestors entered heart and 
soul into the cause of American independence, and the blue and buff 
never covered more loyal hearts. Mrs. Nesbitt died on January 28, 
1905, at the age of sixty-eight. Mr. and Mrs. Nesbitt were the parents 
of three children, William A. ; Charles C., of the Nesbitt Mercantile 
Company of Percy, Illinois, and Anna, who became the wife of Charles 
Jackson, of Emporia, Kansas. 

William A. Nesbitt 's school days were passed in Decatur and in the 
high school at Monticello, Illinois. His initial plunge into the whirl- 
pool of the business world, was taken upon his entrance into a telegraph 
office with the I. B. & W. railroad. After a year or two of this service 
he decided that he was better fitted for some other line of work and 
chose merchandise for his next venture. He entered the employ of W. 
E. Smith, of Monticello, Illinois, and remained with this firm for several 
years, coming to the conclusion that this was the field of work for him. 
On leaving here he went to Kansas and became associated with one of the 
leading firms of Emporia. He became invaluable to the members of this 
firm, and it was with regret that they let him go at the end of eight 
years. This firm Tanner Brothers and Heed were the advance guard of 
the ' ' cash store, ' ' and their methods of doing business were a fine school- 
ing for any young merchant, as Mr. Nesbitt fortunately realized. 

In 1890 he returned to Illinois for a short time, going from here to 
St. Louis where he entered the large retail house of Nugents. It was 
here that he made the acquaintance of E. R. Hincke, a young official in 
one of the banks, and this acquaintance ripened into a strong friendship. 
Presently the two decided to form a business partnership, and since Mr. 
Hincke was from Pinckneyville, Illinois, they selected this town as the 
site of their undertaking. They chose the spot on the east side of the 
square, where their present store now stands and here they put in a stock 

of dry goods and shoes, and sat down to wait for trade. They did not 
vol. n T 



662 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

have to wait long, however, for their stock was attractive and their prices 
reasonable, and they soon were conducting a flourishing business. This 
was in 1892 and the firm continued as Hincke and Nesbitt until 1898 
when Mr. Hincke withdrew. Since then Mr. Nesbitt has carried on the 
business alone. In 1910 the firm of Hincke and Nesbitt again came into 
existence as a small department store in Pinckneyville, of which Mr. 
Nesbitt was the chief spirit. In 1905 the Nesbitt Mercantile Company 
was established, at Percy, Illinois, and he stands as the promoter of 
this, a still larger concern. He has been very active in the industrial 
development of this little mining town, and was one of the founders 
of its First National Bank, being at present vice-president of the same. 

The close connection that Mr. Nesbitt has had with the life of 
Pinckeyville is evident in the public service that he has given as a mem- 
ber of the town council, for four years. It was during this period that 
the street paving was done, cement walk construction was begun in many 
parts of the city, and a general interest in public improvements was 
revived in the minds of the populace. It is of interest to note that during 
this era of advancement Pickneyville was a dry town, yet the city gave 
ample evidence that it was never more keenly alive, to the great discom- 
fort of those who hold that it takes whiskey to make a live town. 

Mr. Nesbitt was married in Monticello, Illinois, on the 28th' of 
January, 1885, to Miss Emma Hill, a daughter of James A. Hill, a mer- 
chant of that city. Mrs. Nesbitt was born in Monticello in April 23, 
1863. Her mother was Lucia A. Pipher and she and Mr. Hill reared a 
family of five children. Four of Mr. and Mrs. Nesbitt 's children, Gladys, 
Fay, Dick and Verne have completed the high school course in Pickney- 
ville, and have taken additional work elsewhere in special subjects. The 
two younger boys, Neil and Kenneth are yet in the public schools. 

Mr. Nesbitt believes that the Fraternal orders come very close to 
living up to the ideal for which they strive, that is true brotherhood, 
consequently he is a loyal member of the Masonic order, in which he is 
a master mason, and of the Modern Woodmen of America. In his po- 
litical affiliations, Mr. Nesbitt is a Republican. 

FREDERICK C. BIERER, M. D. It is most consonant that in this pub- 
lication be entered at least a brief tribute to the memory of one who was 
for many years the representative physician of Jackson county and a 
rising member of the medical profession in southern Illinois, the man 
whose character was the positive expression of a strong and noble nature, 
and whose life was benignant in its every influence. Dr. Bierer was one 
of the honored pioneers of southern Illinois and was one of the best 
known and most influential citizens of Murphysboro, Jackson county, 
for many years. In addition to achieving distinction and success in his 
profession, in which he proved himself a true humanitarian, he also 
gave his aid and influence in connection with the furtherance of all 
enterprises and measures tending to advance the general welfare, and 
when he was summoned to the life eternal he left the gracious heritage 
of a worthy life and worthy deeds. 

Dr. Frederick C. Bierer was born in Westmoreland county. Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 6th of June, 1820, and was a scion of one of the old and 
honored families of the Keystone state. In preparing himself for the 
work of his exacting profession he availed himself of the advantages 
of Jefferson Medical College in the city of Philadelphia, from which 
famous old institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 
1843. In the following year he came to Illinois, and it is worthy of 
record that he made the entire journey from Pennsylvania to this state 
with a horse and buggy. Arriving at Effingham, the judicial center of 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 663 

the county of the same name, he shipped his horse and carriage to Jack- 
son county and established himself in Murphysboro. Here he engaged 
in the effective practice of his profession, and incidentally, he lived in 
the full tension of the pioneer days. His services as a physician and 
surgeon were in requisition over a wide area of country, and he labored 
with all zeal and devotion in the alleviation of human suffering and 
disease, giving himself to his work with the utmost self-abnegation, and 
driving and going on horse-back over almost inaccessible roads, under 
conditions that would test the devotion and physical powers of the 
strongest man. When the Civil war was precipitated upon a divided 
nation, Dr. Bierer manifested his intrinsic patriotism by promptly en- 
listing in the defense of the Union. He enlisted in Company H, Twenty- 
seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in 1861, and was soon made first 
lieutenant of his company. He proceeded to the front with his com- 
mand and had received the appointment of hospital surgeon when his 
own health became so greatly impaired that he was incapacitated for 
further service, and he was honorably discharged. He then returned 
to Murphysboro and for a period of eighteen years thereafter he was en- 
gaged in the mercantile business, during the greater portion of the time 
in an alliance with Robert Worthen, and later with P. W. Griffith. 

Dr. Bierer was a man of courtly person, marked vitality and most 
progressive ideas. He was ever ready to render his influence and co- 
operation in the furtherance of all enterprises tending to the advance- 
ment of the best interests of the community, and he was always a leader 
in movements of this order. He served as mayor of Murphysboro in 
1869, and thereafter was a member of the city board of aldermen for 
a considerable period. He was one of the originators of the Southern 
Illinois Medical Association, and served several terms as president of 
the same. He was one of the founders of the First Lutheran church of 
Murphysboro, and served as superintendent of its Sunday-school for 
twenty-two years. 

On the 9th of February, 1865, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. 
Bierer to Sabina U. Griffith, a daughter of John J. Griffith, another of 
the pioneers of Jackson county. Of the four children of this union two 
died in infancy. Those surviving are Fred G.. of Murphysboro, of whom 
individual mention is made elsewhere in this work, and Miss Ella Bierer. 

Dr. Bierer passed the closing days of his life in the city of St. Louis, 
Missouri, where he died on the third day of January, 1893, and his name 
is held in reverent memory in the city which so long represented his 
home, and to the development and upbuilding of which he contributed 
in such generous manner. His widow survives and resides in Murphys- 
boro. 

FREDERICK G. BIERER. There is ample evidence that in the case of 
this popular and representative citizen of Murphysboro, the judicial 
center of Jackson county, no application can be made of the scriptural 
aphorism that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country," 
from the fact that he has gained secure place as one of the representative 
members of the bar of his native city and county and that he is held 
in popular confidence and regard of the highest order. He is a son 
of the late honored Dr. Frederick C. Bierer, to whom a memorial is 
dedicated in another portion of this work, so that further mention of the 
family history is not demanded in the present connection. 

Frederick Griffith Bierer was born in Murphysboro on the first of 
June, 1875, and he is indebted to the public schools of his native town 
for his early education, which included the curriculum of the high school. 
As a youth he was associated to a greater or less extent with the mercan- 



664 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

tile business with which his father was connected, and finally he entered 
the St. Louis Law School, which is the law department of Washing- 
ton University in the city of St. Louis. In this institution he completed 
the prescribed course and was graduated as a member of the class of 
1900, duly receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted 
to the bar of his native state in October of the same year, and com- 
menced the practice of his profession in Murphysboro, where his suc- 
cess has been on a parity with his recognized ability. He has built 
up a substantial general practice, and is known as an able trial lawyer 
and a wise counsellor. He has served two terms as city attorney, and 
in this office made an admirable record. Mr. Bierer is essentially pro- 
gressive and public spirited, and his interest in all that concerns his 
native city is of the most insistent and loyal order. He is a member 
of the directorate of the Citizens State and Savings Bank, of which 
he was one of the organizers. He is attorney for the Illinois Building 
and Loan Association, as well as of the Murphysboro Park District, 
and is a director of the Jackson County Fair Association. His politi- 
cal allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he takes an active 
interest in the furtherance of its cause. He and his wife are zealous 
members of the First Lutheran church of Murphysboro, in which 
church he is an elder, as well as superintendent of its Sunday-school. 
He is affiliated with the local organization of the Modern Woodmen 
of America, of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protec- 
tive Order of Elks, of which last named organization he is past exalted 
ruler. 

On June 1, 1910, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bierer to Miss 
Nellie S. Peirson, daughter of John J. and Anna K. Peirson of Mur- 
physboro, where Mr. Peirson is a prominent representative of the real- 
estate and insurance business. Mr. and Mrs. Bierer are popular 
factors in connection with the social activities of their home city, and 
their residence is a recognized center of hospitality. They have one 
son, Frederick Peirson Bierer. 

WILLIAM JACKSON MUERIE. One of the progressive and enterpris- 
ing business men of Johnson county, Illinois, who in spite of discour- 
agements and misfortunes has attained a position of standing in the 
business world, is William Jackson Murrie, the proprietor of a nourish- 
ing general merchandise establishment in the village of Simpson. Mr. 
Murrie is a native of Johnson county, having been born August 24, 
1873, in Simpson township, a son of John J. and Isabel (Benman) 
Murrie, and grandson of Jackson Murrie, one of the old pioneer settlers 
of Southern Illinois. John J. Murrie, who is still living on the old 
family homestead in Simpson township, has been engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits all of his life, and is one of the good, reliable farmers 
of his section. He and his wife have been the parents of eight chil- 
dren, namely: William J., Charles, Effort, John, Daisy, Fred, Edward 
and Ritha. 

William Jackson Murrie received his education in the district schools 
of his native vicinity, and his boyhood was spent like that of other 
farmers' sons, being early reared to habits of industry and integrity, 
and learning all the details of an agriculturist's life. For some years 
he spent the summer months in working on the home farm, and after 
he had completed his education his winters were spent in the timber- 
lands, but in 1895 he decided to try his fortunes in town, and during 
that year and the next was the proprietor of a successful livery business 
in Simpson. He was married in 1896, and for the next two years car- 
ried on farming in Simpson township, but at the end of that time re- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 665 

turned to the town and for two years conducted a small retail business. 
He sold out his interests here in 1900 to go to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where 
he thought he would have a better opportunity of showing his abilities 
in the new country, but after he had established himself there and was be- 
ginning to enjoy a reasonable measure of success his store was destroyed 
by fire and he lost all that he had gained. Returning to Simpson, Mr. 
Murrie did not allow himself to become discouraged, and with his 
father's assistance he started in to make another beginning, conducting 
a store in Simpson until 1904, when he sold out and went to Sikestown, 
Missouri, where he worked in the Farmers Supply Company store 
until 1906, then again returning to Simpson. By that time he had ac- 
cumulated $1,000, and he spent $350 of this for a residence and lot, 
and with the remainder erected a store building and invested in a stock 
of merchandise, and since that time his success has been assured. He 
has one of the largest trades in this section, carries an up-to-date stock 
worth $3,000, and has built a fine, modern residence. Mr. Murrie 's 
success is the result of his perseverance and hard, faithful work, and as 
a self-made man who has been the architect of his own fortunes is en- 
titled to the respect and esteem in which he is universally held. He is 
a popular member of the Modern Woodman of America and the Royal 
Neighbors, and holds a policy in the Johnson County Mutual Insurance 
Company of Simpson. 

In 1898 Mr. Murrie was married to Miss Barbara Ellen Farris, who 
was born in 1876, daughter of the late Thomas and Minerva (Smith) 
Farris, formerly of Grantsburg township, and she died September 20, 
1911, leaving one son. Carl, who is eleven years old. Mrs. Murrie was 
a member of the Royal Neighbors and the Johnson County Mutual 
Life Insurance Company, and had many friends in this community, 
where her loss is deeply mourned. 

L. D. KEITH, M. D. Such rapid strides have been made in the 
medical profession during late years, that the practitioner who would 
keep abreast of modern progress must ever be on the alert to take 
advantage of the various discoveries and inventions constantly being 
made, and consequently the physician of today finds a large part of 
his time given to study and research in order that he may attain suc- 
cess among his fellows. The members of the profession in Illinois 
are fully capable of holding their own with those of other sections of 
the country and of maintaining the high standard set by those who 
have gone before them, and one who has met with a measure of success 
in his chosen calling is Dr. L. D. Keith, whose field of practice is 
the progressive city of Anna, Union county. Dr. Keith is a native 
of this county, having been born in the town of Balcom, in 1865, and 
is a son of Benjamin B. and Sarah I. (Corzine) Keith. The former 
was born in Tennessee, near the town of Murfreesboro, in 1833, and 
died in Union county, Illinois, January 3, 1911, and the latter, a 
native of North Carolina, born in 1830, also passed away here. 

The early education of Dr. Keith was secured in the public schools 
of his native community, and for ten years he was engaged in school 
teaching here, in the meantime entering Ohio Wesleyan College, Del- 
aware, from which he was graduated in 1890, with the degree of A. 
B. His medical training was obtained in Louisville, Kentucky, being 
graduated from the college there in 1896, at which time he came to 
Anna and established himself in practice. His ability was soon 
recognized, and aided by a sympathetic nature and pleasant person- 
ality he was enabled to build up a lucrative clientele. From 1898 
until 1900 he served very satisfactorily as coroner of the county. Dr. 



666 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Keith maintains his membership in the county, and state medical or- 
ganizations. Fraternally, he is a member of Anna Lodge No. 520, of 
the Masonic fraternity. 

In 1891, Dr. Keith was united in marriage with Miss A. Parker, 
who was born in Union county, the daughter of Dr. D. A. and Susan 
Parker, and to this union there have been born three children : Roy, 
who is fifteen years of age ; May, who has reached the age of eight 
years; and John, who is four. Both the Keith and Parker families 
are well known in this section. 

THOMAS B. KERLEY, M. D. Much has been written in this his- 
torical work of the banks and bankers of Southern Illinois. However, 
in estimating the financial strength of this section of the state, the 
banks and bankers of its smaller municipalities are deserving of very 
prominent mention, for they are the tributaries of larger financial in- 
stitutions and have an important part in swelling the stream of the 
state's prosperity. To the village bank conies the farmer from the 
surrounding countryside and deposits the golden fruits of his toil ; 
from the proprietor of that bank its customers may ask and receive 
financial advice; he is their fj-iend and advisor as well as their banker. 
The farm loan, that solid rock of financial investment, is placed with 
him, or is negotiated through some larger banking institution through 
his agency. Upon the stability and security of these smaller banks, 
as well as upon the honor and integrity of those in control of them, 
rests the whole superstructure of the confidence and trust reposed in 
them. In this connection it is not inappropriate to speak of the career 
of Thomas B. Kerley, a well known physician and surgeon, who is the 
banker of Simpson, and one of the most influential men of his part 
of Johnson county. Dr. Kerley was born on a farm in Simpson town- 
ship, May 14, 1865, and is a son of James L. and Mary J. (McKee) 
Kerley. 

The Kerley family, which originated in Ireland, was founded in North 
Carolina, in which state the. grandfather of Dr. Kerley, Thomas Ker- 
ley, was born. He migrated to Giles county, Tennessee, at an early 
day and in 1840 came to Illinois, settling first in Pope county and 
later securing a farm in the "Flat Woods" in Johnson county, this 
land still being owned by a member of the family. 'Thomas Kerley 
married a Miss Meredith and reared a family of fourteen children, 
and she died recently, leaving one hundred and thirty-six descend- 
ants, representing prominent and successful people in every walk of 
life. James L. Kerley, who was born July 21, 1836, in Giles county, 
Tennessee, was four years of age when he accompanied his parents 
to Southern Illinois, and was reared to the life of an agriculturist, 
which he followed throughout his active career. He accumulated five 
hundred acres of excellent land, but this he divided among his chil- 
dren, to each of whom he gave a good tract when they reached matu- 
rity. He was thrice married, his first wife bearing the maiden name 
of Elizabeth Lasley, and she died shortly after their marriage, with- 
out issue. He was married (second) to Mary J. McKee, who was 
born August 20, 1839, daughter of Zachariah and Elizabeth (Wright) 
McKee, and she died February 7, 1879, at the age of forty years, hav- 
ing been the mother of eight children, namely: Sarah Katherine, 
who is deceased ; Joseph A. ; Winnie, who is deceased ; Thomas B. ; 
Alvan, who is deceased ; one who died in infancy ; Gilbert C., deceased ; 
and Mrs. Hattie Ditterlins. Mr. Kerley was married (third) to Miss 
Susan McKee, daughter of Frank K. McKee. and they had one child, 
Chillis, a farmer of Johnson county. James L. Kerley died March 12, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 667 

1910, in the faith of the Primitive Baptist church, of which he was 
a member. One of his county's hest citizens, he was progressive in 
all things, and was the first man in the McKee settlement to use a 
mowing machine. 

Thomas B. Kerley attended the district schools of his native local- 
ity, and until his marriage made his home with his father. He was 
reared to agricultural pursuits, but when he became twenty-one years 
old he decided to enter the medical profession, and with that end in 
view began study with Dr. Joseph H. Simmons. He continued with 
him for two years, in the meanwhile carrying on operations on his 
thirty-five acre tract, and in 1886 entered the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, where he studied during 1886, 1887 
and 1888, graduating in February of the latter year. He at once began 
the practice of medicine at Simpson, where he has continued it ever since. 
A kind and sympathetic physician, a steady -handed surgeon and a cheer- 
ful friend, Dr. Kerley won the respect and admiration of his fellow- 
townsmen long before he opened his banking institution in 1910, on 
December 10th of which year the First Bank of Simpson, a private 
establishment, was organized, with Mr. Kerley as president, J. W. 
Reynolds, vice-president, and Delbert R. Kerley, cashier, and these 
gentlemen, with Story & Klink, of Glendale, Illinois, and N. J. Brooks, 
of Simpson, form the board of stockholders. Since 1907 he has de- 
voted a good deal of attention to farming, and is now the owner of 
two hundred acres of well-cultivated land. Mr. Kerley is so well known 
that his life and character speak for themselves. Having spent all 
his life in this section, he was able to recognize the section's natural 
opportunities, which he improved, and he is now enjoying the well- 
merited reward of his forsight. At the age of twenty-one years he 
joined the Masonic order, and shortly thereafter became connected 
with the Odd Fellows, and he has since been a popular member of 
both fraternities. 

On March 18, 1886, Mr. Kerley was married to Mary E. Simmons, 
daughter of Louis M. and Catherine Simmons, and granddaughter of 
Peter Simmons, a native of North Carolina, who migrated to the ' ' Flat 
Woods" of Johnson county in 1840. Dr. and Mrs. Kerley have had 
four sons, as follows: Granville L., aged twenty-four years, studied 
in the Southern Illinois Normal University, and graduated from the 
St. Louis Medical University in May, 1910, and is now assistant 
surgeon of the Frisco Railroad and is located at Topeka, Kansas ; 
Lindorf L., aged twenty-two years, studied at the Southern Illinois 
Normal University, and graduated at Bloomington Law School, June 
20, 1911, since which time he has been engaged in the practice of law 
at Chicago; Delbert R., aged twenty-one years, who is now acting as 
cashier of the First Bank of Simpson ; and Ollin . R., aged sixteen 
years, who is a student in school. 

NELSON BROWNING. As money, or any other medium of exchange, 
is the lifeblood of business and commerce, it is evident that bankers, 
who manage and control the circulating medium, stand related to the 
public as the physician who has his finger on the pulse of the patient 
and has the power of controlling his constitution for better or worse. 
No member of the business community has a greater responsibility 
than the banker, and any community or city is much to be congrat- 
ulated which has at the head of its finances men of thorough train- 
ing, stanch ability and moral dependability. A banker who is closely 
typical of what is required in the financial manager and leader to 
inspire and retain business and commercial confidence is Nelson 



668 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Browning, organizer of the First National Bank of Christopher and 
first president of the institution. 

Mr. Browning is native to this district, his birth having occurred 
five miles south of Christopher, January 4, 1857, the son of Elijah and 
Mary (Edden) Browning. The father, who survives in honored citi- 
zenship, is a farmer, now retired, and makes his home at Mulkeytown. 
He has been very successful and is a Democrat in his political al- 
legiance. He is a son of Gilbert Browning, a native of Tennessee, and 
one of the first settlers of Franklin county. Gilbert Browning came 
to this locality in the prime of life and lived and died on a farm he 
secured from the Government. He died at the age of seventy-five 
years and was very well and favorably known, and for years served in 
the capacity of justice of the peace. The subject's mother was a na- 
tive of Franklin county. 

Mr. Browning received his education in the public schools and his 
early years were spent amid the rural surroundings of his father's 
farm early becoming familiar with the many secrets of seed-time and 
harvest under the tutelage of that gentleman. He early in life became 
ambitious to establish himself independently and by the exercise of 
industry and thrift was eventually in a position to buy a farm of his 
own. He raised stock and engaged in its commerce and a few years 
later embarked in the dry goods business in Mulkeytown. Sub- 
sequently he disposed of that interest and went into the hardware 
business at Benton. He has always been successful, from the first 
evincing a sound commercial and executive faculty which brings all 
his ventures to fruitful issue. In 1906 he organized the First Na- 
tional Bank of Christopher and became its first president. This thriv- 
ing monetary institution has a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars, 
a surplus of ten thousand and deposits amounting to two hundred 
thousand dollars. He also owns considerable real estate in Christopher. 

In 1880 Mr. Browning laid one of the most important stones in 
the foundation of his success by his marriage to Mary A. Jones, 
daughter of B. S. Minor, an early settler of Franklin county and a 
very successful farmer and stock raiser, known all over the country. 
Of the children born to their union, two sons are living, Ernest and 
Fred. Mr. and Mrs. Browning are zealous members of the Christian 
church. In politics the subject has Democratic convictions, but takes 
in public affairs only the interest of the intelligent voter. He has 
never found the honors and emoluments of office tempting and has 
never run for office. For a number of years, however, the office of 
mayor was bestowed upon him by the people and he has also served 
as supervisor of Six Mile township. He has extensive agricultural 
holdings and is one of the principal stock-holders in the bank of which 
he is president. He started in life limited in capital, but has been 
very successful and is now one of the wealthiest and most substantial 
men in this- section of the county, to whose interests he is very loyal, 
and to the prosperity of whose institutions he is ever ready to lend 
his support. 

NORMAN J. MOZLEY. The standard of stock being bred today in 
Southern Illinois is so much superior to that of twenty years ago that 
hardly any comparison can be made between them, but it is suf- 
ficient to note that throughout the West dealers are clamoring for 
the Illinois cattle, believing it to be the best obtainable. That 'the 
standard has been raised so high is due to the efforts of a body of men 
who have made stock breeding their life study, and prominent among 
these stands Norman J. Mozley, of Vienna, who owns a large tract of 



T??5; 

OF1HE 
Q&VERSITY OF ILUJw" 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 669 

valuable land in Johnson county, and who, more than any other one 
man, has advanced the interests of the stockmen of this part of the 
state. Mr. Mozley was born January 1, 1861, on a farm five miles 
east of Vienna, and is a son of John T. and Margaret (Worley) 
Mozley. 

The Mozleys are of Revolutionary and Colonial descent, a great- 
great-uncle of the subject, James Mozley, being a Revolutionary sol- 
dier and noted Indian fighter. In 1843 the grandparents of Norman 
J. Mozley, John N. and Agnes (Galloway) Mozley, came to Johnson 
county from Tennessee, the grandfather being one of the county's 
early sheriffs and a participant in the Seminole Indian war. He be- 
came a prosperous farmer, lumberman and miller, and died in 1901. 
John T. Mozley was six years of age when he accompanied his parents 
to Johnson county, and here he engaged in agricultural pursuits and 
became very successful. In 1862 he enlisted as first lieutenant of 
Company B, One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, Illinois Volun- 
teer Infantry, for service during the Civil war, was promoted to the 
rank of captain, and served until the close of the war. With one of 
the hard-fighting regiments of the Prairie state, he saw much active 
service, and among others was at the battles of Corinth, Memphis, 
Island No. 10 and Vicksburg, and after the fall of the latter city his 
regiment was stationed along the Mississippi river to guard the points 
gained. A gallant officer and fearless and faithful soldier, he was 
idolized by his men and highly esteemed by his fellow-officers, and his 
record during the war is conspicuous for the cheerfulness with which 
he discharged every duty. Right up to the time of his death, which 
occurred October 1, 1908, he suffered from rheumatism and heart 
trouble incurred while in the service, but he never expressed a regret 
that he had given of his health and strength to serve his country in its 
hour of need. As he had been a good soldier during the war, in 
times of peace he became a successful farmer and fruit grower. A 
prominent Mason and consistent member of the Christian church, he 
was esteemed as a man of the strictest integrity, and one who had the 
courage of his convictions to express his opinions as to what consti- 
tuted right and wrong in no uncertain manner. At his funeral, which 
was held from the church with which he had been connected for forty 
years, under the auspices of the Masonic fraternity, a great concourse 
of people came to do homage to his memory and to mourn the loss of 
a citizen whose place would be hard to fill. John T. Mozley married 
Margaret Worley, a native of Johnson county, and to them there were 
born four children, two of whom died in infancy, while the survivors 
are Norman J., of Vienna, and Charles A., born in September, 1873, 
who is engaged in the practice of medicine at Lower Penasco, New 
Mexico. 

Norman J. Mozley received his education in the common schools, 
and at the age of eighteen years started his work as an educator, teach- 
ing through the following sixteen years, twelve of which were spent 
in districts near his home. In the meanwhile he carried on farming, 
first on rented land and later on an eighty-acre tract on which he lived 
until 1904, situated near his old birthplace. He added to this tract 
from time to time, and now has four hundred and fifty-five acres, al- 
though at one time he owned seven hundred and two acres in one 
locality, a part of which he sold December 1, 1910. He also is the 
owner of a tract of two hundred and fifty acres situated near Reynolds- 
burg. Since 1891 Mr. Mozley has been raising registered Hereford 
cattle, being the pioneer Hereford breeder of Johnson county, and at 
the present time has two hundred head, although at times his herd 



670 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

contains as many as three hundred cattle. At this time he is the 
owner of the grand champion prize-winning Hereford bull of the 
world, "Prime Lad IX." The firm of Mozley & Son does a business 
in cattle that aggregates ten thousand dollars annually, and, as has 
been before stated, Mr. Mozley has done more than any one man to 
raise the standard of Southern Illinois animals. He is a member of 
the American Hereford Breeders Association and a recognized au- 
thority on matters pertaining to stock breeding. Fraternally he is 
connected with the Lodge and Chapter of Masonry, and he also holds 
membership in the Sons of the Veterans. 

In 1883 Mr. Mozley was married to Mary R. Whitnel, daughter 
of Dr. Josiah and Elizabeth (Miller) Whitnel, the former a native 
of Kentucky and a typical pioneer physician of Johnson county, where 
he practiced medicine from some time prior to the Civil war up to his 
death, in 1900. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mozley : 
Clarence Whitnel, who died in infancy ; John Ladd, a student at the 
Southern Illinois Normal University at Carbondale for two years, who 
later pursued a course in agriculture and stock raising in the univer- 
sity at Champaign, and is now his father's partner in the firm of Moz- 
ley & Son, married Grace Lee Hooker, daughter of Dr. Hooker, and 
has one child, Margaret Lee, born in 1910; and Lizzie E., the wife of 
Edward Simpson, who has one child, Melba Miller. The family is 
connected with the Christian church and has been prominent in social 
circles of Vienna. 

ENOS PERRY. Progressive, energetic and enterprising, Enos Perry 
is numbered among the foremost merchants of Goreville, and, with his 
brother, A. B. Perry, owns one of the largest department stores in 
Johnson county. He was born June 15, 1867, in Jackson county, Illi- 
nois, on a farm lying in the vicinity of Carbondale. His father, Archi- 
bald Perry, was born in Tennessee in 1824, and as a youth came with 
his parents to Jackson county, Illinois, where he spent the remainder 
of his life, being engaged in farming until his death, in 1879. He 
married Lucinda Reeder, who was born in 1836 and died in 1909. Of 
the eleven children born of their union eight grew to years of matu- 
rity, as follows: J. N. ; William; George W. ; J. L.; J. A., deceased; 
A. B. ; Mrs. Louise Rosson ; and Enos. 

Gleaning his early knowledge of the common branches of learning 
in the district schools of Jackson county, Enos Perry subsequently at- 
tended Ewing College for a time. Turning his attention then toward 
agricultural pursuits, he was successfully employed as a tiller of the 
soil until 1896. when he opened a general store at Vergennes, Illinois. 
Disposing of that in 1900, Mr. Perry removed to Goreville, Johnson 
county, and having erected a frame building put in a choice assort- 
ment of goods and carried on a substantial business until May, 1906, 
when a disastrous fire caused him a loss of three thousand dollars 
above all insurance. With his brother, A. B. Perry, he then erected 
a fine brick building, and he now carries a stock of general merchan- 
dise valued at nine thousand dollars, in addition to dry goods and 
clothing having groceries, shoes, furniture, hardware, harnesses, stoves, 
etc., every department being amply supplied with first-class goods. 

Mr. Perry married, July 10, 1891, Mary Stout, of Jackson county, 
a daughter of Newton and Susan Stout, and into their pleasant home 
six children have been born, namely: Clyde Arthur, who lived but 
eight and one-half years; Hazel: Clara; Ruth; Grace; and Enos. 
Fraternally Mr. Perry belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America 
and to the Modern Brotherhood of America. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 671 

SAMUEL A. VAN KIRK. The citizens of any community are gener- 
ally very quick to recognize a man's worth and abilities, especially if 
he is in the field of law, and do not require any great length of time 
to demonstrate their appreciation of his good qualities by election to 
positions of honor and trust, and one in whom this confidence has been 
placed on more than one occasion is Samuel A. Van Kirk, a leading 
member of the Johnson county legal profession. Mr. Van Kirk was 
born on a farm near Newville, Cumberland county, Pennyslvania, July 
3, 1858, and is a son of Daniel P. and Anne (Carl) Van Kirk, and a 
grandson of John Van Kirk. 

The Van Kirk family, which originated in Holland, was founded 
in the United States more than two and one-half centuries ago, when 
the first of the name located in New Jersey. His descendants par- 
ticipated to a great extent in the early struggles of the New Jersey 
and Pennsylvania colonists, his sons fought valiantly in the American 
Revolution, and members of the family have been prominent in all 
walks of life, although they have mainly been identified with agricul- 
tural work. Daniel P. Van Kirk was engaged in farming throughout 
his active career, and at the time of his retirement moved to the vil- 
lage of Mechanicsburg, where his death occurred in 1889, his widow 
surviving until 1905. They had a family of children, of whom four 
survived them: Eber J., who was a soldier during the Spanish- Amer- 
ican war, of whom all trace has been lost ; John A. ; Mrs. Margaret 
Pence; Mrs. Jane Hart, and Mrs. Laura A. Lengiser, all living in 
Pennsylvania; and Samuel A. 

- Samuel A. Van Kirk received his preliminary education in Penn- 
sylvania and completed his academic studies in Cumberland Valley 
Institute, after which he taught two terms of school in his native 
state. When he was only eighteen years of age he came westward, 
locating in Newton, Kansas, and taught three years in Harvey county, 
that state. In the meantime he had been pursuing his law studies 
diligently, and on March 23, 1880, he was admitted to the bar. He 
practiced law in Harper and Comanche counties for nine years, served 
as county superintendent of Harper county one term, and in 1889 
joined the rush to Oklahoma, but only remained one year, for in 1890 
he came to Johnson county, Illinois, and was here admitted to prac- 
tice in 1891. Since the spring of 1892 he has resided in Vienna ; where 
he has been connected with some large movements and important legal 
action. He has served three terms as city attorney of Vienna and two 
terms as master in chancery and is now acting as attorney for the 
Cache River Irrigation District Project, covering Johnson, Massac, 
Pulaski, Union and Pope counties, and involving the drainage of 67,- 
000 acres. This is the largest project in Southern Illinois at the present 
time, work having been started January 1, 1911, since which time the 
preliminary work has been completed and calls for an original expen- 
diture of $200,000, although when completed it will represent a total 
value of $1,000,000, which covers the expense of main canals, laterals, 
etc. Mr. Van Kirk has built up a large and lucrative private prac- 
tice, and is considered one of Johnson county's brightest legal lights. 
He is a Republican in his political views and has been an active worker 
in the ranks of his party, and fraternally is connected with the Knights 
of Pythias. He and Mrs. Van Kirk are connected with the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

In 1892 Mr. Van Kirk was married to Miss Mattie M. Shoemaker, 
who was born and reared in Johnson county, Illinois, daughter of John 
and Elizabeth (Larison) Shoemaker, natives of Tennessee, who came to 
Johnson county prior to the outbreak of the Civil war. Mrs. Van 



672 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Kirk's maternal grandfather, Richard Larison, served in both the Black 
Hawk and Mexican wars, as captain, and his wife's father, a Billingsly, 
was a Revolutionary soldier. Mr. and Mrs. Van Kirk have three chil- 
dren, namely: Agnes W., Ethel M. and Samuel A., Jr. As a citizen 
who has identified himself with all movements for the betterment of the 
community, as a public official whose career is without blemish, and as a 
man whose friendships are many and enmities few, Mr. Van Kirk, stands 
as one of his community's representative residents, and as such has the 
confidence and esteem of those who have had dealings with him in any 
way. 

HENRY CLAY CURTIS. This valued business man and citizen of Car- 
bondale, who is now the mayor of the city, is a gentleman of broad views, 
much enterprise and highly commendable and serviceable achievements. 
The fact that he has confined his efforts in the domain of industrial pro- 
motion to the one line of endeavor in which he was trained in youth and 
early manhood has enabled him to attain a higher measure and more con- 
siderable degree of success than he might otherwise have reached, but he 
has capacity and inmpelling power that would have brought good results 
in any line of action to which they might have been devoted with the 
zeal and industry that have always characterized him. 

Mr. Curtis was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, on December 5, 
1859. and is a son of James A. and Mary H. (Land) Curtis, who moved 
to Warrensburg, Missouri, a number of years ago. The father was a 
native of Alsace-Lorraine and the mother was of Southern birth. The 
son received his education in the public schools and at the Illinois State 
University. After leaving that institution he learned the trade of flour 
milling, and after completing his apprenticeship worked for six years 
in a mill at Marissa, which was one of the first roller mills in Southern 
Illinois. From Marissa he came to Ava in this county, and there he re- 
mained employed in a mill twelve years. 

In 1900 he moved to Carbondale, organized the Carbondale Mill and 
Elevator Company, and built its plant. He is president and general 
manager of the company and very active in pushing its business, which 
has grown to large extension under the impulse of his stimulating and 
energetic control. The mill has a capacity of two hundred barrels of 
flour a day, and the elevator has storage capacity for forty-five thousand 
bushels' of grain. In addition to this plant the company has an elevator 
at McClure, Alexander county, with a capacity of twenty thousand 
bushels, and buys on an average five hundred thousand bushels a year. 
It employs regularly twenty-five men, and at times several more. 

Mr. Curtis has been incessant in his devotion to the welfare and 
progress of Carbondale since he became a resident of the city. His 
interest in it has given him high standing with the citizens, and they 
have not been slow to call his ability into the public service for their 
benefit. He has done good work for the community as a member of the 
city council, and in April, 1911, he was elected mayor, the people hav- 
ing found their faith in him fully justified by his course in the lower 
municipal office. Neither are they disappointed in his work as mayor. 
Every interest of the city is carefully looked after by him in his of- 
ficial capacity, and every element of progress and development is vigor- 
ously employed in pushing forward the advance of the municipality 
along lines of wholesome growth and improvement. 

In politics Mr. Curtis is a firm and faithful Democrat, and one of 
the influential and effective workers for the good of his party. He is 
recognized as wise in counsel and energetic in action for its benefit, and 
is regarded as one of its strongest and most capable members in the 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 673 

county. He is also a Prohibitionist in theory and practice, ardently 
desirous of the total elimination of the liquor traffic, but yet not willing 
to sacrifice every other substantial advantage in government for the 
sake of that one reform, however strongly he may feel that it is needed. 

On June 25, 1883, he was married to Miss Katharine Curry of Mar- 
issa, this state, a daughter of James Curry. Three children have been 
born of the union, and all of them are living: Fay, the wife of J. G. 
Bellamy, of Pomona, Illinois, who is a merchant ; Harry Clark, a travel- 
ing salesman for his father's company; and Edward Earl, who is its 
assistant manager. Mr. and Mrs. Bellamy have a son named Curtis and 
a daughter named Kathleen. The younger son, Edward Earl Curtis, is 
also married. He chose as his wife Miss Beulah Strohman, of Carbon- 
dale, a daughter of Otto Strohman, a prominent farmer of Jackson 
county and classed among its most useful and respected citizens. They 
have one child, Edward Earl Curtis, Jr. 

Mr. Curtis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his 
wife and children also attend its services regularly. He is on the 
advisory or official board of the congregation to which he belongs, and 
takes a leading part in all the work of the local organization. In fra- 
ternal relations he is an enthusiastic adherent of the Masonic order. He 
has his family, what is left of it, under his own roof-tree, are pleasantly 
established in the former home of that once gallant Union general and 
influential United States senator, the late Hon. John A. Logan. He 
purchased the property because of its value and adaptability to his 
needs, but its historical character is also pleasing to him and the hosts 
of friends of the family who frequent it and always find it bright with 
intellectual and social culture and warm with genuine and unaffected 
hospitality. 

CHARLES W. MILLS. It is to such safe, sane and conservative busi- 
ness men as Charles W. Mills, of Vienna, that Johnson county owes its 
present prosperous condition. Those whose only interest in business 
lies in looking after personal gains do little or nothing to advance their 
communities, but the men who have the welfare of their section at heart 
so conduct their operations as to build up and develop the resources of 
the country about them, thus opening up a wider field for the prosecu- 
tion of undertakings calculated to bring out the best interests of the 
localities in which they live. Mr. Mills, the former clerk and recorder of 
Johnson county, and a member of the well known real estate concern 
of the Egyptian Land and Loan Company, was born in Vienna town- 
ship, Johnson county, Illinois, November 1, 1873, and is a son of Elihu 
and Mary (Houston) Mills. 

Elihu Mills was born in 1831, in Jefferson county, Tennessee, and 
migrated to Illinois when he was sixteen years of age with his father, 
John Mills, whose wife bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Manley. 
They first settled in Grantsburg township, in 1847, taking up a tract of 
government timber land and making a comfortable home in which to 
rear their family. Thirteen years after settling in Illinois Elihu Mills 
contracted his first marriage, and in 1864 he was married (second) to 
Mary Houston, who was born and reared in Johnson county. Directly 
after his marriage Mr. Mills settled on a farm in Vienna township, and 
for more than forty years carried on agricultural operations in that sec- 
tion, becoming widely and favorably known. He reared a family of 
four sons and two daughters, as follows : Mrs. Margaret Dixon ; P. N. ; 
Elizabeth, who died in 1882, at the age of thirteen years; Albert W., 
a farmer of Grantsburg township ; Charles W. ; and A. Otto, a farmer 
and teacher in Vienna township, residing on the old homestead. 



674 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Charles W. Mills remained on the farm and attended the district 
schools until he was seventeen years of age, at which time he entered 
the Vienna High school, and in 1890 became an educator, teaching in 
various parts of Southern Illinois for twelve years. While not teach- 
ing he pursued his advanced studies in the Southern Illinois Normal 
School at Carbondale, and in 1903 and 1904 resided on the farm. In 
March of the latter year Mr. Mills was nominated on the Republican 
ticket for the office of circuit clerk and recorder, and during the fall of 
the same year was elected to that office, running two hundred and twenty- 
two votes ahead of his ticket. This office had never paid its running ex- 
penses until Mr. Mills was elected, and at the first semi-annual report he 
turned over one hundred and ninety-two dollars over and above the 
running expenses, and continued to do so until at the end of the term 
he had raised the sum to over two thousand two hundred and fifty dol- 
lars, something unknown to Johnson county prior to Mr. Mills' official 
career. He served for four years in that office, and in 1908 accepted 
the general agency for the Franklin Life Insurance Company. His 
district covers seven counties in Southern Illinois. During his term as 
clerk and recorder of Johnson county Mr. Mills established himself in 
the real estate and loan business, thus gaining considerable valuable ex- 
perience which he was to find of great help to him in his later and larger 
operations. He is the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of fine 
land, one and one-half miles east of Vienna, which he operates as a 
general farm, and also possesses one of Vienna's handsome residences. 
He has been a member of the I. 0. 0. F. lodge since 1900, and is now 
connected with the Encampment, and during the past twenty years has 
been a valued member and consistent attendant of the Christian church. 

On December 2, 1905, Mr. Mills was united in marriage with Miss 
Flarra Luna, in Iron county, Missouri. Mrs. Mills, who for five years 
taught school in her native county, is a daughter of James F..Luna, who 
served in the Civil war and died soon thereafter of disease contracted 
while swimming a river while on a march in the midst of winter. His 
widow, who was Miss Mary J. Mangum, still survives and makes her 
home in Iron county, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Mills have two bright, in- 
teresting children: Mary C., who is five years old; and Lewis W., who 
is three. 

The Egyptian Land and Loan Company was organized April 1, 1910, 
by Charles W. Mills, D. Esco Walker and Noel Whitehead, the latter now 
mayor of Vienna, for the purpose of buying and selling lands and mak- 
ing farm loans. Capitalized at fifty thousand dollars, its operations ex- 
tend throughout Southern Illinois and reach the southwest and western 
portions of the country, also including lands in Wisconsin, Michigan, 
Dakota, Arkansas and Missouri. The concern is a member of the Na- 
tional Real Estate Dealers Association, this membership giving the firm 
rights and abilities to place a prospective buyer in touch with land in 
any part of the United States. Business is done on a fair and sub- 
stantial basis, with equally advantageous conditions for both buyer and 
seller, and the personal element, as far as is possible, is injected into each 
transaction. Loans are made on a safe basis, and as all of the partners 
are men of stability and business integrity, with years of experience be- 
hind them, the firm stands high in realty circles and commands the 
fullest confidence of the general public. Personally Mr. Mills is a genial, 
whole-souled man, who has never made an enemy intentionally, and who 
counts his friends by the hundreds. 

DULY M. DAWSON. Ideas backed with indefatigable energy, the 
desire and power to accomplish big things these qualities make of sue- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 675 

cess not an accident but a logical result. The man of initiative is he who 
combines with a capacity for hard work an indomitable will. Such a 
man recognizes no such things as failure and his final success is on a 
parity with his well directed efforts. For a number of years past Duly 
M. Dawson has conducted the leading furniture and carpet house at 
Herrin, in Williamson county, Illinois, where he is well known as a man 
of impregnable integrity and sterling worth. 

Duly M. Dawson was born near Christopher, Illinois, on the 4th of 
November, 1875, and he is descended from an old Alabama family headed 
by Arfax Dawson, reference to whom is more extendedly made else- 
where in this work. He is a son of Allen and Mary (Vaughn) Dawson, 
the former of whom died in 1877, in Franklin, Illinois, and the latter 
was summoned to the life eternal in Herrin, Williamson county, Illi- 
nois, in 1908, at the venerable age of seventy-four years. The father 
devoted the major portion of his active career to farming operations 
and he long held prestige as one of the most prominent and influential 
agriculturists in Franklin county, this state. Concerning the ten chil- 
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Allen Dawson the following brief data are 
here incorporated, James R. is a progressive farmer in Franklin 
county, Illinois ; Francis M. died at Mound City, Illinois ; Mary A. was 
the wife of Robert Snyder at the time of her demise; Susanna married 
Jack Vincent and died in Franklin county; Christopher C. died at 
Herrin and left a family; Lewis Allen is a prominent merchant at 
Herrin ; Lemuel B. resides in Johnston City, Illinois ; Florence I. is 
the wife of Henry Hawk, of Herrin; John M. is a member of the well 
known firm of Dawson Brothers at Herrin ; and Duly M. is he whose 
name initiates this article. 

Under the invigorating discipline of the old homestead farm Duly 
M. Dawson was reared to maturity and his elementary educational 
training consisted of such advantages as were offered in the neighbor- 
ing district schools. This early training he later supplemented by a 
course of study in the Southern Illinois Normal University. For a time 
after leaving college he turned his attention to teaching in a country 
school, thus putting to practical use some of the knowledge he had 
gained in school. For a time he was engaged in farming but believing 
that he could succeed in the general merchandise business and thus 
avoid some of the exposure and monotony of farm life he came to Her- 
rin when this town first started. In 1898 he entered into a partnership 
alliance with his brother, the late Christopher C. Dawson, to open up 
a mercantile concern. In 1906, however, this firm was dissolved and 
Duly M. Dawson opened an implement business here. Two years later, 
in 1908, he disposed of the latter concern and then turned his attention 
to furniture and house fittings. His place of business is the leading es- 
tablishment of its kind in Herrin at the present time and it is wonder- 
fully well equipped as a furniture and carpet house. Mr. Dawson is 
a stockholder in the Herrin Building & Loan Association, being also 
a member of its official board, and he is likewise a stockholder in the 
bank at Sesser, Illinois. He is a man of unusual executive ability and 
his admirable success in life is particularly gratifying to contemplate 
inasmuch as it is entirely the outcome of his own well directed en- 
deavors. 

On the 14th of October, 1894, in Franklin county, Illinois, Mr. Daw- 
son was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Tennie Isom, a daughter of 
Benjamin F. and Caroline (Reynolds) Isorn. The Isom family came to 
Illinois from Tennessee just after the close of the Civil war. Mrs. 
Dawson is one of a family of twelve children, nine of whom are living, 
in 1911. She is a woman of most gracious personality and is deeply 



676 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

beloved by all who have come within the sphere of her gentle influence. 
Mr. and Mrs. Dawson are the parents of five children, whose names 
are here entered in respective order of birth, Earl, Cecil, Ted, Lucile 
and D. M., Jr. 

Like his ancestors, Mr. Dawson is a Democrat but he has kept aloof 
from all political activity. He is connected with a number of fraternal 
organizations of representative character. 

JAMES H. MARTIN. Among the essentially representative citizens 
of Murphysboro, Jackson county, whose influence and activities have 
contributed to the economic and social progress of this favored section 
of the state, stands James H. Martin, who claims the fine old Hoosier 
commonwealth as the place of his nativity, but the major part of whose 
life has been passed in Illinois. He is one of the leading members of 
the bar of Jackson county, and is a citizen of broad views and marked 
progressiveness. He is identified with various important corporations 
in his home city, including the City National Bank of Murphysboro, of 
which he is a director and concerning which specific mention is made in 
other parts of this publication. 

Mr. Martin was born in Ripley county, Indiana, on the 18th day 
of October, 1852. He was a child at the time of his parents' removal 
to Illinois, the family settling in Richland county in 1865. There he 
was reared to adult age and there he availed himself of the advantages 
of the public schools. That he made good use of his opportunities is 
indicated by the fact that as a youth he taught school for some time in 
the country districts, and proved himself an able and popular exponent 
of the pedagogic profession. He early formulated different plans for 
a future career, and decided to prepare himself for the profession of 
law. With this end in view he began his studies under a private pre- 
ceptor and finally entered the law department of the celebrated Uni- 
versity of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he remained until 1880. He 
was admitted to the bar in May of 1880, and shortly afterwards he 
established his home in Murphysboro, Illinois, where he has continued 
in effective practice during the long, intervening years. This interval 
has been marked by worthy accomplishments on his part, and he has 
gained prestige as one of the ablest and most conscientious representa- 
tives of his profession in this section of the state. For a number of 
years past he has given his attention principally to real-estate, common 
law and chancery practice, and along these lines he controls a large and 
representative business. 

In all that pertains to the general welfare of the community, Mr. 
Martin has shown a loyal and public-spirited interest. He has gained 
a secure vantage ground in the confidence and esteem of the community 
in which he has so long made his home. He is a strong advocate of 
the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands spon- 
sor, and while he has given praiseworthy service in behalf of the party, 
he has never been an aspirant for political office. He was nominated 
at one time for the office of judge of the circuit court, but he declined 
the nomination. Since 1908 he has served as president of the board of 
education of the Murphysboro Township High School, and in the line 
of his profession he is attorney for several of the representative corpor- 
ations of his home city, including the Jackson County Homestead Loan 
and Building Association, of which he was the principal organizer. In 
1892 he was appointed attorney for the City National Bank, of which 
he has been a director from the time of its organization. He is at- 
torney for the Murphysboro Telephone Company, as well as the Ohio 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 677 

& Mississippi Valley Telephone Company. In a fraternal way he is 
identified with the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias. 

In the year 1888, on November 13, was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Martin to Miss Elizabeth Kennedy, daughter of George and Ellen 
(Ross) Kennedy, for many years residents of Murphysboro. Mr. Ken- 
nedy was engaged in the mercantile business for fully forty years in 
that city, being well and favorably known in the community where he 
has made his home for so many years. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have two 
children: Milford M., who is a student at the Murphysboro township 
high school, and Anna K., who was graduated from the Murphysboro 
high school as a member of the class of 1909, and who is now Mrs. Otis 
F. Glenn. 

CITY NATIONAL BANK OP MURPHYSBORO. One of the strong and ac- 
tively ordered financial institutions of Jackson county and one that con- 
tributes its quota to the commercial and industrial stability of this 
favored section of the country is the City National Bank of Murphysboro. 
The institution is the direct successor to the Bank of Murphysboro, organ- 
ized by James E. Walker and his wife, who owned and controlled the 
business for a number of years. In 1892 the City National Bank was 
organized and incorporated, and business had practical initiation on 
the 25th day of November of that year. At the time of organization 
the total assets of the bank were $112,000, and in the early stages of 
its operations its individual deposits aggregated something less than 
$60,000. The enterprise has been handled with marked conservatism 
and circumspection, and the institution has gained an impregnable 
hold upon the public confidence and esteem, aggregating in bonds alone 
a capital stock of $50,000, and the total deposits now aggregating 
$550,000. In 1895 Mr. Walker and his associates sold their interests 
in the banks to Mr. William K. Murphy and others. Mr. Hardy has 
been chief executive of the institution since May, 1899. 

The bank has a fine modern building of brick, two stories in height 
and twenty-four by sixty feet in lateral dimension. 

HIRAM A. HUDGENS. An honored resident of Goreville, Hiram A. 
Hudgens has for twenty and more years been an important factor in 
advancing the mercantile interests of this part of Johnson county, and 
as an enterprising and keen-sighted merchant has never allowed any- 
thing to escape his observation that might improve his methods of carry- 
ing on business or add to the welfare and prosperity of the community. 
He was born January 31, 1868, in Williamson county, Illinois, a son 
of the late Zachariah Hudgens. 

A native of Tennessee, Zachariah Hudgens came to Illinois with his 
father, John Hudgens, in 1855, locating in Williamson county. Im- 
bued with a fine spirit of patriotism, he enlisted during the Civil war 
in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Illinois Volunteer In- 
fantry, and served for a year, being commissioned first lieutenant of his 
company. Receiving his honorable discharge from the army, he returned 
to Williamson county, and was there employed in tilling the soil until 
accidentally killed by a locomotive at Marion in 1902. He married 
Mary J. Corksey, who was born in Tennessee, and died in Williamson 
county, Illinois, in 1888, succumbing to an attack of typhoid fever. 
Ten sons and four daughters were born of their marriage, as follows: 
J. B., of whom a brief account appears elsewhere in this work; Robert 
L. ; Hiram A., the special subject of this brief biographical review; 
Joshua : Zachariah ; Herman ; Egbert ; Hugh ; Lee ; Arthur ; Emeranda, 



678 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

deceased, married Dr. Theodore Hudson; Mrs. Mary E. Mclnturff; 
Mrs. Nancy P T Nelson ; and Alice, wife of T. A. Bradley. 

After leaving the district schools Hiram A. Hudgens studied for 
two years in Ewing College, in Ewing, Illinois, and in the fall of 1888 
completed a commercial course in a business college at Lexington, Ken- 
tucky. Locating then in the old town of Goreville, Mr. Hudgens was 
there engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1899, when he moved to 
the new town of Goreville, where he continued in business as a partner 
in the firm of Hudgens & Bradley until August, 1910. Since that time 
Mr. Hudgens has been in business alone, having bought out the build- 
ing and stock of his former partner. The building is of bric'k, and he 
carries a fine stock of general merchandise, including a good line of 
dry goods, groceries and boots and shoes, his investment, including 
his stock of goods, exceeding seven thousand five hundred and sixty 
dollars. Mr. Hudgens has acquired a substantial property, owning a 
good residence in Goreville, and forty acres of land lying southwest of 
the village. He is active in public matters, having been village treas- 
urer since the incorporation of the town, and is also treasurer of the 
school district. Fraternally he is a member of Goreville Lodge, No. 
528, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Goreville. 

Mr. Hudgens has been twice married. He married first, December 
23, 1894, Emma Mighell, a daughter of John and Hattie Mighell, early 
settlers of Goreville. She died in 1904, leaving three children, namely : 
Eula, a student in the Southern Illinois Normal University, at Carbon- 
dale; Gus; and Genevieve. Mr. Hudgens married, September 20, 1907, 
Bertie Kelley, daughter of John R. and Harriet Kelley, old and honored 
residents of Johnson county. 

HARRY THOMPSON BRIDGES. Something over five years ago, when 
he took charge of the Vienna Times, Harry Thompson Bridges decided 
that the great country lying in the southern counties of Illinois was 
entitled to and would support a live, clean, up-to-date metropolitan 
newspaper of its own, which should give all the news, all the time, and 
give it correctly and promptly, and under his administration it has 
taken front rank among the leading sheets of this section. Dedicating 
the influence of the paper to the business interests of his adopted city 
and to its development in every way, he has established the publication 
on thoroughly metropolitan lines and the city of Vienna has reason for 
congratulation that the Times is in such safe, sagacious and thoroughly 
clean hands. Harry Thompson Bridges was born January 6, 1872, in 
Johnson county, Illinois, and is a son of Henry T. and Mary E. (Carter) 
Bridges. 

Henry T. Bridges was born February 25, 1831, in Marshall county, 
Tennessee, near the village of Lewisburgh. His father was James D. 
Bridges, a native of North Carolina and a son of Francis Bridges, also 
a native of the Tar Heel State, the latter being a son of William Bridges, 
an Englishman by birth who came to this country during Colonial days 
and settled in North Carolina, where he died. Francis Bridges married 
Sarah Cadle, a daughter of Jesse Cadle, of North Carolina. In 1815 
he migrated to Maury (now Marshall) county, Tennessee, two years 
later moving to Carroll county, where he died after attaining a ripe old 
age. His son, James D. Bridges, was seven years old when the family 
moved to the wilds of Tennessee, and there he married Elizabeth Thomp- 
son, a daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Schefner) Thompson. In 
1833 James D. Bridges went to Mississippi and purchased a farm seven 
miles east of Holly Springs, and for the next six years was engaged in 
farming, following the mercantile business and trading with the Chick- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 679 

asaw Indian tribe. In 1839 Mr. Bridges returned to Tennessee and for 
two years carried on agricultural operations near Dyersburgh, and in 
1841 removed to Ballard county, Kentucky, where he purchased a farm 
and also conducted a smithy. Accompanied by his wife and eight chil- 
dren, in 1844 he set forth for Illinois with a team and wagon and event- 
ually arrived at Vienna, near which village he located on a good tract 
of Government land, and until 1852 was engaged in conducting a smithy 
and manufacturing wagons. He again disposed of his property in the 
last year mentioned and went to Laclede county, Missouri, where he 
carried oh farming and stock raising until his death, in February, 1863, 
his widow surviving until 1882. They reared a family of six children, 
namely: Jesse C., Henry T., Sarah, Charlotte, William and Benjamin. 

Henry T. Bridges was thirteen years of age when the family arrived 
in Illinois. When he was twelve years old he had started to learn the 
trade of blacksmith with his father, and when he was only twenty 
opened a shop of his own in Vienna, which he disposed of in 1880 to 
engage in the grocery business, to which he gave his attention for many 
years. His death occurred in 1902. Mr. Bridges served as police 
magistrate of Vienna for six years and as justice of the peace for a 
quarter of a century, and was a man widely known in fraternal circles, 
belonging to Vienna Lodge, No. 150, A. F. & A. M., Vienna Chapter, 
No. 57 R. A. M., Council No. 67, R. & S. M., and was a charter member 
of Vesta Lodge No. 340, I. 0. 0. F., and Vienna Encampment, No. 53. 
On December 31, 1852, he was married to Miss Mary E. Carter, a native 
of Giles county, Tennessee, and a daughter of Vincent and Elizabeth 
(Rose) Carter. They reared five children: Amanda Bell Cowsert, 
James H., Vesta Hogg, Harry Thompson and William Francis. James 
H. Bridges is now located near Milburn, Oklahoma, and is engaged in 
farming and school teaching. Willie Bridges was born in 1876, and as 
a young man removed to Oklahoma, where he was engaged in the mer- 
cantile business and farming. He was there married to Juanita Burris, 
a wealthy daughter of the Chickasaw Indian Nation, who bore him two 
children : Marion Francis and Zelma. Mr. Bridges died in Emet, Okla- 
homa, May 15, 1903. 

Harry Thompson Bridges worked on the home farm and attended 
public school until he was fourteen years of age, when he came to 
Vienna and became a clerk in his father's store, in which capacity he 
continued for two years. At the age of sixteen years he entered the 
office of the Vienna Times, as " devil, '' and advanced to foreman of the 
printing office, and then to the management of the paper. In 1902 he 
went to Oklahoma, where he became editor and manager of the Tisho- 
mingo News, but in 1906 returned to Vienna and assumed management 
of the Times. Fraternally Mr. Bridges is connected with the Indepen- 
dent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen and the Modern 
Brotherhood of America, of which last-named lodge he is the popular 
secretary. He is a stalwart Republican, and in September, 1911, was 
elected city alderman. His religious connection is with the Christian 
church. 

On July 25, 1896, Mr. Bridges was married to Sena Brooks, of Cape 
Girardeau, Missouri, daughter of Albert and Elizabeth (Farrell) Brooks, 
and four children have been born to this union : Mabel, Harry Thomp- 
son, Jr., Royce Lee and William PVancis. Mrs. Bridges' father was 
born August 10, 1840, and died May 9, 1894, while her mother, born 
December 16, 1837, passed away January 26, 1892. They had seven 
children, as follows: John W., who lives at Cape Girardeau, Missouri; 
Alvin P., of Amarillo, Texas; Albert A., residing at Collins, Montana; 



680 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Mrs. Emma L. Gates, of Enid, Oklahoma ; Mrs. Lela Hertel, of Anna, 
Illinois ; and Mrs. Bridges. 

Mr. Bridges, in addition to his ability as an editor, possesses the 
executive skill requisite to the safe conducting of a first-class paper, 
and with such men at the helm of the ship of journalism we cannot fail 
to find that there is yet something in store for our country and the 
world even better than aught they have seen, and that there is a bright 
future before us that will as far surpass the present as the present 
itself rises above the meanest and most distant past. 

CAPTAIN WILLIAM M. WILLIAMS. There are few citizens of Cairo 
who do not enjoy a personal acquaintance with Captain William M. 
Williams, claim agent of the Mobile & Ohio Railway Company for the 
division from St. Louis to Cairo, a man who, though deeply engrossed 
in the concerns of one of this section's largest transportation com- 
panies, has found time to cultivate his social nature and to enjoy the 
pleasures of companionship with his fellow men. As a settler he is one 
of the mile-posts of progress, the span between Cairo's infancy and its 
strong and vigorous life as a metropolis, for he first became a resident 
of the city in 1855. Captain Williams was born near Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, May 4, 1831, a son of Isaac and Mary (Torrence) Williams. 
From Pennsylvania the parents of Captain Williams moved into Vir- 
ginia and then on into Kentucky, and while living there both passed 
away, the mother in 1844 and the father in 1855. She was a daughter 
of Albert Torrence, an Irish gentleman who settled about Fort Pitt, and 
there reared a family, while Mr. Williams was a son of George Wil- 
liams, a native of North Carolina, who tilled the soil in Kentucky, Vir- 
ginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and at his death in the last-named state 
left a large family. 

Captain Williams' education came from the country districts of 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, where his father was engaged in farming, 
and he made the best of his youthful opportunities. That he was of 
manly parts early is evidenced by his publishing The Daily Wheeling 
Journal, of Wheeling, Virginia, when only seventeen years of age. This 
gave him an experience of great value in later life and his contributions 
to local publications of recent years reflect the training of the period 
when he was associated with the staff of a newspaper. When he aban- 
doned the paste-pot and the editorial pencil, he engaged in the manu- 
facture of salt at West Columbia, Virginia, in the Kanawha Valley, 
and continued that business until he came to Cairo, Illinois, in 1855, 
and associated himself with a cousin in the wholesale house of Williams, 
Stephens & Company. The firm erected the first brick building in the 
village, the one now occupied by R. Smyth & Company, at Nos. SOS- 
SOT Ohio street, and the business of the concern was important for 
that day of river transportation, but was dissolved in 1859. During 
the four years of Captain Williams' connection with this enterprise he 
chanced to meet many of the distinguished men of the country as they 
passed to and fro, and more than a half a century afterward he con- 
tributed to the local press of Cairo, upon invitation of friends, a few 
articles upon the famous people he had known and his impressions of 
them. Of the old historic characters of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, 
he knew them all, and of the very few who made reputations for them- 
selves in other channels subsequently especially the Bard of Hannibal, 
Mark Twain he has a distinct recollection. Leaving Cairo in 1859, 
Captain Williams went to Arizona and engaged in mining as the super- 
intendent of the St. Louis Mining Company. The presence of Amer- 
icans in that (at that time) really Mexican field aroused the antipathy 



OFTHt 
SSTiERSITY OF ILUS^, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 681 

of the "Greaser" population, and they fell to and slew them all but 
the Captain himself, and the enterprise was abandoned. He next joined 
W. S. Grant, who had a government contract for furnishing supplies 
for the troops and animals serving in both Arizona and New Mexico, 
and remained in the West until the outbreak of hostilities ushering in 
the Civil war. He then returned to Washington, D. C., made his final 
report and settlement with the Government, and cast his fortunes with 
the Confederate cause. He was connected with General Van Dorn's 
army, operating in the country east of the Mississippi river, and while 
he took part in the contest was in detached service. He was in the 
vicinity of Vicksburg when that city fell into Federal hands, and then 
terminated his connection with military and took up civil life in the 
city. Entering the river traffic and establishing a small line of steam- 
boats plying in and out of Vicksburg, he did a profitable business 
while he remained a resident of that city. 

In 1870 the wheel of fortune turned toward Cairo again for Cap- 
tain Williams and he returned to this city. He first built a distillery, 
but soon disposed of it, and during the next few years he devoted him- 
self to independent pursuits. In 1880 he entered the employ of the old 
St. Louis & Cairo and Mobile & Ohio Railroad as its claim agent, 
and for a time did the work of the whole system. This field of activity 
has given him the opportunity of his whole life to become acquainted 
with human nature. An account of the hundreds of episodes showing 
the lengths to which mankind will go in an effort to put the railroads 
under obligations, in the experience of the Captain alone, would make a 
salable volume or two and cover a field not yet touched by the pen of 
an author. 

The life of Captain Williams has been so closely given to his em- 
ployers that he has not been a positive factor in his home affairs. He 
has ever been a strong Democrat and has always been capable of giving 
a reason for the faith that is in him, but has lived to see but one of his 
school of politics fill the presidency since the war. He remembers the 
campaign of 1840, and the campaign slogans of each party, and an ap- 
peal to his generous fund of political information brings out many in- 
cidents of the methods used and the leading characters engaged in our 
ante-bellum battles for the presidency. 

Captain Williams was married in Covington, Kentucky, in 1863, to 
Miss Rachel Williams, his own cousin, who died in Cairo in 1904. Two 
daughters were born of this union ; Mary Louise, who passed away here 
May 9, 1911, leaving her father as the last of his family; and Caroline 
Or 'Lea, who died in childhood. The Captain is a Master Mason and a 
consistent member of the Episcopal church. 

In front of his office at the Mobile & Ohio station in Cairo there is 
a small park covered with stately shade trees planted by himself more 
than twenty-five years ago, and upon one corner of this triangular plot 
stands ' ' Captain Billy Williams, ' ' a cannon, a gift to the city from the 
president of the Mobile & Ohio Railway Company, and from the old 
Confederate Fort Morgan, at Mobile, from whence it was transported 
and found a final resting place upon an emplacement erected at the ex- 
pense of Captain Williams and his friend, Colonel W. Butler Duncan, 
of New York City, President of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad Company. 

GEORGE W. NOEEIS. There is no line of business that requires more 
tact, skill or sympathy than that of undertaking, for the funeral 
director, even more than the physician, must discharge duties that make 
him most intimately associated with the families of his community, and 
it is requisite that he who performs the last sad rites must be a man in 



682 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

whom the utmost .confidence can be placed. George W. Norris, the only 
funeral director in the city of Anna, Illinois, has been engaged in this 
business here for more than twenty-two years, and has so conducted his 
establishment as to win the respect and esteem of all who have come 
into contact with him. He is a native of Scotland, having been born 
in 1837, and is a son of Robert and Mary (Miller) Norris. 

Robert Norris was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
and was taken to Scotland as a child. There he was married to Mary 
Miller, and they came to the United States in 1847, settling first in Wis- 
consin, where they resided for eleven years, and then coming to Union 
county. Mr. Norris was one of the first tinners to engage in business 
here, and it is still said that he was the best workman in his line that 
the county has known. His wife, who was born January 23, 1816, at- 
tained the remarkable age of ninety-five years, her death occurring in 
Anna, June 5, 1911. 

The education of George W. Norris was secured in the public schools 
of Wisconsin, and as a youth was taught the tinner's trade by his father. 
He followed this line of work until his enlistment, in 1862, for service 
during the Civil war, when he became a private in Company G, Four- 
teenth Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, and served three years as a member 
of that organization, rising to the ranks of sergeant, quartermaster ser- 
geant and orderly sergeant. He participated in a number of bitterly- 
fought engagements, including those during the raid through Georgia 
and that which culminated in Stoneman's surrender, but was fortunate 
enough to escape without capture or wounds. On his return from the 
war, Mr. Norris built a livery stable at Anna, which he successfully 
conducted for fifteen years, but eventually sold that enterprise and es- 
tablished himself in his present line. Mr. Norris has an up-to-date 
establishment in every respect, it being equipped with all the modern 
appurtenances of the business, while his equipages are elaborate and 
proper for every occasion. He is the owner of two farms of 125 acres 
in Union county, these being operated by tenants under Mr. Norris' 
supervision, and are devoted to berries, apples and peaches. Mr. Nor- 
ris also does an extensive business in breeding Shetland ponies, having 
had many years' experience in this line. 

In 1879 Mr. 'Norris was married to Miss Ellen Chandler, of Union 
county, there are four children, as follows: Thomas, born in 1880, who 
married Mary Farrands ; Robert, who married Eva Crowell ; and Mary 
and Georgia, who live at home. The family belong to the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and are well and favorably known to the people of 
its congregation. A Republican in his political views, Mr. Norris has 
never cared for public office, although he served on several occasions as 
precinct committeeman. He belongs to Lodge No. 520, A. F. & A. M., 
and R. A. Chapter No. 45, and for four or five years served as com- 
mander of Post No. 558, Anna Grand Army of the Republic. 

GEORGE A. GODDAED. An excellent representative of the teaching 
force of Johnson county, George A. Goddard, principal of the Gore- 
ville schools, is widely and favorably known in educational circles as 
a progressive and capable instructor, who has won success in his profes- 
sional career through his own merits. A son of Francis M. Goddard, 
he was born July 5, 1877, on a Union county farm, of pioneer stock. 
His grandfather, George Goddard, a native of Pennsylvania, came to 
Southern Illinois in early days and settled in Union county as a pioneer 
farmer. 

Francis M. Goddard was born and brought up in Union county, Illi- 
nois, being reared to agricultural pursuits. In 1893 he moved with his 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 683 

family to Texas, where he resided four years. Returning to Illinois 
in 1897, he purchased eighty acres of land in Johnson county, one and 
one-half miles northeast of Goreville, and has since devoted his time 
and energies to the improvement of his property, his farm being under 
a good state of cultivation. He married Martha A. Gurley, and to 
them six children have been born, one of whom, Edgar, died in infancy, 
and five are living, as follows: George A., the subject of this sketch; 
John W. ; Oscar M. ; Leva ; and Leona. 

Acquiring the rudiments of his education in the rural schools of 
Union county, Illinois, George A. Goddard subsequently lived in Texas 
four years, and while there attended the high school at Howe. He 
completed his early studies at the Southern Illinois University, in Car- 
bondale. and with the exception of a year spent as a merchant in Bun- 
combe, Johnson county, has been engaged in teaching since 1897, dur- 
ing the entire time having taught in Johnson county. For six years 
Mr. Goddard taught in the Salem district, and in 1905 and 1906 had 
charge of the Buncombe consolidated schools, Buncombe having been 
the second town in Illinois to adopt the progressive course of consoli- 
dating its schools. In 1907 he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, and 
in 1908 and 1909 was principal of the schools in Cypress. In 1910 
Professor Goddard accepted his present position as principal of the 
Goreville schools, and has since served in a most creditable manner. 
These schools have an enrollment of one hundred and ninety pupils, and 
employ four teachers, who take the scholars through the grammar 
grades and through the first two grades of high school, their work being 
thorough in every respect. 

Mr. Goddard married, in 1908, Esther Goddard, daughter of Will- 
iam and Fannie (Sturdevant) Goddard, of Buncombe. Since 1897 
Mr. Goddard has been a resident of Buncombe, and a citizen of promi- 
nence. He is much interested in agriculture, having charge of a farm of 
one hundred and thirty acres lying near Buncombe, and likewise having 
title to four hundred and forty acres of timber land in Arkansas. Mr. 
and Mrs. Goddard have one child, Walter 'Owen Goddard. Fraternally 
the Professor is a member of Banner Camp, No. 8366, Modern Wood- 
men of America, at Buncombe; and of Goreville Lodge, No. 797, Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of Goreville. Both he and his wife are 
members of the Presbyterian church. 

FRANK B. KEEN. Few citizens are better known or more highly 
respected in Franklin county than the popular postmaster of Chris- 
topher, Frank B. Keen, a man who has demonstrated his efficiency as 
a public citizen, his ability as a business man and his sterling worth 
as a citizen. During his incumbency of office he has introduced a num- 
ber of much-needed reforms, and the general satisfaction which is felt 
with the manner in which he has handled the affairs of his administra- 
tion is sufficient evidence of his fitness for the position which he holds. 
Mr. Keen was born in Union county, 'Illinois, November 22, 1875, and 
is a son of James M. and Josepine (Coleman) Keen. 

The grandfather of Mr. Keen. V. B. Keen, was born in Tennessee, 
and came to Illinois with his family about 1869 or 1870. A practicing 
physician, he became known all over Union county, and followed his 
profession until he was more than seventy years of age, retiring some 
time before his death in 19D9, when he was seventy-seven years old. 
On the' maternal side Frank B. Keen is descended from A. W. Coleman, 
also a native of "Tennessee and a farmer by occupation, a vocation which 
he followed both in his native state and in Union county, Illinois, where, 
at his death, he was regarded as one of the substantial agriculturists 



684 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

of his community. James M. Keen was born in Tennessee, in 1856, 
and was still a lad when brought to Illinois by his parents. For a 
number of years he followed carpentry as an occupation, but in 1905 
retired from active pursuits and located in Christopher, where he now 
resides, as does also Mrs. Keen, who was born in Lick Creek, Union 
county. 

Frank B. Keen was reared on a farm and received his education in 
the common schools of Union county and later in Franklin county. 
His first serious occupation in life was that of teaching school, and for 
ten years he was known as an able educator throughout this part of the 
state. He was for one year engaged in the livery business at Chris- 
topher, but since July, 1909, when he was appointed postmaster, he has 
followed the business of dealing in real estate, in which he has met with 
more than ordinary success. The postoffice at Christopher belongs to 
the third class, and for an office of this division does an immense amount 
of business, but as the general service of the department has improved, 
so has Mr. Keen improved and advanced conditions at his station. His 
natural fitness for the position of postmaster resulted in his appoint- 
ment, and his genial, courteous manners have made him verV popular 
with all with whom he comes into contact. His popularity extends to 
the lodges with which he is connected, and he is a general favorite with 
the members of the Odd Fellows, the Red Men and the Modern Wood- 
men of America, in the latter of which he has served as consul. Always 
a stalwart Republican, he has been active in the interests of his party 
here, and, although he has never sought public preferment, has been 
elected police magistrate. 

On January 23, 1897, Mr. Keen was married to Miss Ethel Rea, 
daughter of Frank Rea, a successful retired merchant of Christopher, 
and two children have been born to this union : Thyda and Norma, who 
are both attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Keen hold membership in the 
Missionary Baptist church, and are popular in church and social circles. 

HENRY TERRY. A prosperous and progressive business man of 
Goreville. Henry Terry is an extensive dealer in lumber, and is 
widely known in his official capacity of mayor of the village. He 
was born on a farm in Union county, Illinois, April '8, 1868, of English 
ancestry. 

His father, the late William Terry, was born in Keighley, York- 
shire, England, where he learned the stone cutter's trade. Immigrat- 
ing to the United States in 1854, he settled in Farmington, Missouri, 
and for a time was employed on the mill erected by William Pickles, 
who was destined to become his father-in-law. Poor in pocket when 
he landed in America, he labored industriously at various employ- 
ments, and having saved some money located, in war times, on a 
farm in the vicinity of Carbondale, Illinois. He afterwards began 
farming in Union county, Illinois, on forty acres of land, and suc- 
ceeded so well in his labors that he afterwards bought one hundred 
and twenty-two acres of land in Union county, near the Johnson 
county line, and still later purchased two hundred and sixty acres 
lying near Goreville. He was successful as an agriculturist, and re- 
sided on his farm until 1905, when he retired from active business, 
and lived in ease and comfort until his death, January 20, 1911. He 
was in truth the architect of his own fortune, having worked his way 
upward from a state of comparative poverty to one of affluence, being 
enabled ere his death to establish, or to help establish; his three sons 
in business, and have ample means left for his own use. He was 
reared as a member of the Church of England. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHEEN ILLINOIS 685 

William Terry married, in 1858, in Farmington, Missouri, Fanny 
Pickles, daughter of William Pickles, to whom reference was made 
above, and they became the parents of six children, as follows: 
William G. P., who has charge of the Telephone Company's affairs in 
Goreville; Henry, with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned; John 
U. S., an insurance man of Goreville; Mrs. Mary A. Calhoun; Mrs. 
Martha 0. Smith ; and Mrs. Frances J. Henley. Each of the sons also 
owns a farm. 

Brought up in Union county, Henry Terry was educated in the 
district schools, and well trained in agricultural pursuits on the 
parental homestead. When twenty-one years of age he bought a small 
farm, and shortly after took unto himself a wife and began farming 
on his own account in Johnson county, near Goreville, Illinois. He 
continued the management of his own farm of eighty acres until 
1902, and after his father retired from active pursuits managed the 
parental estate, which has recently been apportioned among the 
heirs. In 1902 Mr. Terry embarked in business in Goreville, and has 
since built up a large and lucrative trade as a dealer in lumber- and 
building materials. 

Since coming to Goreville he has taken great interest in pro- 
moting the public welfare, and on April 12, 1909, was elected president 
of the Goreville Town Board, and served so acceptably that in 1911 
he was re-elected to the same positon. Fraternally he is a member of 
Saline Lodge, No. 339, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; of Beth- 
any Chapter, No. 623, Order of the Eastern Star; of Goreville Lodge, 
No. 528, Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; and of Goreville Lodge, 
No. 612, Daughters of Eebekah. 

Mr. Terry married, March 12, 1891, Luella Parrish, a daughter of 
John and Lydia (Holly) Parrish, who were early pioneers of John- 
son county, Illinois, coming here from their native state, Tennessee. 

LAWRENCE RAMSEY HARRINGTON. While Nature often seems care- 
less in her work, flinging her varied brood recklessly into being and 
leaving all of her offspring to look out for themselves, she is yet 
provident and systematic to a high degree, fitting almost every man 
for some particular work in the world's great industrial contests, 
but usually leaving it to him or his friends to find out what it is. 
She seems to have fitted Lawrence R. Harrington, of Carbondale, par- 
ticularly for the banking business, and he soon found the congenial 
atmosphere for the development and exercise of his special faculties. 

Mr. Harrington is a native of Illinois and has all of a loyal son's 
devotion to the welfare of his mother state. He was born in Gallatin 
county on September 18, 1883, and is a son of John W. and Elizabeth 
(Ramsey) Harrington, prosperous farmers of that county, and stand- 
ing well in the estimation and regard of its people. They furnished 
excellent examples of fidelity to duty in private life and in connection 
with public affairs, and in their characters and conduct represented 
the best elements of the sturdy citizenship of their locality and county. 

Their son Lawrence obtained his education in the public schools 
at the Central Normal College in Danville. Indiana, and the Southern 
Illinois Normal University of this state. Soon after leaving the insti- 
tution last named he located in Carbondale and was appointed assist- 
ant cashier of the Jackson State Bank. He held this position until 
the reorganization of the bank into the Carbondale National Bank, 
and then was made cashier of the new corporation, in which capacity 
he has served it well and wisely ever since. 

He has ever shown an earnest and intelligent interest in the wel- 



686 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

fare of the city of his home, and given it expression in the most prac- 
tical and helpful way. He gave the city excellent service for a time 
as city treasurer and collector of special taxes, securing good returns 
for his efforts in the latter and eminent satisfaction to the people in 
the management of the former position, and winning warm commenda- 
tion for his manner of discharging the duties of each. 

In his connection with the bank he has been a shining success as 
a financier and popularizing force. He has so conducted the office of 
cashier in this strong and admirable institution as to add considerably 
to its body of patrons and the volume of its business, and thus and in 
other ways to strengthen its hold on the confidence and regard of the 
people of the whole county, and of every locality in which it does 
business. He is also secretary and treasurer of the J. A. Patterson 
Company, an extensive dealer in clothing, shoes and kindred com- 
modities, and in that position also is doing good work and achieving 
gratifying results. He is everywhere recognized as one of the most 
".apable and careful business men iu the city, and one of the most 
estimable and useful citizens of the county. 

On February 22, 1911, Mr. Harrington was united in marriage 
with Miss Mabel Patterson, of Carbondale, a daughter of Gabriel and 
Susan (Zimmerman) Patterson, long esteemed residents of the city, 
where for years the father was a leading merchant and grain dealer. 
In religious matters Mr. Harrington gives his faith and allegiance to 
the tenets and regulations of the Christian church, and serves as a 
deacon in the congregation to which he belongs. In fraternal rela- 
tions he is a member of the Masonic order of the Royal Arch degree, 
and also belongs to the Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks. His interest in all these fraternities is 
warm and his services to them are valuable and appreciated. 

FRANCIS RODMAN WOELFLE. The shrewd business acumen of the 
financiers of Johnson county have placed the banking institutions of 
this section on a sound foundation, and their knowledge of men and 
conditions has enabled them to pilot their monetary crafts through 
the storms of financial distress that have struck the country and to 
bring them safely into the port of public confidence. The Drovers 
State Bank of Vienna, one of the secure and solid institutions of 
Southern Illinois, is fortunate in having for its officials men with 
unquestioned reputations as safe and far-seeing financiers, and much 
of the credit for the bank's -present prosperous condition must be 
given to its able and trustworthy cashier, Francis Rodman Woelfle. 
Mr. Woelfle is a native of Jonesboro, Illinois, and was born Septem- 
ber 16, 1867, a son of Dr. John M. and Anna (Clark) Woelfle. 

John M. Woelfle was born in Germany, in 1831, and received his 
education in the schools of his native land. Deciding upon a medical 
career early in life, he studied medicine until entering the German 
army, in which he served five years, and in 1848, or thereabouts, came 
to the United States and located at Buffalo, New York. There he 
was engaged in an official capacity until 1859, when he came West 
to Alton, Illinois, and when the Civil war broke out he enlisted in the 
Union army, rising to the rank of captain of Company B, First Mis- 
souri Light Artillery. During his four years of service he partici- 
pated in many important engagements, and was with General Sher- 
man on his famous "March to the Sea." The record he established 
during his military career was an excellent one, but it was equalled 
by his record as a private citizen and member of the medical profes- 
sion. He began to practice in 1867, at Jonesboro, but later removed 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 687 

to Anna, from whence he returned to Jonesboro, and there died in 
1882. He married Anna Clark, and they reared a family of six chil- 
dren, namely: Alpha, Omega, Francis Rodman, Minnie, James and 
Gertrude. 

Francis Rodman Woelfle was educated in the Anna public schools 
and at Centralia, Illinois, being sixteen years of age when he was 
graduated from the high school of the latter city. Entering the mill- 
ing business at Vienna, he began at the bottom of the ladder, and 
when he resigned his position in 1896 he had thoroughly mastered 
every detail of that trade. He then removed to Canton, Missouri, 
where he followed the same line on his own account until 1903, and 
in that year returned to Vienna and became identified with the Dro- 
vers State Bank as cashier and stockholder. He has farming inter- 
ests to the extent of one hundred and fifteen acres in Johnson county, 
and is the proprietor of a successful grain and elevator business at 
Belknap, Johnson county. Fraternally Mr. "Woelfle is connected with 
the A. F. & A. M. having attained to the Knight Templer degree, also 
with I. O. 0. F. lodge and encampment, and the Modern Woodmen of 
America. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

In 1889 Mr. Woelfle was married to Miss Carrie Kuykendall, 
daughter of J. B. Kuykendall, and they have had one son, Joseph 
Rodman, who is now a bright and interesting lad of eleven years. 
Mr. Woelfle started out in life empty-handed and may truly be caller 1 
a sef-made man, for he has labored earnestly and untiringly and the 
property he now enjoys is the reward of perseverance and good man- 
agement. He is ever ready to enter into any feasible undertaking 
that will benefit Vienna and is looked upon as one of the city's repre- 
sentative public-spirited citizens. 

GEORGE K. CRICHTON. Among the youth and vigor of the bar of 
Williamson county one who is rapidly gaining prestige as an able 
trial lawyer and well fortified counselor is George K. Crichton, whose 
name forms the caption for this review. Mr. Crichton represents his 
profession in the city of Herrin, among whose numerous industries 
he partially grew up and in which community he has passed from 
the sphere of one who toils to the sphere of one who stands ready to 
plead the cause of him who seeks the courts to adjust a difference or 
to right a wrong. 

Geo. K. Crichton is a native son of Illinois. He was born at 
Staunton, May 16, 1887, and is a son of Lawson Crichton, a mine 
manager in the employ of the Chicago & Carterville Coal Company 
at Herrin. Lawson Crichton was born at Kilmarnock, Scotland, in 
the year 1855. His father was a miner in Scotland and as a youth 
Mr. Crichton himself became interested in the mining of coal. He 
immigrated to the United States and first located at Litchfield, Illinois, 
where he was engaged in mining enterprises for a period of years, at 
the expiration of which he removed to Staunton. Remaining for 
some years in the latter place, he removed thence to Taylorville. He 
familiarized himself with every phase of his calling and, as time 
passed, prepared himself for the position of mine manager. On the 
1st of October, 1906, he came to Herrin, where he entered upon his 
duties with the Chicago & Carterville Coal Company. Lawson 
Crichton was married in his native' land to Miss Jane Kilpatrick and 
concerning their children the following brief data are here incor- 
porated, Lawson R. is a druggist in Denver, Colorado; Cecilia is 



688 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

the wife of B. B. Bulpitt, of Taylorville, Illinois; Isabella remains at 
home, as does also Geo. K., the immediate subject of this review. 

To the excellent public schools of Taylorville, Illinois, Geo. K. 
Crichton is indebted for his preliminary educational training, and 
there he prepared himself for college. At the age of nineteen years 
he was matriculated as a student in Washington University, at St. 
Louis, and was graduated in that excellent institution as a member 
of the class of 1909, duly receiving his degree as Bachelor of Laws. 
He passed the bar examination for the state of Illinois at Chicago on 
the 23d of June of the same year and now has admission to practice 
m all the state and federal courts. While passing his vacations dur- 
ing his university career Mr. Crichton was employed in some capacity 
or other in the mines at Herrin. In addition to receiving a compensa- 
tion for his employment he also secured first hand information about 
the life of a man who digs coal. He thoroughly acquainted himself 
with the actual relations existing between miner and operator ana 
the responsibilities of each. In an industrial field like Williamson 
county an accurate knowledge of mining is an indispensable aid to a 
lawyer in cases involving action for damages or in defending a cor- 
poration from the unjust assaults of injured employes. In 1910 Mr. 
Crichton was appointed master-in-chancery of the city court of Herrin 
and he is serving with the utmost efficiency in that office at the pres- 
ent time, in 1911. On the 18th of April, 1911, he was honored by his 
fellow citizens with election to the office of city attorney of Herrin, 
a position for which he is eminently well fitted. Although young in 
the profession, Mr. Crichton is proving himself one of the most indus- 
trious and capable lawyers in Williamson county. He is a stalwart 
Republican in his political proclivities and his first vote was cast, in 
1908, for President Taft. In fraternal connections he is a valued and 
appreciative member of the grand old Masonic order, with which his 
father is likewise affiliated, and he also holds membership in the 
Improved Order of Red Men and the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks. In religious matters he attends and gives his support to the 
Presbyterian church, in whose faith he was reared. He is a young 
attorney whose future is full of promise and as a citizen his loyalty 
and public spirit are of the most insistent order. He is unmarried. 

JOSEPH BALLARD REED. The late Joseph B. Reed was the pioneer in 
the industrial field of Cairo. His life here spanned a period of nearly 
half a century, and his foresight in coming into this field opened the 
door of opportunity to himself and developed an industry which con- 
tributed materially to the growth of this city. He led a life of activ- 
ity and the things that he achieved weighed heavily in marking the 
career of the successful man. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, March 
16, 1831, he was a grandson of Thaddeus Reed, born August 25, 1755, 
who was a member of Captain Parker's company in 1775, which 
served in the morning and in the afternoon of the memorable 19th of 
April, 1775, at Cambridge in May, and on the day of the battle of 
Bunker Hill in June. Joseph Reed's father was Thaddeus Reed, a 
Bay state man, born October 1, 1794. and who died at Lowell in 1837. 
Thaddeus Reed, Jr., was twice married, his first wife leaving him a 
son, Henry Stillman Reed, who was the founder of the Bank of Com- 
merce of St. Louis, now the National Bank of Commerce, and was a 
leading financier of the city. Catherine Dow became the second wife 
of Thaddeus Reed, and she died at Boston, Massachusetts, as Mrs. 
Ballard, her second husband having been a well-known journalist 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 689 

and publisher. Three children were born to Mr. Reed by his second 
marriage : Charles, who lost his life along with so many others during 
the fatalities so common to the trip overland to California during the 
early 'fifties; Joseph Ballard; and Miss Phoebe Ann, who died in 
Boston, Massachusetts, in 1911, and is buried in the old cemetery in 
Lexington. 

Joseph Ballard Reed was brought up in Lexington, Massachusetts, 
acquired a fair education, and learned the trade of machinist at Law- 
rence. During the early years of his majority he started West, mak- 
ing his first journey down into Maryland and stopping at Cumber- 
land, where he passed two years as superintendent of a machine 
shop. In 1856 he came on West to St. Louis, and soon became pro- 
prietor of the Laclede Foundry and Machine Shops, and subsequently 
associated himself with a Mr. Mann and engaged in business at the 
foot of Carr Street, on the levee. He built the first tug-boat ever used 
on the Mississippi river in 1861 in that shop, which experiment nearly 
worked a financial disaster with him. He sold it to Jo Gartside at a 
great sacrifice before its usefulness as a tender of heavy vessels be- 
came established, and eventually Mr. Gartside turned it over to the 
Government at a fancy price. This pioneer tugboat was eighty-five 
feet long, with fifteen-foot beam, had a depth of hold of six and one- 
half feet, and was propelled by a six-foot wheel. However, financial 
failure in building the first tug served as a boomerang for Mr. Reed, 
in that it established a demand from the United States for other tugs, 
and he was employed to build them. A small fleet of such craft was 
constructed during General Fremont's regime as commander-in-chicf 
of this department. At the suggestion of the Government, Mr. Reed 
established a branch factory at Cairo in 1863, for the specific purpose 
of doing the repair work on the Federal craft, and his plant turned 
out other work for private parties. Several boats were built at St. 
Louis for the Wiggins Ferry Company, two were built and launched 
for Jo Gartside, and two were also built for Captain Sam Brown, of 
Pittsburg, and were used in the Memphis and New Orleans harbors 
for towing coal barges. A mention of these few contracts serves 
to show that Reed & Mann were important factors in this line of in- 
dustry in the Mississippi Valley, and while engaged as a builder of 
vessels the firm also did an extensive business in mill and boat sup- 
plies, and in this way Mr. Reed drifted into the wholesale hardware 
business in 1868. 

As a citizen, Joseph B. Reed was absorbed in his business. His 
varied enterprises assumed such extensive proportions as to demand 
his personal supervision until the shadows of evening began to fall 
upon his life, and his wholesale house was not less important to the 
firm than the rest. His foundry extended its field to the manufacture 
of mill supplies and machinery for the equipment of machine shops, 
powerful lathes, drills, planes and punches, and the lathe manufac- 
tured there has superseded that of other firms wherever it has been 
tested. So interesting had this vast business become and so secure 
had its foundation been laid that it was with much regret that Mr. 
Reed laid down the reins with which he had driven it so long when 
the infirmities of age came upon him. 

Mr. Reed married Miss Helen Stickney, a daughter of Captain 
Stickney, a seaman of Beverly, Massachusetts, who was engaged in 
the domestic trade, and she still survives her husband. The children 
born to them are as follows : Joseph, who lives in Cairo ; Helen, who 
married a Mr. Knesche, of Wheeling, West Virginia; Frank Stickney, 



890 HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

who succeeded his father as head of the Joseph B. Eeed enterprise; 
and Miss Alice. Mr. Reed, Sr., was a man of religious training and 
practice, was a member of the Presbyterian church, and was an elder 
of the congregation in Cairo for many years. 

Frank Stickney Reed was born in Cairo, Illinois, August 8, 1869. 
He was educated liberally in the public schools and was put to learn- 
ing the trade of machinist in his father's shop, worked as a journey- 
man for several years, and was eventually given a commission to rep- 
resent the firm as a traveling salesman, remaining on the road until 
1907, when he took the active management of the business. The 
wholesale house serves territory in the states of Illinois, Missouri and 
Arkansas, and keeps three men in the field as its contribution to the 
order of "Knights of the Grip." The capacity of the factories is 
sufficient for the employment of a small army of men, and the whole 
enterprise brings to Cairo a realization of its position .among the 
effective industries of the city. 

Frank S. Reed was married in Carlinville, Illinois, December 23, 
1890, to Miss Eva Battise, daughter of James Battise, and two chil- 
dren have been born to this union : Russell Stickney, a sophomore in 
the agricultural department of the Illinois University, with pomol- 
ogy as his specialty in view of taking up fruit culture in Washington ; 
and Frank Ballard, a schoolboy in the grades. In their political be- 
lief the Reeds are Republicans. Frank S. is a Knight of Pythias and 
belongs to the orders of Hoo-Hoos and Elks. 

JOHN G. HARDY. A prominent figure in connection with financial 
and other business activities of Southern Illinois and a citizen whose 
influence has been cast in support of progressive measures along both 
civic and material lines, John G. Hardy is known as one of the repre- 
sentative citizens of Murphysboro, the judicial center of Jackson 
county, and has done much to foster its progress and prosperity. He 
is president of the City National Bank, one of the solid and popular 
financial institutions of this section of the state and one of which spe- 
cific mention is made on other pages of this work, so that further 
data concerning the same are not demanded in the present article. 

John G. Hardy was born in Vienna, Johnson county, Illinois, on 
the 16th of April, 1859, and is a son of William B. and Malinda (Wil- 
lis) Hardy, natives of Kentucky. William B. Hardy established his 
home in Johnson county, Illinois, in the pioneer days and became one 
of the prosperous farmers of this state, where he was known as a 
man of ability and sterling integrity and where he gained independ- 
ence and definite prosperity through his well directed efforts. Both 
he and his wife passed the closing years of their lives in Jackson 
county, and passed to eternal rest secure in the high regard of all 
who knew them. Both were zealous members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. South, and in politics the father gave his support to the 
cause of the Democratic party. Of the four children two sons and one 
daughter are now living. 

He whose name initiates this review has been a resident of Jack- 
son county from his childhood days and here he was reared under the 
sturdy discipline of the farm, in whose work he early began to lend 
his aid. He was afforded the advantages of the public schools and 
the Southern Illinois Normal University, at Carbondale. He forth- 
with put his scholastic attainments to practical test and utilization and 
for four years was engaged in teaching in the district schools. He 
proved successful and popular as an exponent of the pedagogic pro- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 691 

fession, but soon sought other fields of endeavor. In 1884 he was 
appointed deputy county clerk of Jackson county, and he continued 
to be identified with this important department of the county govern- 
ment until 1892, when, upon the organization of the same, he assumed 
the position of cashier of the City National Bank, in the organizing 
of which, as successor of the Bank of Murphysboro, he had been in- 
strumental. In this position Mr. Hardy proved a most discriminating 
and able executive, and the estimate placed upon his services was 
shown by his election to. the office of president of the institution, on 
the 1st of May, 1899. As chief executive he has followed the same 
progressive and duly conservative policies which he had furthered dur- 
ing his services as cashier, and the upbuilding of the large and sub- 
stantial business of this bank has been in large measure due to his 
efforts. He is a thorough and careful business man and his personal 
popularity, which is of unequivocal order, has its basis in the inflexi- 
ble integrity of purpose manifested by him in all the relations of life 
and to his kindly and considerate attitude in his association with his 
fellow men. He is a man of broad views and well fortified opinions, 
is essentially loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, and takes a vital 
interest in all that touches the welfare of his home city and county. 

In addition to giving scrupulous attention to the affairs of the bank 
Mr. Hardy .has given his influence and capitalistic support to various 
other enterprises of important order. He is treasurer of the Mur- 
physboro Telephone Company and also of the Ohio and Mississippi 
Valley Telephone Company ; is secretary and treasurer of the Mur- 
physboro Electric Railway, Heat, Light & Power Company; and is a 
director of the Jackson County Building & Loan Association, besides 
which he is the owner of much valuable real estate in Jackson county. 
In politics Mr. Hardy accords staunch allegiance to the Democratic 
party, but he has not had ambition to enter the turbulent stream of 
so-called practical politics. Aside from his service in the office of 
county clerk his only active association with public office has been as 
a member of the Murphysboro board of education, of which he was 
a director for a long period and at one time president, his interest in 
educational affairs being of most earnest order. Both he and his wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, in their home 
city and are zealous in the various departments of its work. He has 
served for a number of years as a member of its official board and is 
still in tenure of this position. Mr. Hardy is affiliated with the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, in which he is a member of the local lodge and chap- 
ter; is prominently identified with the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, of which he is a past grand and which he has represented 
in the Grand Lodge of the state, besides which he holds membership 
in the adjunct organization, the Daughters of Rebekah. In the time- 
honored Masonic fraternity he is identified also with the Order of 
the Eastern Star, and as a member of the Knights of Pythias he also 
holds membership in the woman's auxiliary of the same. 

On the 6th of January, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Hardy to Miss Neal, who was born at Murphysboro. Illinois, and who 
is a daughter of the late Henry B. Neal, an honored resident of Mur- 
physboro at the time of his death. Concerning the children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Hardy the following brief record is entered in conclusion of 
this review: Ruth is the wife of Harry C. Wilson, of Jonesboro, 
Union county ; Nell remains at the parental home ; John G., Jr., is a stu- 
dent in High school; Carl N. and Robert H. are attending the public 
schools of their home city; and Mary E. and Esther both remain at 



692 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

home. The family is prominent and popular in connection with the 
social affairs of the community and the pleasant home is known for 
its gracious hospitality. 

HIRAM H. BURRIS. As a physician and surgeon of considerable and 
even unusual ability, Dr. Hiram H. Burris has achieved prominence in 
the state of Illinois. His fame is not alone confined to the town of 
Dongola where he has made his headquarters since 1898, but he has be- 
come widely known to the medical fraternity throughout the state. 

Born September 20, 1866, in Vienna, Illinois, he is the son of Dr. 
Thomas R. Burris and Malvina (Mulkey) Burris. The father was born 
and reared to manhood in Kentucky, and he was the son of Hiram 
Howard Burris. Dr. Thomas R. Burris practiced medicine in Vienna 
through the best years of his life. He was a veteran of the Civil war, 
having served as a commissary clerk under General McPherson, and 
he died in 1889, after a life of service devoted to his fellowmen. His 
wife, Malvina Mulkey, was a daughter of Dr. Mulkey, and she passed 
away in 1872. Dr. Burris contracted a second marriage, his second 
wife being Mary Scott, of Johnson county. Five children were born 
of his first marriage : Franklin J., Oscar E., Cleon G., Amanda M., 
deceased, and Hiram H. Of his second union, seven children were 
born. They were Stella N., Lucinda E., Thomas S., Mabel, and three 
others who are deceased. 

Hiram H. Burris received his early education in the common schools 
of Johnson county and in select schools of Vienna, under the tutelage 
of Professors Smith and Arnold. When he was seventeen years of age 
he began teaching, and he taught three terms in Illinois and Missouri. 
At the age of twenty he took up the study of medicine under his father, 
and in 1886 he attended the Chicago College of Medicine & Surgery, 
graduating therefrom in the spring of 1889. He was valedictorian of 
his class, and furthermore, received complimentary mention because of 
the fact that he passed his final examinations with the highest standings 
of any student of the college in twenty years. He immediately took up 
the practice of his profession in Vienna, where he conducted a success- 
ful practice for ten years. In 1899 he located in Dongola, and there 
he has found a wide field for his professional labors. His territory 
covers a radius of ten miles, and he has been called a distance of twenty- 
five miles. In 1909 he was appointed surgeon for the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company and elected to the chair of Railway and Emergency 
Surgery at the Chicago College of Medicine, now a part of the Federal 
University, Chicago, filling that position until September, 1911. Dur- 
ing the years of his connection with the Chicago College of Medicine he 
delivered sixteen lectures each term, going to and from his home in 
Dongola to Chicago. Dr. Burris is a member of the Illinois State and 
American Medical Associations, and the Illinois Central Association of 
Railroad Surgeons. In 1889 Dr. Burris was honored by being awarded 
an honorary diploma from the Physio-Medical Institute held in Chi- 
cago in that year. He is a member of the Odd Fellows of Dongola and 
of the Knights of Pythias of Ullin. He has served Dongola as a mem- 
ber of the school board for a number of years, and is deeply interested 
in all matters of an educational nature. His support may always be 
depended upon in any movement tending to improve the civic welfare in 
any way. He is a communicant of the Baptist church. 

Dr. Burris has been twice married. On December 4, 1889, he mar- 
ried Julia A. Bridges, daughter of John S. Bridges, a prominent citi- 
zen of Vienna and for years a justice of the peace. She died in July, 
1891, leaving two children, Nellie Lee and Hiram Ward. The former 




U 7 






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OF THE 

... ,..,.., 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 693 

is now the wife of John Goodman of Dongola, and they have two chil- 
dren: Julia Opal and Joseph Shelby. In 1902 Dr. Burris married 
Laura B. Quenneville of Dongola, a daughter of Louis Quenneville, and 
of French-Canadian descent. They are the parents of one child, Bea- 
trice L. 

NEWTON J. BENSON, M. D. Having by long practice and wide ex- 
perience gained knowledge and skill in his professional career, New- 
ton J. Benson, M. D., of Goreville, occupies a position of note among 
the more successful physicians of Johnson county, while as a druggist 
he has established a substantial business and is closely associated 
with the advancement of the mercantile interests of this part of the 
state. He was born March 6, 1848, in Gallatin county, Illinois, on the 
farm of his father, James M. Benson. 

His paternal grandfather, Charles R. Benson, was born in Virginia, 
a son of Babel Benson, who migrated with his family to Kentucky iu 
the early part of the nineteenth century. In 1821 Charles R. Benson 
came to Illinois, settling in Saugamon county when the country round 
about was in its virgin wilduess. On account of the prevalence of 
malaria and other sickness, he soon returned to Kentucky, and was a 
resident of Logan county until 1831. He then started for Sangamon 
county, Illinois, with his family, but stopped en route in Gallatin 
county, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land from 
the Government. Clearing a space in the midst of the deep, wild 
woods, he erected a log cabin, and there resided until his death, which 
was caused, in 1848, from exposure incurred while on a hunting ex- 
pedition. 

James M. Benson was born February 6, 1822, in Sangamon county, 
Illinois, near the present site of the city of Springfield. He spent a 
few years of his childhood in Logan county, Kentucky, afterwards 
living on the home farm in Gallatin county until 1851. Moving then 
to Bloomfield township, Jackson county, he purchased two hundred 
and forty-eight acres of wild land, and on the farm which he im- 
proved lived and labored many years, it being the estate now owned 
and occupied by James S. Benson. In September, 1861, he enlisted in 
Company K, Sixtieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under command of 
Captain William C. Goddard and Colonel Toler, being commissioned 
first lieutenant of his company. On November 30, 1862, on account 
of serious illness, he was honorably discharged from the service. 
While in the army he took part in several skirmishes. He was at 
Island No. 10, in the Mississippi, from there going with his comrades 
to Pittsburg Landing, thence to Corinth, Mississippi, and from there 
marched to Tuscumbia, Alabama, thence to Nashville, Tennessee, 
traveling on foot all the \vay and there being discharged. In 1907, 
having by dint of industry and wise management accumulated a com- 
petency, he disposed of his farm, and having given each of his heirs 
five hundred dollars retained the remainder of his wealth and took 
up his residence in Goreville. 

On April 10, 1845, James M. Benson was united in marriage with 
Selinda Slack, a daughter of William and Mary (Finney) Slack, 
natives, respectively, of Kentucky and Virginia. She died April 17, 
1900. Four children were born of their union, namely: Newton J., 
the subject of this brief sketch ; Maggie A. : A. G. ; and James. Mag- 
gie A. became the wife of a Mr. Carson and to them two children 
were born, as follows: Mrs. Maud Whittenberg, who died in early 
womanhood, leaving one child, George W. Whittenberg; and Cora, 



694 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

who married a Mr. Nave, and at her death left one child Ellen Nave. 
A. G. Benson married and has seven children, namely: Mrs. Eva 
Kuykendall, who has two children; John, who is married and has two 
children ; Mrs. Mary Hudgens, who has one child, Earl Hudgens ; 
Arthur, the oldest son; Robert; and Charles and Frank, twins. James 
Benson is married and has two children, Eugene and Daniel. 

Growing to manhood on the parental homestead, Newton J. Ben- 
son began teaching school when eighteen years old, and five years 
later, with the money which he had saved from his scant earnings, he 
bought a farm of forty acres. From 1866 until 1874 he taught school, 
farmed and studied medicine. In 1873 he sold his land, and with the 
proceeds entered Rush Medical College, in Chicago, where he studied 
faithfully for eighteen months. In the spring of 1875 he was grad- 
uated from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, with the degree of 
M. D. Beginning the practice of his profession in Johnson county, 
Illinois, Dr. Benson was associated for three years with Dr. "W. A. 
Looney, of Vienna, and the ensuing three years was there in partner- 
ship with Dr. George Barton. For nearly a quarter of a century 
longer the Doctor continued his residence in Vienna, where he built 
up a good practice, and where, from 1896 until 1907 he was secretary 
of the County Pension Board. In 1907 he opened a drug store at 
Nashville, Illinois, and conducted it a year, when, in 1908, he came to 
Goreville, where he is carrying on a profitable business as a druggist 
and has a large practice as a physician. He has accumulated a fail- 
share of this world's wealth, owing a farm of twenty-five acres near 
Goreville, and having in addition valuable residential and business 
property. 

Dr. Benson is a member of the Southern Illinois, the Johnson 
County, the Illinois State, and the American Medical Societies. He 
is a man of good executive and professional ability, and from 1890 
until 1894 served as assistant superintendent of the Anna Hospital 
for the Insane. Fraternally he is a member of Vienna Lodge, No. 150, 
Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, at Vienna ; and of Geth- 
semane Metropolis Commandery, No. 41, Knights Templars, of Me- 
tropolis. Religiously he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. 

On April 22, 1879, Dr. Benson was united in marriage with Mrs. 
Emma F. (Beal) Cole, a daughter of Stephen and Eliza Beal. who 
migrated from Pennsylvania, their native state, to Southern Illinois 
in 1857 when she was a child of three years. Her first husband, L. 
"W. Cole, left her a widow with one child, Mrs. Margaret A. Keithley, 
whose husband is connected with the Wheeling Canning Company, at 
Wheeling, West Virginia. Mrs. Benson is an active and prominent 
worker in the Order of the Eastern Star, being a member of the Grand 
Chapter of Illinois, and having served as a delegate from Vienna to 
the State conferences. 

GEORGE T. HILEMAN. In these modern days of large combines, the 
fruit growers have found mutual protection and benefits in organiza- 
tion, and all over the country these associations have been formed, many 
of the dealers finding that by electing men of wide and varied experience 
to represent them in official positions they can get better results than 
if they depended upon their own individual efforts. The Anna Fruit 
Growers' Association, of Union county, Illinois, one of the strongest of 
these organizations in Southern Illinois, has been in existence for about 
twenty years, and its growth and development has been largely due to 
the strenuous and efficient labors of its able secretary and manager, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 695 

George T. Hileman. Mr. Hileman was born in Union county, Illinois, 
in 1861, a member of one of the oldest families of this section, his grand- 
parents, Christian and Nancy (Davis) Hileman, having come to Illinois 
from North Carolina as early as the year 1818. His father, Jacob Hile- 
man, was born in Union county in 1825, followed farming all of his 
life and died in June, 1909, and his mother, who bore the maiden name 
of Tina Sifford, was born here in 1827 and died in 1892. 

The early education of George T. Hileman was secured in the dis- 
trict schools in the vicinity of his father's farm, and he later spent two 
years in the Anna public schools. When still a youth he secured a 
teacher's license, and for seven years he was engaged in school teach- 
ing in the country schools, and while thus engaged received instruction 
at the Southern Illinois Normal University, at Carbondale, during the 
summer term of 1882. After he had given up teaching, Mr. Hileman 
accepted a position with a Chicago commission house to solicit fruit 
throughout this section, and continued to be associated with that con- 
cern from 1882 until 1892, in April of which latter year he became 
manager and treasurer of the Anna Fruit Growers' Association. This 
organization now has a membership of sixty, and Mr. Hileman has 
shipped as many as thirteen cars of berries in one day, and twenty-six 
cars of garden truck for the association, the average number of cars 
yearly being around the 500 mark. He has given of his best efforts 
in behalf of the interests of the society's members, and from a strug- 
gling, poorly-organized bunch of farmers it has grown to be a force to 
be recognized in its field. Mr. Hileman is possessed of much executive 
ability, and this added to his wide experience has made him one of the 
most able men in this line of endeavor. He is the owner of a tract of 
thirty-two acres, situated near the city of Anna, two acres being de- 
voted to pie plant, eight acres to asparagus, eight acres to apples and 
the remainder to truck. He has been successful in his farming opera- 
tions, having made a deep study into soil conditions and scientific 
methods. 

In 1888 Mr. Hileman was united in marriage with Miss Hattie 
Bynum, of Saline county, and they are well and favorably known in 
the work of the Presbyterian church. He is a Democrat in his political 
views, and has served Anna as city clerk for one term, but he has been 
too busily engaged in business activities to give much of his time to 
political work. He formerly was a member of the Odd Fellows, but 
has severed his connections with that society in recent years. 

BENJAMIN F. BEAYPIELD, M. D. For the past nineteen years Ben- 
jamin F. Brayfield, M. D., has been engaged in the practice of medicine 
and surgery at Christopher, Illinois, and during this time has firmly 
established himself in the confidence and esteem of the people of his 
community, and gained an enviable position in the ranks of his pro- 
fession. A close student, skilled practitioner and steady-handed sur- 
geon, his success in many cases of a complicated nature has stamped him 
as one of the ablest men of his calling in Franklin county, and on 
numerous occasions he has demonstrated his worth as a citizen. Dr. 
Brayfield was born May 16, 1861, in Franklin county, and is- a son of 
James M. and Olivia (Hammond) Brayfield. 

Walter Brayfield, the grandfather of Dr. Brayfield, was born in the 
state of West Virginia, from whence he moved to Tennessee, and after 
four or five years there came on to Illinois, and here died on a farm in 
1854. His son, James M. Brayfield, was born in Tennessee, and was 
taken to Jacksonville, Illinois, when he was nine years of age. His edu- 
cation was secured in the schools of Jefferson county, and he was reared 



696 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

to agricultural pursuits, successfully following that vocation through- 
out life. At the time of his death, in 1906, he had served as justice of 
the peace for thirty-four years, both in Franklin and Jefferson coun- 
ties, and was recognized as one of the leading and influential men of his 
community. When he first moved to Franklin county he was elected 
county commissioner, on the Democratic ticket, and later served for a 
number of years as county supervisor, and his work was recognized and 
appreciated by his party in Southern Illinois. Mr. Brayfield married 
Olivia Hammond, who was born in Kentucky, daughter of Samuel Ham- 
mond, who brought his family to Franklin county at an early date, be- 
came a successful farmer for his day, and died in 1852. Mrs. Brayfield 
died in 1877, having been the mother of five children, all of whom 
survive. 

After completing the course of study in the public schools Benjamin 
F. Brayfield attended Ewing College for three years with the intention 
of becoming a lawyer, and for a short time devoted himself to studying 
for that profession. Subsequently, however, he decided his talents could 
find a wider field for development in the practice of medicine and sur- 
gery, and in 1890 he was graduated from Washington University, St. 
Louis. Two years later he completed the course at the Kentucky School 
of Medicine, and after spending one year at Duquoin, Illinois, moved to 
Christopher, where he has since engaged in practice. Some years after 
coming here he took a post-graduate course in surgery. 

Dr. Brayfield was married in 1884, to Miss Irena Cochran, daughter 
of Henry Cochran, an early settler and successful farmer of Jefferson 
county, and she died in 1888, leaving one son, Theodore, who is a book- 
keeper with a large firm of Denver, Colorado. In 1892 Dr. Brayfield 
married Beulah Royal, daughter of the Rev. Joseph B. Royal, of the 
Christian church in northern Illinois, and she died in 1909, there hav- 
ing been two children born to this union: L. A. and Helen, both re- 
siding in Christopher. Mrs. Brayfield was a member of the Christian 
church. The Doctor is a prominent Mason, being for two years worship- 
ful master of Goode Lodge, No. 744, at Valier, and belongs also to the 
Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows, while his profession connects 
him with the American, State and County Medical Societies. Politically 
he is a Democrat, but the duties of his calling have occupied his time to 
such an extent that he has not found an opportunity to actively enter 
public life. 

JOHN BELL HUDGENS. An active and highly esteemed citizen of 
Goreville, Johnson county, John Bell Hudgens has been cashier of the 
First National Bank for five or more years, a position for which by 
reason of his financial ability and business acumen he is amply qualified. 
A son of the late Zachariah Hudgens, he was born April 26, 1861, near 
Marion, Williamson county, on the home farm, which occupied the 
present site of the town of Hudgens. 

Zachariah Hudgens was born in Tennessee, but was reared in South- 
ern Illinois. In 1855, with his father, John, he settled in Williamson 
county, where during the Civil war, he enlisted in Company E, One 
Hundred and Twenty-eighth Illinois Vohinteer Infantry, in which he 
served for a year, taking part in many important engagements. Re- 
turning home when discharged from the army, he continued to live on 
the farm and was a merchant until his death, in 1902, being then killed 
by a locomotive in Marion. He married Mary J. Cooksey, who was born 
in Tennessee, and died in Williamson county, Illinois, of typhoid fever, 
in 1888. Fourteen children were born of their union, as follows : John 
Bell, with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned ; Robert L. ; Hiram A. ; 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 697 

Joshua ; Zachariah ; Herman ; Egbert ; Hugh ; Lee ; Arthur ; Emma Ran- 
dal, widow of Dr. Theodore Hudson, whose son, Dr. Zachariah Hudson, 
is the only surviving heir of the Hudson estate; Mary E., wife of E. 
Mclnturff ; Mrs. Nancy P. Nelson ; and Alice, wife of T. A. Bradley, of 
whom a brief personal account is given on another page of this work. 

Acquiring his early education in the district schools, John Bell 
Hudgens also obtained a thorough knowledge of the art and science of 
agriculture on the home farm, on which he remained, a valuable assist- 
ant, until twenty-four years of age. Locating then at Pulley Mills, he 
embarked in mercantile pursuits, and there, in 1893, in company with 
his father, purchased the flouring mill, and was prosperously engaged 
in milling and as a merchant for six years. Disposing of his mercantile 
business in 1899, Mr. Hudgens transferred his residence and his mill to 
Goreville, and devoted his energies to his milling operations until Decem- 
ber 31, 1906. Being elected cashier of the First National Bank of Gore- 
ville, he assumed the position in January, 1907, and is filling the office 
to the eminent satisfaction of all connected with the institution, and to 
its patrons. 

Mr. Hudgens has been twice married. He married first, in 1883, 
Anna S. L. Mclnturff, a daughter of Adam and Mary Mclnturff. She 
was called to the higher life, in 1893, but ten short years after her mar- 
riage, and at her death left three children, Earl, Guy and Mary Ruby. 
Mr. Hudgens married for his second wife, in 1895, Bertie Fly, daughter 
of Dr. J. J. Fly, of whom a brief sketch may also be found in this 
biographical volume, and into their pleasant home five children have 
been born, namely: Arba Fly, Val, Wilhelma J; Emma Maxcine and 
John Jackson. Fraternally Mr. Hudgens is a member of Fountain 
Lodge, No. 396, Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; of Goreville Lodge, 
No. 7936, Modern Woodmen of America, at Goreville, and also a member 
of Marion Lodge, No. 800, of the Order of Elks. 

JESSE J. FLY, M. D. Illustrating in his own life and works the 
power of energy and perseverance in accomplishing one's purpose, 
Jesse J. Fly, M. D., of Goreville, without adequate means at the start 
obtained a wide and thorough education, and for many years was one 
of the active physicians of Southern Illinois, and is still engaged in 
the practice of medicine to some extent, many of his old-time patrons 
still insisting upon his services. A son of Madison P. Fly, he was born 
in Wayne county, Illinois, November 7, 1846, of English stock. 

The Doctor's paternal grandfather, Jesse Fly, who fought under 
General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans during the war of 1812, 
was a son of John Fly, who, with two of his brothers, immigrated from 
England to the United States in early times and located in Tennessee. 
One of his brothers, who had previously served as a body guard in the 
army of King George the third, settled in one of the eastern states, while 
the other brother made a home in a western frontier town. The great- 
grandfather, John Slover, was a guide in the Crawford expedition. He 
was captured by that same band of Indians at the age of eight and kept 
with the tribe until he was twelve years old. He was again captured 
in the Crawford expedition, was staked out and was to be burned the 
next day, but escaped during the night, working himself loose where 
he was tied. This expedition occurred in 1782. 

Born in Davidson county, Tennessee, in 1824, Madison P. Fly was 
brought to Illinois by his parents in 1826, and grew to manhood on a 
farm in Wayne county. In 1848 he moved with his family to William- 
son county, and in 1854 there purchased a farm lying on the Jackson 
county boundary line, and was there employed in tilling the soil until 



698 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

his death. During the progress of the Civil war, he enlisted, in the 
spring of 1863, in Company E, Eighty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
and served six months, when, on account of ill health, he was honorably 
discharged and returned to his farm. He married Sarah Asa, who sur- 
vived him ten years, passing away in 1900. Eight children were 
born of their union, as follows: Mary J., who died in infancy; Jesse 
J., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Elmira Kilken; Sarah, who died at 
the age of twenty-three years ; Mrs. Almarinda Bane, of Carbondale ; 
Mrs. Laura Miller; Mrs. Vinnie Hudgins; and James, who is engaged 
in farming at Marion. 

Spending his boyhood days on the home farm, Jesse J. Fly acquired 
a substantial education in the district schools. In the spring of 1864 he 
enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regiment Volun- 
teer Infantry, and served one hundred days as per enlistment. He then 
returned home and at the age of nineteen years began his career as a 
teacher. Two years later, a young man without means, and with no 
other resources than those endowed him by nature, he took unto him- 
self a helpmeet, and during the ensuing five years he taught school 
winters and farmed during seed time and harvest. In the meantime 
he studied medicine, and in 1870 went to Cincinnati to further pursue 
his studies at the Miami Medical College. Beginning the practice of 
medicine in Williamson county, he continued there seven years, when, 
in 1878, he entered the Nashville Medical College, in Nashville, Ten- 
nessee, and was there graduated with the class of 1878. 

Returning home after receiving his diploma, Dr. Fly purchased a 
farm at Pulley Mills, Williamson county, and resumed his practice. 
Coming from there to Goreville in 1892, he has since won a good posi- 
tion among the successful physicians of this part of Johnson county, 
and is still engaged in the practice of his profession to some extent. 
The Doctor is a member of several medical organizations, including the 
Southern Illinois Medical Society ; the Illinois State Medical Society ; 
the Egyptian Medical Society; and the American Medical Association. 
Fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; to 
the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; to the Order of the 
Eastern Star; and to the Grand Army of the Republic. 

Dr. Fly married, in 1867, Emmaranda Mclntosh, a daughter of 
Elijah Mclntosh, one of the first men to serve as county clerk in Wil- 
liamson county, and his wife, Nancy (Bankston) Mclntosh. A large 
family of children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Fly, namely : Nettie ; 
Carrie, Martha Ann ; Bertha ; Ethel ; Myrtle and Willie, who died in 
infancy ; Eva, Ralph Emerson ; Afton ; and William, also who died in 
infancy. Dr. and Mrs. Fly have twelve grandchildren. Although not a 
theologist, the Doctor is a man of religious faith and belief, being an in- 
dividual and original thinker along the lines of thought expressed by 
Elbert Hubbard, and is a writer of philosophical treatises. He is 
not identified with any religious denomination, and professes no formu- 
lated creed, having faith in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of 
man, and, with his high regard for purity and mortality, is a believer 
in salvation by character. 

FRANK SEGEL SMITH, M. D. Among the able physicians of John- 
son county, Illinois, whose lives are devoted to the benevolent work of 
alleviating the sufferings of humanity, none stands more prominent than 
Frank Segel Smith, M. D., the pioneer physician and surgeon of the 
Cypress neighborhood, and a member of an old and honored Johnson 
county family which has been well known here for nearly a century. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 699 

Dr. Smith was born October 24, 1866, on a farm in West Vienna, Illi- 
nois, and is a son of Millington S. and Mary (Davis) Smith. 

William Smith, the grandfather of Dr. Smith, was born in Ten- 
nessee, and settled on a farm in Johnson county in 1820 or earlier. He 
reared a large family, and two of his sons, John E. and Barney S., 
served in the Union army during the Civil war. Millington S. Smith 
was born on the homestead farm in Johnson county in 1827, and was 
first married to Miss Mary Davis, who died in 1870, leaving four chil- 
dren, namely : Professor W. Y., graduate of the Southern Illinois Nor- 
mal University, and now a well-known educator of Delhi, Ohio; Mrs. 
Viola Brown, who died in 1900; Millington J., now residing in Texas; 
and Dr. Frank Segel. Millington S. Smith married for his second wife 
Rebecca J. Ring, and to this union there were also born four children, as 
follows: Charles H., a railroad engineer; Walter A., also a railroad en- 
gineer, running out of Carbondale, Illinois; Paul, who resides in 
Marion, Illinois; and Pearl, twin of Paul, who lives in Harrisburg. 

Frank Segal Smith received his preliminary educational training in 
the public schools in the vicinity of the home farm, later entering the 
Southern Illinois State Normal University, at Carbondale, from which 
he was graduated in the fall of 1884. At that time he began teaching, 
and continued to follow that profession in Illinois and Missouri for 
eight years, in the meantime pursuing his medical studies assiduously. 
In June, 1892, Dr. Smith entered the Kentucky School of Medicine, at 
Louisville, Kentucky, and after graduating therefrom with the degree 
of M. D. began the practice of his profession in the country three miles 
northwest of Cypress. In 1899 he went to Buncombe, Illinois, where 
he continued to practice until 1906, and in that year returned to 
Cypress, and now has a practice covering a five-mile radius. Possessed 
of a fine medical library, he is a close student, continually reading up 
in his profession, and since commencing practice has taken a number 
of medical journals and magazines, thus keeping thoroughly in pace with 
the times, and is well posted on all new discoveries and methods in 
medicine and surgery. Deeply sympathetic by nature, and possessed 
of the broadest gauge of humanity, Dr. Smith has surrounded himself 
with many sincere friends, by whom he is worthily esteemed and re- 
spected. He is examiner for eight insurance companies and surgeon 
for the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad, and belongs to the Amer- 
ican Railway Surgeons Association and the Johnson County Medical 
Society. Fraternally he belongs to the A. F. & A. M. ; the M. W. of A., 
of which he has served twice as state delegate and once as national 
delegate; and the Illinois .Brotherhood, of which he was a delegate to 
the national convention held at Denver, Colorado, in 1911. He comes 
of a deeply religious family, and is a consistent member of the Baptist 
church at Cypress. 

On October 10, 1889, Dr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss 
Arrah M. Shaddrick, daughter of Linnfield and Julia (Hawk) Shad- 
drick, the former of whom still survives, while the latter passed away in 
1880. Four children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Smith, of whom 
two survive : Mary Hazel, who is seventeen years old ; and Gladys Afton, 
fourteen years of age. 

Gus H. BRIDGES. One of the substantial business men of Vienna 
who has been prominently identified with the city's commercial interests 
for many years is Mr. Gus H. Bridges, who is connected with one of the 
leading financial institutions here, the Drovers State Bank, in the 
capacity of assistant cashier. 

Mr. Bridges is a member of the fourth generation of his family to 



700 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

have been residents of Johnson county, his great-grandfather having 
been one of the earliest pioneer settlers in this section, coming to South- 
ern Illinois from North Carolina. One of his sons, Alfred, who was 
born in North Carolina and was brought with the family to Illinois, 
was the grandfather of the present representative of the family, Gus 
H. Bridges. 

Gus H. Bridges was born July 14, 1859. in Vienna, the son of James 
J. and Elizabeth E. (Gibbs) Bridges. His father was born on a farm 
near Vienna in 1830 but after the death of the mother of the family, 
when James J. was an infant, removal was made to town and he subse- 
quently made his home with his uncle, Colonel Bridges. James 
worked in a Vienna store until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he 
enlisted in the army and entered service under arms for his country 
as second lieutenant of Company D, Thirty-first Regiment of Illinois 
Infantry. After several months campaign with that company Mr. 
Bridges returned home and organized Company I, One Hundred and 
Twentieth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and went into the 
field at the head of that company, serving as its commander. The 
company took active part in several important campaigns and battles, 
among them being the engagements at Port Donelson, Shiloh and Gun- 
town, Mississippi. Mr. Bridges later became a provost guard at Mem- 
phis and after long years of patriotic and honorable service was 
mustered out of the army in 1865. Upon returning home to take up 
the pursuits of peace he decided to engage in mercantile endeavors and 
continued to be so employed throughout the remainer of his life, his 
death occurring in 1880. 

On the maternal side of his family Gus H. Bridges comes of illus- 
trious pioneer stock. His mother, Elizabeth E. Gibbs, was born and 
reared in Southern Illinois, and was the daughter of Dr. Worthington 
J. Gibbs, the first practicing physician to locate at Vienna and one of the 
first in Southern Illinois. Dr. Gibbs was a native of Virginia and a 
graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Philadelphia. 
When migrating to Illinois he in company with several other families 
journeyed by way of the Ohio river on a flat boat from Wheeling, Vir- 
ginia, landing without mishap in due course of time at Metropolis, Illi- 
nois. After his marriage to Sebrina Renfraw'he located at Vienna, where 
he built a house on the site now occupied by the Vienna Public Library 
building. His practice extended over a wide territory and the neces- 
sities of the pioneer times compelled him to make many of his journeys 
on horseback over trails, penetrating the country as far distant as 
Jonesboro. He was a great figure in his day, well known and greatly 
beloved, and his death in 1858 removed from the field of action in this 
world one of the most interesting men of this section of the state. His 
family consisted of four children. Dr. J. A. Gibbs, now of Alexandria 
county ; W. J. Gibbs, deceased, who was prosecuting attorney of John- 
son county for many years; Mrs. Maria Benson; and Mrs. Bridges, the 
mother of our subject. 

Gus H. Bridges was an only child, and after completing his educa- 
tion in the public school of Vienna, at the age of seventeen years, he 
became a clerk in his father's store. Later he was given a partnership 
in the business and co-operated with his father in its conduct until the 
death of the latter in 1880. The son continued the business independ- 
ently for several years but subsequently disposed of the store in order 
to turn his attention to other matters. In 1897 he became connected 
with the Johnson County Bank, and two years later accepted the posi- 
tion of assistant cashier of the Drovers State Bank, the duties of which 
office he still discharges. In connection with his other activities he 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 701 

also transacts a large fire insurance business and has represented nine 
of the leading companies since 1904. 

This briefly covers a history of the commercial life of Mr. Bridges, 
embracing his private activities, but he has also been a public official of 
prominence during a considerable portion of the past years. For eight 
years he proved his just title to the reputation of a man of marked 
financial ability and unimpeachable personal integrity by acting as city 
treasurer of Vienna for eight years, and he has also filled the office of 
treasurer of Vienna township since 1901. He is a man of broad inter- 
ests and takes an active part in social and religious affairs of the com- 
munity. The Congregational church numbers him as among its most 
liberal and influential members. In fraternal circles he is held in high 
esteem, holding membership in the A. F. & A. M., belonging both to the 
Blue Lodge and the Chapter, and in the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. In every department of life which holds his attention he 
manifests enthusiasm and to whatever he puts his mind and hand ap- 
plies intelligence and energy that compel success. He has a large circle 
of friends and acquaintances and is highly esteemed by all. 

. The marriage of Mr. Bridges and Miss Zora Wise, a daughter of 
John Wise, of Johnson county, occurred on October 20, 1880. Two 
children blessed this union, James J., who lives in Vienna, and Charles 
A., who is a tonsorial artist and also resides in this city. 

DANIEL, E. KELLY, a retired builder and contractor of Cairo, Illi- 
nois, is one of the many sons of Erin who have begun life with an ex- 
ceeding great handicap, but who, in spite of adverse circumstances that 
would have crushed and defeated less determined men, have advanced 
step by step in the activities of life until they have found themselves 
firmly established upon the topmost round of the ladder. 

Such a man is Daniel E. Kelly, and in the city of Cairo he is re- 
garded by all as a bright and shining example of the winning power 
of pluck, perseverance and diplomacy a combination hard indeed to 
beat wherever it is found, but which renders an Irishman well nigh in- 
vincible. 

Daniel Kelly was born in the village of Castletown, Bearhaven. 
county Cork, Ireland, May 11, 1835. His parents were in good circum- 
stances, and the death of his mother when he was a child of two years 
and the father passing away the following year left little Daniel in an 
orphaned state before he was old enough to realize the misfortune that 
had fallen to his lot. The father on his deathbed gave the child into 
the care and keeping of his maternal grandparents, who welcomed him 
gladly for his mother's sake. When they had done with life Daniel 
was passed on to the care of an uncle on his mother's side, with whom 
he remained until he reached the age of seventeen years. While with 
his uncle the lad had few enough advantages, their circumstances being 
such as to preclude any but the simplest privileges. He attended the 
parish school when he might and made himself generally useful about 
the family home at all times, until when he reached the age of seventeen 
years an uncle residing in New Haven, Connecticut, sent for the boy 
to come to him. Daniel was overjoyed at the prospect of getting away 
from the little seaport town where he had been mewed up for so long, 
as it seemed to him. and hailed with delight the idea of seeing America. 
He sailed from Liverpool on the steamer Jacoba Westervelt and was at 
sea from May llth to June 27th, a significant fact in view of the pres- 
ent day facilities for a speedy passage across the big pond and when 
he met his uncle in New York he had but a few stray shillings in his 
pocket, but such a store of good cheer and sturdy ambition in his gen- 



702 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

erous heart that life looked a very delightful thing indeed to him. His 
uncle, immediately recognizing the boy's lack of schooling, succeeded in 
keeping him in school for a year, when he found work in a woolen fac- 
tory. He worked there for a few months, until he had an opportunity 
to go with a carpenter as his apprentice. That idea appealed strongly 
to him, and he went to work with the carpenter, but before he had 
learned his trade the carpenter left the country, leaving Daniel upon 
his own resources. 

It was at this juncture that he left the home of his uncle, Cornelius 
'Sullivan, and went on a visit to another uncle in Easton, Pennsyl- 
vania, where his sister, Mrs. Patrick Moran, also resided. He found it 
pleasant to be with one of his own immediate family again, and he de- 
cided to seek whatever employment he might find there and remain in 
Easton, for a time at least. He found work assisting a mason in work 
on the bridge piers across the Delaware river. He went on to Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island, in the spring of that year to pay a visit to an aunt 
there, and incidentally to see a bit more of the Eastern country. His 
stay there, however, was short, owing to the fact that labor conditions 
were unsettled and unfavorable at the time, and he moved on to Havre 
de Grace, Maryland, where he again worked at the carpenter's trade for 
two years, by which time he had grown to be considered a very efficient 
workman, and a most dependable one. It was about this time that ill- 
ness seized him, and he went back to Easton, Pennsylvania, where he 
might be with his sister again. His health and strength renewed after 
a few months, he decided to make a start for the "West, and he got as 
far as Steubenville, Ohio, where he followed his trade until the year 
1857. Prom there he went on to Chicago, reaching the city on March 
4th, the day of the inauguration of President James A. Buchanan. In 
1859 he went to Bloomington, where he worked at his trade until the 
year 1863, and it was then he first came to Cairo, Illinois, the city which 
has known him from then until the present day. His first permanent 
employment in Cairo was in the capacity of a mechanic in the employ 
of the United States Government at the ship yards, where he served 
under Captain Pinick, chief in command at the port, and under the su- 
pervision of the well remembered Romeo Priganza, who was in charge 
of the construction work going on in the yards. Although not an en- 
listed man, he took the oath of allegiance, and remained in the employ 
of the Government throughout the war of 61-65. After the close of the 
war he was honorably dismissed from the service, and it was then he 
took up the business of building on his own responsibility. His first 
work of importance was the building of the home of Sheriff Morgan, 
which place is now the residence of Hon. W. B. Warner. Among many 
fine examples of the craftsman's art are, notably, the Buder Building at 
Eighth and Washington streets, the two Oehler houses on Washington 
street, the Howe residence on Walnut street and the colored school 
building on Thirty-fourth street, and many others, all of which serve 
to closely identify Mr. Kelly with the successful builders of the early 
construction period of the city, and establish him as an able exponent 
of the master builders craft. 

Mr. Kelly continued his activities in his chosen work until his sons 
reached man's estate, when they, with their father's help, successfully 
launched and conducted a planing mill business in Cairo. The Senior 
Kelly then retired from the contracting business, in which he had real- 
ized such splendid success, and entered the planing mill as superintend- 
ent of the factory and general adviser to his sons. There he remained 
until the advancing years made it necessary for him to suspend his ac- 
tivities, in part at least, and since his retirement he has lived quietly 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 703 

among his children, giving a part of his time to the conducting of his 
personal affairs, and enjoying a season of well earned rest. 

In the year 1862 Mr. Kelly married Miss Helen Kennedy, of Gales- 
burg, Illinois. She was a native of county Tipperary, Ireland, and in 
every way calculated to be a proper helpmeet for the husband of her 
choice. In 1906 Mrs. Kelly departed this life at the family home in 
Cairo. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly were the happy parents of four children: 
Edward, Daniel M., Mortimer F. and F. B., the three oldest sons com- 
prising the firm of Kelly Brothers Company of Cairo, and F. B. is now 
'a resident of Louisiana, engaged in the lumber business. 

Mr. Kelly is a staunch Republican and a protectionist always. In 
his capacity of a member of the city council of Cairo for years he served 
the city with enthusiasm and intelligence. Many of the improved con- 
ditions of the city may be traced directly to the untiring labors of 
Daniel E. Kelly while he served on the Board of Aldermen, and his am- 
bition to see Cairo one of the most modern cities in Southern Illinois 
has resulted in greater benefit to that city than any other one influence 
that might be named. His civic pride is one of his strongest inherent 
traits, and which, coupled with his willingness to serve, his generosity 
and marked executive ability, have combined to make him a factor in 
the upbuilding of the city of his adoption that cannot possibly be over- 
estimated. 

Although fast approaching the four score mark, Mr. Kelly still pre- 
sents the aspect of a man of middle age. A man of splendid bearing, 
hale and hearty, the spark of youth still flashing in his typical Irish eye, 
Mr. Kelly is a splendid example of the upright, honorable and alto- 
gether successful man of business. 

CHARLES E. INGRAHAM. In the early growth of a young city the de- 
velopment of its civic life useually rests with a small coterie of far sighted 
men, who are willing to sacrifice personal advantage for the sake of the 
good of their city. To such a group belongs Charles E. Ingraham. Al- 
ways standing for progress and the betterment of social conditions, he 
first had an opportunity to set forth his principles in the general field 
as editor of a newspaper, later in the political field as mayor of his city 
and lastly in the industrial field as manager of the Interurban Electric 
Company. Many of the mile stones of progress were set by this enter- 
prising man during his twelve years of citizenship in Herrin, and his 
influence is now always strongly felt in any forward movement. 

Mr. Ingraham has been reared from infancy in Illinois, but this 
state may not claim him save as an adopted son, since he was born in 
Parke county, Indiana. Soon after his birth, on the 3rd of January, 
1865, his father, Henry R. Ingraham, moved to Tuscola, Illinois, where 
he soon became an influential citizen. Mr. Ingraham was a native of 
the state in which his son was born, his father, Andrew W. Ingraham, 
having left the friendly fields of his birthplace in the "Old Dominion" 
to settle in Tippecanoe county when the land was young and the life 
that of a pioneer. A. W. Ingraham was a farmer who dug stumps, split 
rails and fought both the Indians and disease that ravaged the uncleared 
country. His mother was a member of the well known Warwick family, 
and his wife was Martha Rerick. He died in Vermilion county, In- 
diana, many years before the civil war which was to bring much suffer- 
ing to the two sons whom he left. 

Of these two, Washington Ingraham was a captain in one of the 
Illinois regiments during the war, and he was killed in action during 
the Atlanta campaign. The other son, father of the present head of the 
family, enlisted in Parke county, Indiana, and was honored by the first 



704 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

lieutenancy of his company. His regiment became a part of the famous 
corps of ' ' Pap Thomas ' ' and saw much hard service in the Army of the 
Cumberland. Unfortunately the whole regiment was captured by the 
Confederates and Lieutenant Ingraham, with the rest of his command, 
was sent to "Old Libby" at Richmond. Here, weakened by the disease 
and hunger that the Confederates, at the end of their resources, had no 
way to alleviate, he patiently endured the rigidity of the strict military 
discipline and the foulness of his surroundings. Before succumbing 
to the fate of so many of his fellow prisoners he was exchanged and 
again joined the ranks of the Blue, serving till the end of the war. 
Soon after its termination he moved to Illinois, becoming a neighbor of 
that interesting study in political psychology, Joe Cannon, who then 
lived at Tuscola. As a veteran who had made a brave record during the 
war and as a sturdy supporter of the Republican party, his popularity 
was soon universal, as was shown by his election, with scarcely no oppo- 
sition, to the office of county treasurer. The upright honesty with which 
for years he fulfilled the duties of this office caused the greatest satisfac- 
tion to be expressed by his fellow citizens when, upon the election of 
Mr. Cannon to Congress, he appointed his old neighbor postmaster of 
Tuscola, a post filled by him for a number of years. 

About the beginning of the Civil war, Henry R. Ingraham married 
Emily Isham, and they became the parents of five children : "William, 
of Clifford, Williamson county, Indiana ; Andrew W., of Indianapolis, 
Indiana; Charles E., of Herrin, Illinois; Laura, the wife of Prank 
Wheaton, of Seattle, Washington. The father died at the age of fifty- 
six, and the mother still resides in Tuscola, Illinois. 

The education of Charles E. Ingraham was received in the public 
schools of his home town of Tuscola, and when he started out in life for 
himself he turned to the soil for a living, his farm being near his old 
home. At the age of twenty, on the 19th of November. 1883, he was 
married in Tuscola to May Armstrong, the daughter of John W. Arm- 
strong. Six years later he moved to Southern Illinois, locating in Ma- 
kanda, where he engaged in the mercantile business. Seeing a chance 
for launching his real ambition and for the expression of those princi- 
ples through which he was later to become a force for good, Mr. Ingra- 
ham gave up his mercantile business and entered journalism in a modest 
way, establishing the Makanda News. With the birth of the new town 
of Herrin he decided to transfer his interests to that town and moved 
his paper and office, establishing the first paper of the town. The name 
of the paper remained The News but the name of Herrin took the place 
of Makanda. With the paper as a medium no opportunity was lost to 
advertise the merits of Herrin, so that with the growth of the town 
came the prosperity of the paper. In 1900 Mr. Ingraham, feeling that 
in spite of the population of the town consisting of only a thousand peo- 
ple the building of a light plant was not only feasible but would add 
greatly to the advantages of the town, joined the movement in a finan- 
cial way and gave his time to carrying the work through to its success- 
ful consummation in 1900. The paper which he had conducted as an 
independent weekly he sold to its present owner, Mr. Trovilian, and 
since the sale has devoted himself to the management of the electric 
business. 

While the absorbing interests and problems of a fast growing town 
held the attention of Mr. Ingraham. he clung to his father's politics and 
fought many battles under the standard of Republicanism, becoming 
known as a daring leader of that party in Williamson county. With 
greater leisure to study economic conditions and a closer contact, 
through his industrial work, with the men who work with their hands, 



..,.-.. 

OF IHE 
H3SVERSITY OF 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 705 

he espoused the cause of Socialism and is now as eager for the success 
of its policies as he once was for that of Republicanism. His altruistic 
tendencies were early shown during the formative period of Herrin, 
when he urged radical measures along the line of public improvements, 
especially in matters of education. He insisted upon a county high 
school and upon the building of modern school houses with well 
equipped laboratories and gymnasiums. But he was in advance of 
his time and it was not until Herrin was incorporated that he was able 
to make his voice heard. As the first mayor of the new town, he started 
at once on his campaign for better facilities for education and for other 
much needed aids toward the health and comfort of the public. The 
battle was not won at once, .but by slow degrees first his co-workers and 
then the citizens of the community saw the wisdom of his ideas, and 
now some of the things he desired have become a fact. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Ingraham are: Nellie, the wife of 
Allen Kilbreth, of Clifford, Williamson county; Nettie, now Mrs. John 
Kemp, of Herrin ; Edna, who is Mrs. Thomas Bowie, of Centralia, Illi- 
nois ; and Emily, the wife of Adolphus Bradshaw, of Herrin. Two chil- 
dren, William and Ruth, remain at home. 

A busy and successful business career, a happy family life, the 
respect of his acquaintances, the affection of his friends, what more 
could a man ask, but Mr. Ingraham, carrying the principles of the 
brotherhood of man in his heart, is still pressing forward in his search 
for more chances to help his fellow men. Truly the town is fortunate 
that counts him her citizen. 



REAL ESTATE pENppQ ROBERT EAGLE RENFRO. The rapid progress 

REAL ESTATE LOANS an( ^ development of Southern Illinois has 

AND INSURANCE made the real estate trade active and extensive 

CARBONDALE ILL ^ or many years, given the loan business great 

opportunities and kept the fire insurance com- 

panies in very active and profitable operation. These conditions have 
also furnished many men with business and employment, and been, as 
they always are, of great benefit and service to the region in which 
they have obtained. 

One of the most energetic, enterprising and successful men engaged 
in the triple business specified, in Carbondale is Robert E. Renfro, who 
has been occupied in these lines of endeavor since 1893, and in the 
course of his activity in them has been of great service in stimulating 
the growth and development of all Southern Illinois, throughout which 
his operations have been conducted in a manner very creditable and 
profitable to him and satisfactory to all with whom he has had dealings. 
Mr. Renfro was born in Elizabethtown, Hardin county, Illinois, on 
May 25, 1873, and is a son of the late John H. B. and Emeretta Leona 
(McClellan) Renfro, prominent citizens of that county, the story of 
whose lives is briefly told in this work. The father, as will be seen by 
reference to the sketch of him, was treasurer of Hardin county four 
years and county clerk there seventeen years. He was afterwards a law- 
yer and pension attorney until his death, in October, 1908. 

His son Robert E. began his education in the public schools and com- 
plete it at the Southern Illinois Normal university, from which he was 
graduated in 1893. After his graduation he began his career in busi- 
ness in the department of real estate, loans and fire insurance. He has 
found the business so congenial, and has made it so profitable, that he 
has continued his connection with it and steadily enlarged his opera- 
tions ever since. As has been stated, his dealings now extend all over 
Southern Illinois, and often involve transactions of considerable magni- 



706 . HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

tude. He is regarded as master of his line of endeavor, and no one 
questions the excellence or accuracy of his judgment in reference to the 
value of real estate or the future possibilities of any tract under im- 
provement. 

The public affairs of his city have also deeply interested Mr. Ren- 
fro, and made him an advocate of the highest moral tone attainable in 
the government of the city. On a recent occasion he was the candi- 
date of the anti-saloon party for mayor, but the hour was not ripe for 
the conditions he and that party advocated, and he was defeated at the 
election. This did not dampen his ardor for good government, however, 
and he has ever since kept up his demand for it and for every other 
form of improvement. 

The nature of his business makes him energetic and effective in pro- 
moting the extension and growth of the city and the development and 
betterment of every locality in which he operates. But this only quick- 
ens and intensifies a disposition that exists in his very character and 
make-up as a man and citizen. For he is in all things essentially and 
practically progressive by nature. In fraternal relations he has active 
membership in two of the benevolent societies so numerous among men, 
the Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. In political matters he 
is an unwavering Republican in national contests, but has never been 
desirous of a political office except the local one mentioned above, and 
this his friends induced him to seek for the good of the city. His re- 
ligious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work 
of which he is very active and energetic, being a member of the of- 
ficial board of the congregation which has the benefit of his serviceable 
membership. 

On Sept. 4, 1895, Mr. Renfro was joined in marriage with Miss 
Beulah Witt Storm, a daughter of Oliver P. and Emma H. (Haley) 
Storm, of Jonesboro, Illinois, where her father was a merchant at the 
time of his death, in 1888, and for many years prior to that. She and 
her husband have two children, their sons Donald McClelland and 
Robert Kennon, who are still bright links that bind the whole family 
into one of the most agreeable family circles in the city of their home, 
and help to make the household one of its most attractive and popular 
social resorts. 

JOHN H. B. RENFRO. A native of southern Tennessee, not far from 
the border line of Alabama, but becoming a resident of Illinois at an 
early age, years before the dense cloud of the Civil war shrouded our 
country in gloom, the late John H. B. Renfro, of Carbondale, where his 
life ended on the 26th of October, 1908, grew to manhood in an atmos- 
phere very different in its political character from that in which he was 
born. And when the destructive besom of sectional strife swept the 
land, leaving a trail of blood and ruin in its wake, he joined the forces 
gathered to save the Union from dismemberment, and fought valiantly 
for the flag under which his life began. In his military service he 
manfully exemplified the valor and resourcefulness of the citizen sol- 
diery of Illinois on one .side of the momentous conflict, as he would 
probably have exemplified the same qualities in the military spirit of his 
native state on the other if he had remained in the locality of his 
birth and been reared under the influence of its political teachings. 

Mr. Renfro came into being on January 2, 1842, in Lincoln county, 
Tennessee, and in his boyhood he came to Hardin county, Illinois, where 
he became established as a farm hand and later took up a tract of wild 
land which he transformed into a well improved and productive farm. 
His parents joined him here. He had obtained what education he was 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 707 

able to secure in the public schools. During his boyhood he had wit- 
nessed several public auctions of slaves, which he never thought right, 
and at the beginning of the war he enlisted in the Federal army, in 
Company C, Forty-eighth Volunteer Infantry, of which he was third 
sergeant. He took part in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson 
and the sanguinary battle of Shiloh. In the last named engagement he 
was wounded in the right lung and disabled for further service for a 
time, but after recovering his health he rejoined his regiment. He re- 
mained with it until August 27, 1864, when he fell from a wagon and 
broke one of his arms. This accident occurred in the neighborhood of 
Jonesboro, Georgia, and from there he returned to his Illinois home. 
His brother Phenix, who was a boy at home, while hunting got blood on 
his clothes, and being suspicioned of the ambushing and killing of two 
northern soldiers was sentenced to be shot. The crime, however, was 
committed by a neighbor, who came to Phenix Renfro and told him of 
the circumstances and asked him to get his brother, who was a northern 
soldier, to save him, but if he could not that he, himself, would come 
forward in time to save him. Our subject, however, saved his brother. 
J. H. B. Renfro was discharged from the service on March 25, 1865, and 
resumed his residence in Elizabethtown, Hardin county, this state. In 
the fall of the same year he was elected treasurer of the county, and was 
reelected in 1867. In 1869 he was elected county clerk, and this office 
he filled with great acceptability to the people of the county for a con- 
tinuous period of seventeen years. 

Mr. Renfro was first married on May 4, 1870, to Miss Emeretta 
Leone McClellan. They had two children, their sons Robert E. and C. 
Duncan Miller Renfro, both of whom are residents of Carbondale. 
Their mother died on November 9, 1892, and on April 29, 1894, the 
father contracted a second marriage, uniting himself with Miss Fannie 
J. Holden, of Carbondale, he having become a resident of this city in 
1888. They became the parents of five children, four of whom are 
living. They are: Harvey L., Anna Lois, Laura Jeannette. and Mar- 
garet Josephine. A son, named Samuel B., died a number of years ago. 

During his residence in Carbondale the father served two years as 
township clerk, two years as city attorney and four years as police mag- 
istrate and won general approval by the manner in which he discharged 
the duties of each of these positions. In fraternal life he was a Free- 
mason for a long time, and also belonged to the Grand Army of the Re- 
public. In the latter organization he was a past commander of John 
W. Lawrence Post, No. 297. Throughout his long service in public life, 
in the army and in civil offices he never shirked a duty or gave one 
slight attention. His citizenship was valued wherever he was known, 
and was worthy of the regard it won. 

THOMAS L. CHERRY. This enterprising business man, wide-awake 
promoter and universally esteemed citizen of Carbondale has resided 
in Southern Illinois twelve years, and in the city of his home at this 
date since 1901, having located here in December of that year to take 
a position in the employ of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 
He has impressed the people favorably from his advent in the city, for 
he has sterling qualities as a business man and as a citizen that wear 
and grow in value as the community becomes more familiar with them. 

Mr. Cherry is a native of Kentucky, born in Bowling Green, War- 
ren county, of that state, on April 19, 1876. His parents are R. H. 
and Elizabeth (Reeves) Cherry, still residents of Kentucky. They 
are fine representatives of its sturdy and elevated citizenship and ex- 



708 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

emplify in all the relations of life the best traits and characteristics 
of upright and estimable American manhood and womanhood. 

The father was a school teacher in the years of his late youth and 
early manhood, and for fifteen or twenty more was engaged in rail- 
road construction work. 

The son was educated in the public schools and at McKendreo 
College in Lebanon, Illinois, which he attended in 1895 and 1896. 
Subsequently he pursued a course of special training at the Bowling 
Green Business College of the Cherry Brothers in Bowling Green, 
Kentucky, his native town. 

In July, 1896, Mr. Cherry formed a partnership with C. E. Hamil- 
ton, under the firm name of Hamilton & Cherry, for the purpose of 
conducting a real estate and insurance business, and a little later 
the firm added an abstracting business, organized to cover the whole 
county of Jackson. The real estate and insurance partnership lasted 
until January, 1910, when Mr. Cherry bought Mr. Hamilton's interest 
in it, and has since carried it on alone. He also still owns a one-half 
interest in the abstract business. This is conducted by the Twin City 
Abstract Company, and he is the president and manager of the com- 
pany. 

The public affairs of his city and county have always deeply inter- 
ested Mr. Cherry and he has given them close, careful and helpful at- 
tention. He has served as alderman of Carbondale, and in many other 
ways has shown his abiding devotion to the welfare of the commu- 
nity. His public spirit impels him to earnest activity in behalf of 
every worthy enterprise for its betterment, and he is always counted 
on to be one of the most forceful agencies in promoting and bringing 
to a satisfactory conclusion any project that will add to the conven- 
iences and comfort of its population. 

On March 2, 1902, he' was married to Miss Alice S. Vanden, a 
daughter of Joseph and Minnie Vanden, prominent residents of St. 
Louis, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Cherry have four children, their sons 
Richard Vanden, George Thomas and Luther Allen, and their daugh- 
ter Alice Sarah. 

Of the fraternal societies so numerous among men, and which 
they find so helpful in their beneficial and so enjoyable in their social 
features, Mr. Cherry has joined but two, the Freemasons and the 
Knights of Pythias. His religious connection is with the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and in the congregation which has the benefit of 
his membership he is assistant superintendent of the Sunday-school. 
All the work of the church enlists his interest and has his active and 
effective aid. 

WILLIAM HENRY JOHNSTON. Although a resident of Johnson county 
for only two years, William Henry Johnston, of Bloomfield township, 
has spent his whole life in Southern Illinois, and has won recognition 
among the agriculturists here as a man who has brought the vocation 
of farming to a science. Years of experience have convinced him 
that scientific methods bring the best results, and the success that 
has attended his efforts is evidence of the justification of his belief. 
Mr. Johnston was born on a farm in Phillips township, White county, 
Illinois, December 7, 1851, and is a son of David and Matilda J. 
(Whiting) Johnston. 

James Johnston, the grandfather of William Henry, was born in 
Ireland, and immigrated to the United States as a young man, set- 
tling first in Pennsylvania, where he was an overland teamster from 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 709 

Pittsburg to Philadelphia for some years. In 1820, or thereabouts he 
became a pioneer settler of White county, and the rest of his life 
was spent in agricultural pursuits. David Johnston was born in 
White county in 1827, and was there married to Matilda J. Whiting, 
a native of Posey county, Indiana. They had nine children, four of 
whom are living: David W., John E., Mrs. Ada M. Wilson and Wil- 
liam Henry. Mr. and Mrs. David Johnston settled down in White 
county to carry on farming. When the Civil war broke out he en- 
listed in Company K, Eighty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, but after one year of faithful service contracted chronic 
rheumatism and was discharged on account of disability. He re- 
turned to his farm and after recovering to some extent again took up 
the peaceful vocation of tilling the soil, continuing as a farmer until 
his death, which occurred December 14, 1886. 

William Henry Johnston was educated in the common schools of 
White county, and until he was twenty-seven years of age resided on 
the old homestead. At that time he was married, and subsequently 
purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which he success- 
fully operated until April 10, 1909. He then moved to his present 
property in Bloomfield township, which comprises one hundred and 
twenty acres of excellent soil, and here he has carried on general 
farming. Mr. Johnston has always believed in crop rotation, and 
wherever he has been located has made a careful study of soil and 
climatic conditions. The operation of the latest power farm machin- 
ery and the hundred and one things that go to make scientific farming, 
and without which no agriculturist can attain his full measure of 
success, have always claimed his careful attention, and he keeps 
himself abreast of the new discoveries and inventions by subscription 
to the leading farm journals. His life has been a busy one, but he 
has found leisure to have his share of enjoyment, and is a popular 
member of the Tribe of Ben Hur, the Mystic Workers of the World 
and the Odd Fellows at Crossville. 

On April 24, 1879, Mr. Johnston was married to Mrs. Mary J. 
(Solomon) Mallett, who had one child by a former marriage, Mrs. 
Mary Cordelia Ramsey. Five children were born to this union : 
Chester Francis, who died in infancy ; and Lillie Myrtle, John Henry, 
Ida Belle and Sarah Jane. Lillie Myrtle married, January 1, 1908, 
Clyde R. Crowder, of Johnson county, and has two children : Flora, 
born October 15, 1908 ; and Bernice. born November 10, 1910. John 
H. was married August 5, 1908, to Miss Bertha Wall, of White county, 
and now resides in Johnson county. 

Mr. Johnston comes of good old Southern Illinois pioneer stock, 
and is a worthy representative of a family that has been identified 
with this section of the state for so many years. He has always 
proven himself a public-spirited citizen, and is at all times ready to 
lend his assistance to movements which he calculates will be of benefit 
to his community. His fellow-townsmen recognize his ability as an 
agriculturist, and his upright principles have surrounded him with a 
number of warm, personal friends. 

EDWARD E. WOODSIDE, M. D. The records of Southern Illinois show 
that the physicians of that locality are fully abreast of modern scien- 
tific progress and discovery and that the men belonging to this most 
important of all the learned professions rank with the foremost in the 
land. Edward E. Woodside, M. D.. who is well and favorably known 
throughout this part of the state, located in Johnston City for the 

Vol II 1 



710 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

practice of medicine upon the completion of his professional work 
in College. He is not a new man to Williamson county, for he was 
born near Creal Springs, February 4, 1876, and took his literary work 
in the schools of that town. His father, the Rev. William Wesley 
Woodside, is a merchant in Marion and also engaged in the work of 
the ministry of the Missionary Baptist church as supply pastor, but 
for a number of years was a minister with a regular charge. 

Rev. William Wesley Woodside was born in Johnson county, Illi- 
nois, in 1851, was a farmer's son, and was educated in the common 
schools. His father, Joseph P. Woodside, established the family 
name in Illinois, and was himself born in Tennessee, where his father, 
Peter Woodside, was a settler from Ireland. Joseph P. Woodside 
came to Illinois during the 'forties, and passed his life as a farmer 
in Johnson county. He married Dicy Snyder, who has attained the 
advanced age of ninety years, and is still living at Marion, Illinois. 
The children of this union were the Rev. William W. and Mrs. L. P. 
Yandell, of Marion. William Wesley Woodside engaged in profes- 
sional pursuits when a young man. He studied law at West Plains, 
Missouri, and was admitted to the bar there, but subsequently gave 
up the profession and returned to Illinois, where he engaged in public 
school work as a teacher of the district schools. When about thirty- 
five years of age he was converted, and soon thereafter he entered 
the ministry, carrying on religious work in this section of the state 
for a number of years, as above stated. In years gone by he was 
known as a factor in Democratic politics, having been chosen as a 
candidate for county office on several occasions. Rev. Woodside mar- 
ried Anna Kimmel, a daughter of Joseph Kimmel, a native of Ger- 
many and a tiller of the soil. The children born to this union were 
as follows : Dr. Edward E. ; Mrs. John Brooks, of White Ash, Illinois ; 
D. E., of Marion ; Elsie, who married Charles Jenkins, of Marion ; 
Mrs. Ray Chamness, of White Ash ; Mrs. Erne Moss, of Marion ; and 
Ray Ben and Don, still residing at the parental home. 

In preparation for a professional career Dr. Woodside attended 
the State University of Missouri, where he did much of the scientific 
work necessary for a medical course, and then entered Rush -Med- 
ical College, from which he was graduated in 1905. He came to 
Johnston City and entered at once upon his work as a physician, but 
has returned almost annually for professional work of a post-grad- 
uate nature in Chicago institutions. He is a member of the County 
Medical Society, of the Southern Illinois Medical Association, of the 
Illinois State Association and of the American Medical Association. 
As a citizen of Johnston City Dr. Woodside has done service as a 
member of the council, and acted in that capacity when the move- 
ment for extensive sidewalk improvement took form. His politics 
are those of the Democratic party, and he is at present president of 
the board of education. 

On September 16, 1901, Dr. Woodside was married in Columbia, 
Missouri, to Miss Anna Cummings, daughter of Jerry Cummings, 
who was once well known in Metropolis, Illinois. Fraternally Dr. 
Woodside is a Master Mason, and is also connected with the Knights 
of Pythias, the Elks, the Owls and the Tribe of Ben Hur. He is a 
Missionary Baptist in belief and practice. Alert of mind, capable in 
every respect, possessing the entire confidence of his patients and 
exercising a large degree of influence in public movements in his local- 
ity. Dr. Woodside is a forceful figure in the affairs of Johnston City, 
and is respected not only in his profession but by all with whom he 
has been associated in anv way. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 711 

LAWRENCE G. NEWTON, who belongs to the younger generation of 
business men of Southern Illinois, is proprietor of the Newton Jew- 
elry Company, of Vienna, a firm established twenty-eight years ago, 
which is widely and favorably known to the jewelry trade throughout 
this part of the country. Although still a young man, Mr. Newton 
has mastered every detail of the business with which he is connected, 
being an expert watchmaker, optician and engraver, and as a shrewd 
business man has won a place for himself among the leading men of 
this city. He was born in Vienna, December 24, 1889, and is a son 
of William N. and Anna (Harvick) Newton, and a grandson of James 
K. Newton. 

James K. Newton was born in Pope county. Illinois, October 25, 
1845, a son of Isaac and Phoebe (Murphy) Newton, natives of Rhea 
county, Tennessee, a grandson of Joseph Newton, of North Carolina, 
and great-grandson of John Newton, who, with his brother Isaac, 
came from England about the year 1700 settling in North Carolina, 
where they became large land holders and slave owners. When six- 
teen years of age Joseph Newton went into the American army as a 
substitute, fighting in the battle of the Cowpens and in the march of 
the Bloody Trail, his service during the Revolutionary war covering 
three months, although he belonged to the patriot army six years and 
nine months. He married Ann Stephens, of North Carolina, reared 
a large family, and died in Johnson county, Illinois, in 1842, at the 
age of eighty years, his wife passing away in 1847. James K. Newton 
was reared on a farm in Pope county, Illinois, and at the age of 
twenty years was married to Melissa C. Allmond, who died, leaving 
one son, William N. He was married (second) to Julietta Pulkersou, 
and they had two sons : Thomas J. and Miles G. Mrs. Newton died 
May 25, 1883. 

William N. Newton was born in Pope county, and as a young man 
established the present firm of the Newton Jewelry Company, of 
Vienna, with which he was connected until 1909, in that year remov- 
ing to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on account of failing health, and 
there established himself in the jewelry business, and he has since 
prospered and accumulated quite an estate. He married Miss Anna 
Harvick, and they have had two children : Lawrence G. and Eugene, 
the latter a photographer of Vienna. 

Lawrence G. Newton was educated in the Vienna public and high 
schools, and began learning the watchmaking and jeweler's trade in 
boyhood, since which time he has continually advanced himself in 
his chosen work. His establishment, in the conducting of which he 
succeeded his father in 1909, will compare favorably with any of the 
concerns in the large cities, being fitted with every known appliance 
and equipment of the trade, and having a large, varied and up-to-date 
stock. The engraving department is one of the principal features of 
this store, Mr. Newton himself being an expert engraver by hand, 
and a graduate of the Horological Institute of Chicago. He makes a 
specialty of optical and technical work, being a graduate of the 
Chicago Engraving School and the Detroit School of Optics, com- 
monly known as the Detroit Optical College. The business is system- 
atized to an exactness rarely excelled, and quality predominates in 
the twelve thousand dollar stock of watches and ornamental jewelry 
carried in the store. Mr. Newton enjoys a large trade, and it is his 
purpose to further extend the wholesale and commission end of his 
business, which already covers a wide territory. 

Mr. Newton is one of the new school of business men, being pro- 



712 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

gressive in all things, an adherent of modern methods and enterprising 
in all matters that he undertakes. He is active in movements having 
for their object the advancement of Vienna, and is alive to all topics 
of a public nature, although the extent of his business interests has 
prevented him from entering politics. He is a faithful member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and is fraternally connected with 
the Jr. 0. U. A. M. and the M. P. L., in both of which he is very pop- 
ular. 

Concerning the marriage of Mr. Newton the following excerpt is 
quoted from one of the local papers : 

"Within ten minutes after the New Year was ushered in, and im- 
mediately after the bells stopped ringing on Sunday night last at 
12 :10 a. m., at the Methodist parsonage in Vienna, Larry Newton and 
Miss Maudie Beals were made husband and wife, the Rev. Mr. Mc- 
Kown of the Methodist Episcopal church officiating. Mr. Newton is 
one of our home grown young men who stands high in the community, 
his whole life being known to us all. Successful in business, sober and 
industrious always, he has won lots of friends. Miss Beals, too, is 
well known to our people. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
William Beals, who have resided here aboiit five years. She, like her 
parents, is deservedly popular and entirely worthy the hand of any 
young man. Both pretty and intelligent, she will know how to create 
sunshine in their new home, and with their many friends and well 
wishers the News joins in extending them its best wishes for. a long 
and happy married life." 

LEROY G. KEITH. A man who is closely identified with the affairs 
of Union county and who has more than a material interest in the 
welfare of this section of the state is Leroy G. Keith. Born on the 
same farm where he now lives, of a father who also called Union county 
his birthplace, it has been Mr. Keith's aim to bring as much prosperity 
as possible to the land which holds him by such strong ties. Therefore 
he has warmly advocated and practised scientific farming in order that 
the land might be brought to the highest state of efficiency. 

Mr. Keith was born in Union county, on the fourth of August, 1879, 
his parents being John J. and Elizabeth (Rendleman) Keith. His 
grandfather, Samson R. Keith, had settled in Union county in 1820, 
having previously lived in Kentucky. John J. Keith, born in 1828, 
grew to manhood on the old Keith homestead. Starting out in life 
practically penniless, he became an orchardist, soon devoting the larger 
part of his time to growing the peaches for which this section of Illi- 
nois is well known. He was thus one of the pioneers of the orchard in- 
dustry. From this small beginning he gradually bought up the tracts 
adjoining his farm, until at the time of his death he had acquired seven 
hundred acres. This large property is now owned jointly by his sons 
Harry and Leroy. His wife, who was the daughter of John S. Rendle- 
man, one of the pioneer settlers of Union county, was born in 1841, and 
died in 1903. Of their four children the daughter Bertha is the wife 
of Roy Rinehart, a merchant of Anna, one of his sons, B. F., is a mer- 
chant of Alto Pass, and the other two sons are farmers. 

Leroy Keith received his early education in the schools of Union 
county, continuing his studies at the Anna Academy, from which he 
graduated in 1899. He then returned to the farm where he has since 
resided. Upon the death of his father he and his brother Harry took 
charge of the estate, selecting the farm as their share. Leroy received 
three hundred and thirty acres, to which he has since added the Joshua 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 713 

Lewis place of eighty acres, planted entirely in fruit trees. The larger 
part of his orchard consists of apple trees, covering about one hundred 
acres. From these trees he gathered in 1911 twenty-four hundred bar- 
rels of apples, selling them at an average price of two dollars and a 
half per barrel. Forty acres of his land is in Elberta peaches, princi- 
pally young trees, in spite of which he had two thousand crates of 
peaches in 1911. This year he also shipped two thousand, fifty pound 
packages of rhubarb from twenty acres, and three thousand crates of 
tomatoes. He has in his employ five men in winter, but in the summer 
eight men are needed to handle the work of the farm. These men are 
all gaining a valuable knowledge of the best kind of farming from Mr. 
Keith, who realizes that in this industry science is taking a leading part. 
He not only has the most modern farm machinery, up-to-date buildings 
and accommodations for the live stock, but his beautiful residence is 
equipped with steam heat and acetylene lights. The contrast between 
this luxurious life of the modern farmer and the life of his grandfather, 
tilling practically the same soil, is too striking to pass over without 
comment. 

Mr. Keith is much interested in fraternal organizations, believing 
that they are a great force for good and for advancing the cause of the 
brotherhood of man. He is a member of the Masonic order, affiliating 
with the Alto Pass Chapter. He is also a Modern Woodman of the 
World, as well as belonging to the order of the Eastern Star. His posi- 
tion as School Director is an example of the way in which he fulfills 
his duty toward his fellow citizens. 

On the 30th of November, 1902, the successful young farmer mar- 
ried Myrtle A. Cauble, the daughter of Willis Cauble, of Alto Pass. 
Three children were born to Mr. Keith and his wife, namely: Ethel, 
Gordon and Virginia. Mrs. Keith is a member of the Congregational 
church. 

Mr. Keith, being a man of sterling character, counting many of the* 
influential men of the community his friends and able to exert a wide 
influence for good, must be regarded as an example of that type of 
man which makes the modern student of society point to the farm when 
looking for the highest and best type of American manhood. 

JOHN C. DEWITT. Among the successful self-made men of Southern 
Illinois, probably no business citizen has been the architect of his own 
fortunes to a greater extent than John C. DeWitt, general manager 
of the Union/ Fruit Package Company, of Anna, and a man whose activi- 
ties in the discharge of public duty have reflected the greatest credit 
upon his administrative abilities. Mr. DeWitt was born on a farm 
three and one-half miles south of Anna, in Union county, Illinois, in 
1855, and is a son of Bennett M. and Elizabeth (Cruse) DeWitt, the 
former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Illinois. 

John C. DeWitt began life as a farmer boy, and his early education 
was secured in the district schools of Union county, but the greater 
part of his training was obtained in the school of hard work, as his 
father met his death while serving as a soldier in the Union army during 
the Civil war, at Jackson, Tennessee, and his mother passed away dur- 
ing the same year, 1863. Being thus orphaned at a tender age, young 
DeWitt went to work as a laborer in the timber business, accepting such 
employment as he could find and seizing every opportunity that pre- 
sented itself to better his condition. Of a thrifty and industrious 
nature, when he was twenty-three years of age he had accumulated 
enough capital to enter the merchandise business in Johnson county, 
and after six years there, requiring a wider field for his operations, he 



714 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

located in Anna, where he carried on the same line for twenty years 
and developed one of the leading establishments of its kind in this sec- 
tion, finally selling out to John W. Moore. In 1906 he entered the fruit 
package business as general manager of the Union Fruit Package Com- 
pany, in which he is also a large stockholder, and this company is now 
doing a business aggregating $16,000 per annum, and he is also inter- 
ested as a director in the First National Bank of Anna and the Anna 
Lumber Company. 

Mr. DeWitt first entered the political field in 1902, when he was 
elected county treasurer and collector, and served in those offices for 
four years, his first year being marked by the increase in the county's 
assessments of $200,000, while for the four years in which he was the 
incumbent of the collector's office the total increase was over $800,000. 
His excellent services in this capacity were appreciated by the people 
of his community, and when he became a candidate on the Democratic 
ticket for the office of alderman he was elected by a handsome majority 
and was returned to that office several times. He is president of the 
Southern Illinois Fair Association and a member of its executive com- 
mittee, and has identified himself with various public-spirited move- 
ments, to which he has given freely of his time and means. He is 
prominent and popular fraternally as a member of Blue Lodge No. 520 
and Royal Arch Chapter No. 45, of the Masonic order, and also belongs 
to the Odd Fellows. 

Mr. DeWitt was married to Miss Delia Shaddrick, who was born in 
Union county, in 1862, and they have been the parents of the follow- 
ing four children : Julia M., who died July 28, 1898, when nineteen 
years of age; Stella Mae, who died in infancy; Elsie E., who died 
August 31, 1905, at the age of twenty years; and Calla, who is fifteen 
years of age and resides at home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. De- 
Witt are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and have always 
been active in its work, Mrs. DeWitt being especially interested in the 
Sunday School, while Mr. DeWitt is a trustee of the church. Both 
are widely known in charitable work, and as the possessors of numerous 
friends and acquaintances in Anna are popular in Anna's social circles. 

ALBERT N. SAUER. The milling interests of Southern Illinois are 
naturally large, as this section of the state is a prosperous grain coun- 
try, and in this field a number of the prosperous business men of Jack- 
son county have expended their best efforts. Murphysboro is well rep- 
resented in this line by Albert N. Sauer, a business man of the younger 
generation, whose whole experience has been in this line, the Reliance 
Milling Company, of which he is the president, being one of the lead- 
ing business establishments of the city. Mr. Sauer was born at Evans- 
ville, Randolph county, Illinois, February 20, 1884, and is a son of 
William and Elizabeth (Grob) Sauer, one of the highly esteemed cou- 
ples of Randolph county. 

William Sauer was born in Randolph county, in 1845, and was 
reared on the farm of his father, who was an early settler of that sec- 
tion. At the age of twenty years he embarked in the milling business 
at Evansville, and there he has continued to follow the same line ever 
since. Mrs. Sauer was a daughter of George Grob, also a farmer and 
an early settler of Randolph county, and she and Mr. Sauer have five 
children : Barbara, who is the wife of the Rev. William Morton, of 
Quincy, Illinois ; and Henry, Albert, Edward and Anna. Mr. Sauer 
has been identified with Republican politics at Evansville. and both he 
and his wife are active in the work of the German Evangelical church. 

Albert N. Sauer 's early life was spent at Evansville, where he re- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 715 

ceived his early education in the public schools, later attending the 
Sparta High School, McKendree College and the Barnes Business Col- 
lege, at St. Louis. On completing his course at the latter institution he 
came to Murphysboro to engage in the milling business, in which he had 
gained experience as a youth in his father's mill, and at first acted as 
bookkeeper and assistant manager. He is now president of the Reliance 
Milling Company, in which his brother, Edward G. Sauer, is also in- 
terested, a plant with a capacity of six hundred barrels per day, which 
employs a force of twenty-five men. This mill has an extensive trade 
throughout this territory, and bears a high reputation in the business 
world. 

In 1905 Mr. Sauer was married to Miss May Thorpe, of Murphys- 
boro, daughter of the late Joshua Thorpe, and two children have been 
born to this union, namely: May Louise and William. Mr. Sauer has 
been known as an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party 
in Murphysboro, and for a time was a member of the city council. He 
belongs to the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and attends the German 
Evangelical' church, while Mrs. Sauer is a Presbyterian. Since locating 
in Murphysboro Mr. Sauer 's business interests have demanded a great 
deal of his attention, but he has always managed to find time to lend 
his aid to movements of a progressive nature, and he can be relied upon 
to support anything that promises the betterment of Murphysboro in 
any way. He is widely acquainted through this section of Southern 
Illinois, and his friendships are many. 

GEORGE W. JAMES. A most worthy representative of one of the 
pioneer families of Union county is Mr. George "W. James. "Well known 
and highly respected not only for his upright and honest business ca- 
reer, but for his fine personal qualities, his popularity has grown with 
each year of his long residence in his home county. 

George W. James, the oldest son of Wilson and Huldah (Abernathy) 
James, was born near Wolf Lake in Union county, on the 6th of October, 
1847. Wilson James was the son of George W. James, who migrated 
to Kentucky from Virginia when that state was sending so many of her 
best sons over the Blue Ridge into the Blue Grass country. Kentucky 
continued to be his residence until about 1820, when this sturdy fron- 
tiersman again moved, this time to Union county. He was one of that 
small number who first settled in this region, and should be remembered 
with gratitude by its present residents as one who helped to smooth 
the pathway. Wilson James was also a pioneer, in that he was one of 
the first to discover the great adaptability of the soil to the growth 
of fruits. In 1853 he moved from the Wolf Lake farm to the place 
where his son now lives. Upon this farm he spent the remained of 
his life, devoting his energies to farming and especially to the raising 
of fine apples. In June, 1866, he succumbed to the dread disease, small- 
pox, which was widely prevalent after the Civil war. He left a family 
of six children, all of whom are living. 

On the death of his father George W. James found himself with the 
responsibility of a family of young brothers and sisters. Facing the 
situation courageously, young as he was, he became the sole support 
of the family. The mother died on the 8th of April, 1862. Uncomplain- 
ingly he bore the burden, and with the help of his eldest sister and by 
means of hard work and shrewd management he cared for his sisters 
and brothers until they were grown or married. 

Having thus given so much of his life for others he deserves the 
success which has been his. His home farm, two and a half miles from 
Cobden, contains one hundred and forty-five acres, and in addition to 



716 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

this he owns several farms near Alto Pass, aggregating seven hundred 
acres. Mr. James, following in his father's steps, has made a specialty 
of apples, having planted twenty-five acres of his orchard farm in this 
fruit. He has the distinction of raising the earliest apple in this sec- 
tion, the Transparent Apple, by name. Constant study of conditions 
and attention to the details of apple growing enabled him, in 1911, to 
grow a crop of so fine a quality that the price per barrel for which he 
sold it was larger than that received by any other grower. He produced 
about seven thousand bushels, selling the whole for six thousand dol- 
lars. At one time he had forty acres of his farm planted in peaches, 
but now, with the exception of a lot of young trees just beginning to 
bear, he has only five acres of this fruit. In 1911 he received an excel- 
lent price for his crop of eight hundred bushels of Captain Edes and 
Elbertas. On one of his other farms, managed by his son, fifteen 
hundred bushels of rhubarb, amounting to twenty-five hundred pack- 
ages, were raised on twenty acres. Besides thee principal crops Mr. 
James believes in diversified farming and raises a great variety on his 
various farms. 

Fraternally Mr. James is affiliated with the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows of Alto Pass and has always been an active member of the 
organization. In his religious belief he is a staunch supporter of the 
doctrines of the Baptist church. 

In 1868 Mr. James was married to Mrs. Nancy (Condon) Morris. 
His wife is a daughter of James and Mary S. (Adams) Condon, both 
of whom were native Tennesseans. Mrs. James was born in Nashville, 
Tennessee, her family having moved to Union county in 1859. Mr. and 
Mrs. James have two children, George "W., who lives near his father, 
and Fontain E., who is living on a farm near Alto Pass. The older son 
married Ann Reese, the youngest daughter of Captain John Reese, al- 
so a native of Tennessee, and the younger son married Ava Asbury, 
the daughter of C. M. Asbury. 

Having had heavy responsibilities thrust upon him early in life, 
knowing what it meant to work early and late, enduring many priva- 
tions Mr. James' sympathy and kindliness toward all who need a help- 
ing hand have won him the affectionate regard of his fellowmen and 
he is fortunate in living to see the fruits of his labors returning to him 
tenfold. 

MRS. W. T. DWYER. The city of Vienna suffered the loss of one of 
its most valued and highly respected citizens when, on May 20, 1904, 
there passed into the land beyond Mr. William T. Dwyer. Mr. Dwyer, 
although a native of Ohio, where he was born January 19, 1856, lived 
the greater part of his life in Vienna, having been brought here by his 
parents, Dennis and Eliza (King) Dwyer, when he was but a young 
child. 

Dennis Dwyer came to Southern Illinois from Columbus, Ohio, in 
the early fifties and purchased a large piece of land, which included the 
site upon which Vienna is now built. His wife, Eliza King in maiden- 
hood, was born in Ireland, but came to Vienna before the village was 
of any consequence in size, and although now seventy-eight years of age 
her faculties are remarkably clear and she recalls many interesting events 
of the early pioneer days. She is at the present time residing with her 
daughter, Mrs. F. M. Pruett, at Harrisburg. 

William T. Dwyer for many years followed in his father's footsteps 
and was a successful agriculturist until the year 1899, when he decided 
to make a change and went into the livery business in Vienna. A1-- 
though he was a man of only average school education, he possessed 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 717 

more than average business ability and succeeded in accumulating much 
valuable property during his lifetime. Among his most valuable hold- 
ings were some rich coal lands near Harrisburg, and stock in the Drov- 
ers State Bank, with which financial institution he was connected from 
the time of its establishment until his death. Mr. Dwyer was through- 
out his life a devout member of St. Pauls Catholic church, a man of 
sterling character, liberal in his ideas and methods and possessed of 
many personal qualities that endeared him to all with whom he came 
in contact. His remains lie buried in the cemetery at New Burnside, 
Illinois. 

Mrs. Minnie Dwyer, widow of W. T. Dwyer, is now a leading resi- 
dent of Vienna. She was before her marriage Miss Minnie Kiley, the 
daughter of Timothy and Hannah (Cahille) Kiley, of Cairo, in which 
city Mrs. Dwyer was born and reared. Her father was a native of Ire- 
land, as was also her mother. Mr. Kiley was a miller by trade and 
when twenty years of age came to Cairo from his native land, to gain 
for himself opportunities for advancement which America so gener- 
ously affords her adopted .sons. His marriage to Hannah Cahille took 
place after his arrival at Cairo, where he engaged in the milling busi- 
ness. Besides Mrs. Dwyer, Mr. and Mrs. Kiley were the parents of 
one other child, M. J. Kiley, of Cairo. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Dwyer occurred in 1894 and to them 
were born five children. Williamette died in August, 1910, at the age 
of sixteen years. The others reside at home with their mother, John 
William being sixteen years of age, E. Kiley, fourteen years; Julia 
Dorothy, twelve years; and Bessie ten years old. 

Mrs. Dwyer is a woman of culture and superior intelligence and 
possesses executive ability to a marked degree. She is a member of the 
Vienna Library Board, and secretary of the Board of Education. She 
discharges the duties these positions entail in a most creditable man- 
ner and her advice is highly esteemed by her colleagues. Mrs. Dwyer is 
also an active club woman, is one of the most influential members of 
the Vienna Woman's Club and has held the office of president in that 
organization during 1909 and 1910. A leader in social and educational 
life, a woman of charm and pleasing personality, she leads a life of 
activity and usefulness and holds the respect and admiration of a 
legion 'of friends throughout the community. 

CHABLES H. CHASE, manager of the Jonesboro Store Company, of 
Jonesboro, Illinois, and a man whose whole business career has been 
spent in this city, is thoroughly experienced in his present line and is 
one of this section's self-made men. He was born in Jonesboro, Union 
county, in 1864, and is a son of Charles S. and Eleanor (Cruse) Chase, 
the former of whom was born in Herkimer county, New York, came to 
Jonesboro in 1859, and spent the remainder of his life at his trade, 
that of stone cutter, his death occurring in this city, where his wife 
spent her whole life. 

The education of Charles H. Chase was secured in the public schools, 
and as a youth he learned the trade of stone cutter with his father, fol- 
lowing that occupation for a period covering eleven or twelve years. 
At that time he decided to turn his attention to the mercantile busi- 
ness, and for some time was employed as a clerk in various stores in 
Jonesboro. In 1904 the Jonesboro Store Company, a firm dealing in 
groceries and notions, was organized, with a capital of $1,000, and Mr. 
Chase became manager and a stockholder. The business has had a 
steady growth, due in no small degree to Mr. Chase's energy, industry 



718 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

and progressive ideas, and now has an excellent trade and carries a 
complete line of staple and fancy groceries and an excellent stock of 
notions of all kinds. The life of Mr. Chase has been that of the average 
plain, unostentatious business man. He has been successful in the 
things that he has undertaken because he has given of his best efforts 
in their accomplishment and in all matters has had a scrupulous regard 
for his word. He enjoys the reputation of being a business man of 
great ability and the highest integrity, and is very popular with his 
business associates and all who know him. He is a Democrat in his 
political views, but his business affairs have kept him so busily en- 
gaged that he has never entered the political field, although he takes an 
active interest in matters pertaining to the welfare of his community. 
Fraternally, he is connected with the Court of Honor. 

Mr. Chase was married in 1890, to Miss Amy May Dougherty, an 
estimable young lady of Jonesboro, granddaughter of the late Lieut. 
Gov. John Dougherty. She is a consistent member of the Pres- 
byterian church at Anna, and is widely known in church and social 
circles. Mr. and Mrs. Chase have had one child who died in infancy. 

D. Esco WALKER. The rapid advance of the realty interests of 
Southern Illinois during the past decade has effected the organization 
of some of the largest land corporations in the history of the state, and 
has brought to the front men of vastly more than ordinary business 
talents, who have had the welfare of their community at heart and have 
bent every energy in the development of this section of the coun- 
try. Prominent among these public-spirited citizens may be mentioned 
D. Esco Walker, of Vienna, Illinois, president of the Egyptian Land 
and Loan Company and of the Johnson County Abstract Company, 
senior member of the leading fire insurance agency firm of Johnson 
county, Walker, Mills & Whitehead, and a man whose success in busi- 
ness may be said to have been achieved by his consummate business 
methods and sound principles. Mr. Walker was born August 30, 1883, 
on a farm five and one-half miles east of Vienna, and is a son of George 
W. and Mahalya (DePoyster) Walker. 

William Walker, the great-grandfather of D. Esco Walker, was a 
native of Virginia, of Scotch-Irish descent, who migrated to Tennessee, 
and during the 'fifties came to Johnson county, Illinois, where he filed 
government land and spent the remainder of his life in agricultural 
pursuits. His son, N. J. Walker, was born in Tennessee and came with 
the family to Johnson county, but some time later went to Texas, where 
he resided for three years, returning to Johnson county in 1862 in 
order to escape conscription in the Confederate service, the W T alkers be- 
ing Union sympathizers. Settling on a farm in Grantsburg township, 
he engaged in farming, and there resided until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1897. He married Rebecca Clay, and among their children 
was George W. Walker, who was born in Texas in 1859, and spent his 
life in farming, and at the time of his death, which occurred February 
14, 1908, he was the owner of one hundred and forty-eight and one-third 
acres. He was first married to Mahalya DePoyster, daughter of Thomas 
and Rebecca (Farless) DePoyster, who came from Tennessee at an early 
day and settled in Johnson county, Illinois, and to this union there 
were born two children: D. Esco and Mrs. Parmelia Clark, of Peoria, 
Illinois. Mr. Walker's first wife died in 1888, and in 1891 he was mar- 
ried to Martha Arabella Stout, of Johnson county, daughter of Park 
A. and Nancy Ellen (Stockdale) Stout, and three of the eight children 
born to this union are now living: Cove, Beulah and Beatrice. 
The Stout family came originally from Tennessee, migrated thence to 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 719 

Kentucky, and came to Illinois during the 'fifties. Mrs. Stout belonged 
to the Kentucky Stockdales. 

D. Esco Walker was educated in the district schools of his native 
township and in the Southern Illinois State Normal University at 
Carbondale, and began teaching school in 1901. He taught three years, 
his last being in the Vienna High School, and during 1904 and 1905 
served as assistant postmaster of Vienna. On January 1st of the latter 
year he became business manager and associate editor of the Vienna 
Times, also retaining his position of assistant postmaster until August 
1, 1906. On August 29th following, on account of poor health, he re- 
signed his position with the newspaper, and engaged in the Abstract, 
Real Estate, Insurance and Loan business, incorporating his abstract 
business March 10, 1911, under the corporate name of the Johnson 
County Abstract Company. This company possesses the only complete 
set of abstract books in Johnson county. In addition to being president 
of this concern, he serves in a like capacity with the Egyptian Land and 
Loan Company, a firm capitalized at fifty thousand dollars, of which 
C. "W. Mills is secretary and Noel Whitehead, treasurer, and is senior 
member of the firm of Walker, Mills & Whitehead, the heaviest fire 
insurance agency in Johnson county, representing ten companies. Mr. 
Walker finds time from his other duties to manage a farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres owned by the Egyptian Land and Loan Company, 
has owned and operated several other farms in Johnson county; owns 
one-fifth interest in the farm of one hundred and forty-eight and one- 
third acres left by his father, in addition to a dwelling and four city 
lots in Charleston, Coles county, Illinois, and a residence lot in Afruit- 
land, Texas, and is interested in Doyles Consolidated Mines Company, 
of Colorado. His politics are those of the Republican party, and fra- 
ternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, No. 651, Vienna, 
Romeo Lodge ; and American Council, No. 77, Jr. 0. U. A. M., of Vienna. 
He is a deeply religious man and is regularly ordained minister of the 
Missionary Baptist church. 

On December 25, 1906, Mr. Walker was married to Eva Simmons, 
of Johnson county, daughter of C. R. and Mahalya (Benson) Sim- 
mons. C. R. Simmons was a son of Wiley Simmons, who died in 
July, 1911, at the age of seventy-four years, the latter being the son 
of Wiley Simmons, Sr., who came to Johnson county from Tennessee 
during the early forties, entering land in Bloomfield township. Mr. 
and Mrs. Walker have three children: Frances Mahalya, who was 
born October 17, 1907; D. Esco, Jr., born September 12, 1909; and- 
Evalyn Majenta, born January 7, 1912. 

Throughout his entire business career Mr. Walker has associated 
himself only with those enterprises which proved themselves thor- 
oughly legitimate in every way, and his own business dealings have 
stamped him as a man of the highest integrity, on whose career there 
is not the slightest stain or blemish. He can look back over a career 
of usefulness to his community and his fellow citizens, and taking his 
past as a criterion the future holds much in store for him. 

IRA J. HUDSON. Give to a man the instincts and ability of a mer- 
chant by birth and he will sooner or later identify himself with that 
particular line of business, regardless of what his early training with 
reference to other pursuits may be. Many a man has made his mark 
in the field of merchandising, lacking the very desirable advantages 
of education and training. How much greater, then, is a man's 
chance for ultimate success in business when he is fortified with a 
liberal general education in addition to that great fundamental ne- 



720 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

cessity, natural ability. The career of Ira J. Hudson particularly em- 
phasizes this truth, as a glance at his record will amply confirm. 

Ira J. Hudson was born in Clinton, Kentucky, July 19, 1877, being 
the son of Henry J. Hudson, now a merchant in Mounds, Illinois, but 
born in Hickman county, Kentucky, near Clinton, in 1853. He was 
the son of another Henry Hudson, who became a resident of the Corn- 
cracker state in about 1835, coming there from Virginia and acquir- 
ing a tract of farm land near Clinton, for which he paid the nominal 
figure of two dollars and a half per acre. Henry Hudson, the Ken- 
tucky pioneer, had no brothers, but he had three sisters : they were 
Mrs. Morris Brown, of Hannibal, Missouri ; Mrs. Sichling, the wife of 
Dr. Sichling, of Ullin, Illinois; and Mrs. Maryon Woodard of Clin- 
ton, Kentucky. He was the husband of Amanda Spicer, who bore 
him six children, as follows : Mary J., who married J. Vaughan and 
spent her life near Clinton, Kentucky; Sarah E., who became the wife 
of H. H. Harmon, and also passed her life near Clinton; Mrs. T. F. 
Gwyn, of South Columbus, Kentucky; Henry J., of Mounds, Illinois; 
and Martha Ellen, the wife of J. V. Brady, of Chaffee, Missouri. The 
remainder of his life was passed in Hickman county, Kentucky, and 
there he died in 1900, having reached a venerable age. 

The early life of Henry J. Hudson was spent as a farmer in his 
native county. The usual common school advantages of a youth of 
that period were his, and on reaching years of manhood he married 
Miss Annette Lentz, a daughter of Paul Lentz, of German birth, and 
a settler of Hickman county from North Carolina. "When Henry J. 
Hudson came to Illinois in 1881 he continued his life as a farmer until 
the birth and early development of the railroad activities at Mounds, 
Illinois, when he went to that city and engaged in business in a mer- 
cantile way, conducting a grocery business of a particularly thriving 
nature for years under the firm name of H. J. Hudson and Son. In 
1909 he was succeeded in that business by his son, and he subse- 
quently opened a small confectionery establishment on the same 
street, where he is still conducting a lively and lucrative business. 
Henry J. Hudson is a Republican in his political convictions, and he 
comes from a family with pronounced Southern sympathies, which 
statement is considerably emphasized by the fact that two of his 
brothers-in-law served in the Confederate army. The issue of his 
marriage with Annette Lentz, previously mentioned, are Ira J., of 
Mounds, Illinois; Henry, cashier of the Cotton Belt freight office at. 
Cairo, Illinois ; Omer, in the service of the Illinois Central at Mounds ; 
Bertie, married to Van Pope, but now deceased; Otis, a doctor who 
took his medical degree some years ago and practiced for a time in the 
Southern Illinois Penitentiary at Chester, but is now located at 
Mounds ; and Paul and Ray, both in the employ of the Illinois Central 
at Mounds. 

Ira J. Hudson as a boy and youth was a regular attendant at the 
common schools in Ullin, Illinois. At the age of sixteen he was grad- 
uated from the Friendship School in Pulaski county, Illinois, and laetr 
spent two years at the Southern Illinois Normal at Carbondale. 
Following that he read law for a year in the law department of 
McKendree College at Lebanon, Illinois. He then engaged as a 
teacher, and he served in that capacity for several years in the coun- 
ties of Pulaski, Jackson and Alexander, in all of which places he held 
an admirable record for careful and efficient service. His last work 
as a teacher was performed in the year 1900, .when he became asso- 
ciated with his father in the mercantile business. In 1905 he took 
service with the Illinois Central and became night foreman at Mounds. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHEEN ILLINOIS 721 

a responsible position which he held for several years, severing his 
connection with that company in 1909, at which time he took over the 
business then being conducted under the name of H. J. Hudson and 
Son, and he has conducted that business successfully since that time, 
always improving, expanding, and in every way reaching out after 
trade, and generally demonstrating his inherent ability and capacity 
for successful merchandising. 

Mr. Hudson politically is a Republican, and has been more or less 
active in the affairs of his party for a number of years. He is now 
serving his fourth term as city clerk of Mounds, thereby showing him- 
self to be sufficiently public spirited to encumber himself with the 
cares of office in addition to the manifold responsibilities of every- 
day life. He is identified with a number of fraternal societies, in all 
of which he is prominent and active, among them being the order of 
Odd Fellows and the Modern "Woodmen of America. He is a past 
master in Masonry and has served as deputy grand master. In his 
church relations he is of the Methodist Episcopal faith. 

On June 13, 1901, Mr. Hudson was united in marriage with Miss 
Retta Gher, a daughter of Dr. G-her, of Makanda, and they are the 
parents of one child, Ira J., Jr. 

G. RILEY HUFFMAN. Although not a native of Illinois, this promi- 
nent merchant and influential and progressive citizen of Carbondale 
has been a resident of Jackson county ever since he reached the age 
of nineteen, a period of twenty-six years. He is therefore well ac- 
quainted and closely in touch with its people, and fully in sympathy 
with their public spirit and all their industrial, mercantile and com- 
mercial aspirations, as well as with the highest and best expression 
of their social life. 

Mr. Huffman is a native of Virginia, having been born in Wythe 
county, in the Old Dominion, on July 25, 1866. He is a son of Joseph 
D. and Sophia (Brown) Huffman, extensive planters in that county 
before the Civil war, and still engaged in tilling the soil there and 
giving an agreeable example of the rural life of that portion of the 
country. They were great sufferers from the waste and prostration 
of all business occasioned by the war, and during the boyhood and 
early youth of their son Riley its wounds, material and commercial 
as well as in the persons of its soldiers during the conflict, were still 
painfully Adsible. 

He worked with his father on the old plantation until he was nine- 
teen years of age and in the meantime attended the public school in 
the neighborhood of his home when he could be spared from labor. 
At the age mentioned he became dissatisfied with the prospects before 
him in a state so cruelly desolated by sectional strife, and determined 
to seek more favorable conditions in one of the newer and more pro- 
gressive commonwealths of the great and growing West, where the 
noise of enterprise was loud and every stroke of human energy 
brought immediate and gratifying returns. 

Accordingly he bade farewell to the scenes and associations of his 
boyhood, and came courageously to Jackson county, Illinois, expatri- 
ating himself from home and friends to make his bed with strangers 
and work out his destiny among them. He hired himself to a farmer 
in the county, and for a year or two worked as a farm hand during 
the busy seasons and attended school during the winter months. His 
pay was meager and his progress toward independence and conse- 
quence among men, the goal of his ambition, was slow. But he was 
frugal and prudent, and in time accumulated enough money to pay 



722 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

his way through a course at Dixon College in Dixon, Lee county, this 
state, which prepared him for usefulness more in accordance with 
his tastes and ardent aspirations. 

After leaving college he taught school four years in Jackson county, 
then clerked in a grocery store in Murphysboro for a time. He be- 
came enamored of the business and bought the store and good will of 
his employer, and this he conducted successfully and profitably for 
twelve years. At the end of that period he came to Carbondale and 
bought a grocery store, having disposed of the one he had in Murphys- 
boro. In 1904 he purchased a furniture and undertaking establish- 
ment and formed the Huffman Furniture Company, of which he is the 
president and general manager, and has been from the organization 
of the company. This company carries on an extensive and active 
trade in furniture and does funeral directing in the most scientific and 
artistic manner. It has a high reputation for the excellence of its out- 
put in the mercantile line, and is universally commended for the ele- 
vated character of its work in burying the dead. Mr. Huffman gives^ 
every detail of the business his vigilant personal supervision, and 
leaves nothing undone to secure the best results in every department 
and feature of it. He also owns farms in the county and supervises 
the cultivation of them. 

He was married on December 26, 1895, to Miss Maggie Will, of this 
county, a daughter of George and Arab (Bouscher) Will, who live on 
and cultivate one of the county's well improved and highly developed 
farms, which they have made it since they became its owners and took 
charge of its management. Mr. and Mrs. Huffman have six children, 
Bernice, Nyle, Otis, Ana, and their twin son and daughter, Paul and 
Pauline. All of them are living and members of the parental family 
circle. The parents are devoted and serviceable members of the Chris- 
tian church, and the father is one of the deacons of his congregation. 

Mr. Huffman has taken a decided and fruitful interest in the fra- 
ternal life of his community, working zealously for the good of his 
several lodges, and giving them the full benefit of his intelligence and 
enterprise. He is a Knight of Pythias, with the rank of past chancel- 
lor ; an Odd Fellow, with the rank of past grand ; a trustee of the local 
lodge of the Order of Elks, and a Modern Woodman of America. He 
has served as a member of the school board eight years, and was a mem- 
ber of the city council when the new form of municipal government 
was put in operation. 

ULYSSES E. SMITH. To be called upon to serve his fellow citizens 
in many public capacities, and to perform those duties in a manner 
to win universal acclaim, has been the experience of Ulysses E. Smith, 
present postmaster of Metropolis. For many years he has been con- 
spicuously connected with the official life of Massac county. De- 
scended from Revolutionary and patriotic stock, he is a member of 
one of the pioneer families of that county. Mr. Smith was born in 
Massac county, December 28, 1866, and was reared in the community 
of New Columbia, where his youthful activities were dictated by his 
farm environment. His father is the Rev. Green W. Smith, whose 
life has been devoted to religious work as a missionary Baptist 
preacher, to his vocation as a farmer and in a public capacity as an 
officer of Massac county. Rev. Smith was born in Massac county, in 
1846. Like Lincoln, his early education was won through his per- 
sonal efforts and attendance at such subscription schools as were 
maintained from time to time in the neighborhood where he resided. 
At the age of seventeen he enlisted in the United States navy and was 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 723 

assigned to a gunboat which operated on the Tennessee and Cumber- 
land rivers during the last year of the Civil war. He passed through 
the service without untoward incident, although he witnessed and par- 
ticipated in many stirring scenes, and returned to his old home to re- 
sume the peaceful occupation of farming. 

His insight into Bible themes made him a powerful preacher. In 
this respect he followed the example of his father, Rev. Americus 
Smith, a pioneer Baptist preacher. The latter was born in South 
Carolina, in 1812, and came to Illinois in 1818, the year that it was 
admitted to the Union. He died in September, 1892. His father was 
a son of a Revolutionary soldier, and he entered land in Massac county 
and acquired title from the Government, which farm is now the prop- 
erty of his son, Green W. Smith. His father is also buried in this 
county and is believed to be the only soldier of the Revolution whose 
remains hallow its soil. 

Americus Smith married a Miss Emerson, who died early in the 
Civil war period, and who was the mother of Green W. ; Susan, who 
married K. L. Presgrove and died in Johnson county, Illinois; Rebecca, 
who became the wife of Carroll English and resides in that county; 
Mary, wife of Pleasant Thacker, of that county; and Margaret, wife 
of James Walker, of Metropolis. Green W. Smith married Elizabeth 
A. Morse, a daughter of Ulysses A. Morse, who came to Illinois from 
Princeton, Kentucky, M'here he married Laney Vickers. The children 
of Rev. and Mrs. Smith are: Elizabeth, wife of 0. R. Morgan, an 
attorney of Vienna, Illinois; Americus A., who is engaged in farming 
in Massac county ; Rhoda, who is Mrs. J. H. Cagle, of Metropolis ; and 
Calvin P., a farmer near the home community in Massac county. Rev. 
Green Smith was chosen by the Republican party of Massac county 
as assessor and treasurer, and filled the office one term, following which 
he was elected sheriff and served for four years. He then resumed the 
direction of his farm and the performance of his church duties, which 
made increasing demands upon his time. 

Ulysses dropped into the routine that had ordered the lives of his 
ancestors as he grew to manhood and began to take his place in affairs. 
The common schools of the country round about New Columbia gave 
him his early education. He came to Metropolis in 1898, to take the 
deputyship under Sheriff John W. Evers, and during his four years' 
incumbency of the place became so conversant with its duties and re- 
sponsibilities that he was nominated by the Republicans as the suc- 
cessor of Mr. Evers, was elected and served from December, 1903, to 
the same month in 1906, and on the eighteenth of January, 1907, he 
was commissioned by President Theodore Roosevelt to be postmaster 
of Metropolis. He succeeded Fred R. Young, and was appointed for 
his second term on January 16, 1911, by President "W. H. Taft. 

In referring to his political life there is little to add to the ref- 
erences already made. He had served his party on county committees 
and in its general councils. In 1904 he was a delegate to the Repub- 
lican state convention, and participated in its deliberations, being 
under county instructions for Gov. Richard Yates. His business con- 
nections show him to be a stockholder of the Central Pence and Ma- 
chine Company, of Metropolis, and a director of the concern. 

Mr. Smith was married in Johnson county, Illinois, November 22, 
1885, his wife being Miss Alice Morgan, a daughter of B. R. Morgan 
and Julia (Lemons) Morgan, both natives of Rockingham county, 
North Carolina. Their family consisted of seven children. The union 
of Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been productive of Ray, who married Annie 
Teague, follows farming and has a son, William Edward ; Inez, a High 
School student in Metropolis ; and Clarence, who died in infancy. 



724 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Since becoming postmaster Mr. Smith has seen the office raised to the 
second-class, and the rural delivery service extended by the addition 
of a fourth carrier. The office was denominated a postal savings insti- 
tution in 1911. 

LEWIS B. TUTHILL. One of the able young legal practitioners of the 
Union county bar, who is also proprietor of the largest insurance busi- 
ness in the county and owner of a valuable farm, is Lewis B. Tuthill, 
who has not allowed himself to be tied down to one occupation, but has 
shown his versatility by succeeding as an agriculturist, in his profession 
and as a business man. Mr. Tuthill 's family is well known in Anna, 
and he was born in this city, July 20, 1880, a son of Harlan P. and 
Emma S. (Hubbard) Tuthill. 

Harlan P. Tuthill was born November 2, 1842, in Virginia, Illinois, 
and as a young man studied law and entered the insurance field, build- 
ing up the largest business of its kind in Union county. He subse- 
quently became cashier of a private bank of which C. M. Willard was 
the owner, but later took a like position with the First National Bank, 
where he remained for nineteen years. A stanch Republican, Mr. 
Tuthill was active in the ranks of his party here and served for a 
number of years as city attorney of Anna. He was also active in the 
work of the Presbyterian church, and at the time of his death, which 
occurred November 2, 1909, was serving in the capacity of deacon. In 
1877 Mr. Tuthill was united in marriage with Miss Emma S. Hubbard, 
a native of Ohio, and she still survives her husband and makes her home 
at Anna. They had these children: Russell, a graduate of Hanover 
College, class of 1902, who is unmarried and engaged in agricultural 
pursuits at Tamms, Illinois ; Lewis B. ; and Sophronia D., who attended 
the Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and now lives in 
Anna with her mother. 

Lewis B. Tuthill received his early education in the public schools 
of Anna, and later entered Illinois State University, Champaign, being 
graduated from the law and literary departments thereof, with the de- 
grees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law in 1904. While at college 
he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta and Phi Delta Phi fraternities, 
and during 1903 had the honor of being manager of the football team. 
After completing his collegiate course he came to Anna, where he en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession, subsequently going into the 
insurance business with his father, whom he eventually succeeded. 
Mr. Tuthill now has the largest business of its kind in the county, and 
represents ten fire insurance companies, one life insurance company, 
one employers' liability company, one bonding company and one live- 
stock insurance company. He is a director of the First National Bank 
of Anna and of the Anna Lumber Company, and owns 120 acres of 
excellent farming land in Union county, having twenty acres of apples, 
six of strawberries and one of pie plant. This farm is now rented and 
yields him good returns. Mr. Tuthill inherits his father's business 
ability, and to this he has added the enthusiasm that is only possessed 
by those who are in love with their work. That he has succeeded in all 
of his ventures is not surprising, for progressive ideas, coupled with in- 
herent business acumen and a spirit of industry are conducive to suc- 
cess in any line. 

In 1904, Mr. Tuthill was married to Miss Leeta DeWolf, of Prairie 
City, Iowa, and one daughter was born to this union: Mary DeWolf, 
born January 15, 1907. Mrs. Tuthill is a member of the Presbyterian 
church, while her husband, although not a member of any especial de- 
nomination, supports all creeds liberally. His politics are those of the 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 725 

Republican party, and on various occasions he has been chosen as a can- 
didate for offices within the gift of his fellow townsmen. From 1904 
until 1910 he served as city attorney of Anna, and in 1907 was nomi- 
nated on the Republican ticket for the office of member of the State 
Legislature, but owing to political conditions here at that time met 
with defeat. He is a popular member of I. 0. 0. F. Lodge, No. 576, and 
Anna Lodge, A. F. & A. M., No. 520, and is president of the Union 
Club. 

WILLIAM THOMSON, M. D. Although among the comparatively 
young men in professional life, William Thomson, M. D., has attained 
success by devotion to toil in his profession, and is now in the enjoyment 
of a lucrative practice and the esteem and confidence of all in the vil- 
lage of Belknap, his chosen field of endeavor. Dr. Thomson is a native 
of Johnson county, having been born at Simpson, September 4, 1884, a 
son of John and Mary E. (Cornish) Thomson. 

Eli Thomson, the paternal grandfather of Dr. Thomson, was born in 
Tennessee, and settled in Johnson county, where he took up govern- 
ment land at an early day and became a prominent agriculturist. The 
maternal grandparents of the Doctor, Eli and Emily Cornish, came 
from Scotland to America, settling first in West Virginia and later 
removed to Johnson county. John and Mary Thomson were both born 
in Tennessee and accompanied their parents to Illinois as children, after 
marriage settling on a farm, and later moving to Simpson, where they 
now reside. 

The early educational training of William Thomson was obtained in 
the public schools of his native county, and later he entered the South- 
ern Illinois State Normal School, at Carbondale. In the fall of 1905 
he became a student in Barnes Medical College, St. Louis, Missouri, 
and in 1909 was graduated therefrom with the degree of M. D. Imme- 
diately thereafter he started to practice in the village of Belknap, where 
he has a large and steadily increasing practice. He is a member of sev- 
eral medical associations, and stands as high in the esteem of his fellow 
practitioners as he does in that of the public. Fraternally he is con- 
nected with the Modern Woodmen of America. 

In 1908 Dr. Thomson was married to Bertha Marberry, of Simpson, 
daughter of Wiley and Zue Marberry, and they have one child : Wil- 
liam Glen. Dr. Thomson's office is conveniently situated in the heart of 
the business portion of the village. Constant perusal of numerous 
medical journals and magazines to which he is a subscriber has made 
him well read and kept him in constant touch with the recent discov- 
eries and inventions of his profession. He is eminently fitted for his 
profession, beiner a close student, a sympathetic practitioner and a 
lover of the work to which he has decided to give his activities. 

GEORGE HUTHMACHER. Prominent among those men who have ad- 
vanced their communities by developing the commercial interests of 
their sections, and to whose efforts must be given the credit for the pres- 
ent high business standing of Southern Illinois, may be mentioned 
George Huthmacher, a prominent lumber and hardware dealer of Mur- 
physboro, whose entire life has been spent within the confines of Jack- 
son county. A business man of more than ordinary ability, he has 
proven his worth also as a citizen, and no man stands higher in the 
respect and esteem of his fellow townsmen. George Huthmacher was 
born February 1, 1869, at Sandoval, Illinois, and is a brother of Charles 
Christian Huthmacher. 

George Huthmacher 's early life was spent at Grand Tower, whence 
VOL n ii 



726 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

his parents moved when he was not yet two months old, and at this 
place he grew to manhood, receiving his education in the public schools. 
In 1888, after completing his studies there, he went to St. Louis to take 
a course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College, and in 1890, on his 
return, was appointed deputy sheriff of Jackson county, an office he 
held until 1894. In 1896 Mr. Huthmacher went to Joplin, Missouri, to 
engage in the furniture business, but after spending eighteen months 
there sold out, and in the fall of 1898, with his brother, A. J. Huth- 
macher, purchased the old Jackson County Lumber Company. In 1905 
hardware was added to the company's stock, and the business, under 
Mr. Huthmacher 's management, has grown steadily from its inception, 
now carrying the largest stock of hardware and lumber in Southern 
Illinois. In addition to this the brothers are the owners of an asparagus 
farm of forty acres, the work on which is superintended by A. J. Huth- 
macher, and the firm also deals to some extent in stock. Mr. Huth- 
macher has always been possessed of progressive ideas, one of which is 
that the community in which it is located will grow with it, thus open- 
that the best way to develop a business is to conduct it in such a manner 
ing a wider field and greater opportunities. Such a policy is bound to 
benefit any section, and for this reason, if for no other, the firm is a 
valuable addition to the city's industries. An able and astute business 
man, Mr. Huthmacher has taken advantage of every opportunity that 
has presented itself, but his dealings have been along strictly legitimate 
lines, and his popularity is assured with all who know him. His ability 
and administrative capability have been recognized by his election to 
positions of honor and trust, and as a nominee on the Democratic ticket 
was elected to the office of alderman. Fraternally his connection is 
with the Elks, and he also holds membership in the Hoos-Hoos, an or- 
ganization of lumber men. 

HON. MILES FREDERICK GILBERT, LL. B., whose career at the bar of 
Cairo 'has been long and honorable, was born in Alton, Illinois, on Sep- 
tember 11, 1849. His father, Judge Miles A. Gilbert, belonged to the 
Hartford branch of this New England family of Colonial origin. Judge 
Gilbert was born at Hartford, Connecticut, and his lineage runs back 
into the history of the English Gilberts whose men of distinction con- 
tributed to the art, science and literature of the island empire when a 
mere kingdom marked its boundaries and when chivalrous knighthood 
made "merry England" and furnished food for the poetic imagination. 

The family of Gilberts in America originated with the arrival of five 
brothers from Norfolkshire, England. These distributed themselves to 
the colonies of Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut. At Hartford 
and New Haven two of the brothers made their homes. Miles A. Gil- 
bert was a son of Merritt Gilbert, who died in Tolland, Connecticut, 
and he grew up in the collegiate atmosphere for which the "Nutmeg" 
commonwealth is famous. He abandoned the scenes of his childhood 
when he was about eighteen years of age for a life conquest in the Mis- 
sissippi Valley. He lived for many years at old Kaskaskia, the first set- 
tlement in Illinois. From thence he removed to Alton, at which time 
he, with the late Judge Breeze, entered a tract of Government land, 
upon part of which the city of Cairo now stands. He removed to Ste. 
Genevieve county, Missouri, and there he was elected county judge and 
remained on the bench for sixteen years. In the discharge of his official 
duties he demonstrated much ability, administered justice impartially 
and won the plaudits of a pleased people. His citizenship abounded in 
integrity and unselfishness, and honor was stamped upon his public and 
private life. At Alton he was married to Miss Ann E. Baker, a daugh- 



fit LIBRARY 

OFINE 
MWERSITT OF 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 727 

ter of Senator David J. Baker, a scholarly gentleman and a graduate of 
Hamilton College, New York. Mrs. Gilbert died on July 14, 1893, leav- 
ing two sons, William B., a distinguished member of the Cairo bar, and 
Miles Frederick, the subject of this review. Judge Gilbert passed away 
in St. Mary's county, Missouri, in 1904. Through his mother, a Miss 
Tuttle, he was a descendant of Revolutionary stock, his maternal grand- 
father having worn the Continental uniform and having given his ser- 
vice toward winning our independence. 

Miles Frederick Gilbert completed his course in the Alton high 
school and then became a student of Washington University, St. Louis. 
A threatened breakdown of his health soon forced his retirement from 
that institution, and after recuperating for a time he entered the Penn- 
sylvania Military College at Chester, Pennsylvania. After finishing 
there his work in literature and the sciences he enrolled as a student in 
the law department of Harvard College and was graduated in law Janu- 
ary 29, 1869, receiving the degree of LL. B. 

While preparing for his profession his studious habits manifested 
themselves and a decided love for books has characterized him all 
through life. He decided on the law as his profession very early in life 
and began reading on this subject before his entrance at Harvard, in 
the office of Haynie, Marshall & Gilbert in Cairo, and was admitted to 
the bar upon examination of a committee composed of States Attorney 
McCartney and Judge Olney. After his work at Harvard was com- 
pleted he entered upon the practice of law in Cairo, January 1, 1870, as 
a member of the firm of Green and Gilbert. In 1875 he was admitted 
to practice in all the federal courts and in 1892 before the supreme 
court of the United States. During the past quarter of a century his 
practice has invaded the domain of corporation business, and the suc- 
cess of his efforts tells more convincingly than words how effective his 
labors have been. 

His connection with business affairs in Cairo has been well known, 
like that of his political life. He administered upon the interests of the 
Board of Trade and of the -Loan and Improvement Assocation as presi- 
dent of both organizations. He is a member and officer of the Episco- 
pal church and has represented his parish in the Diocesan Synod and 
the Diocese as a deputy to the General Convention for nine years. He 
served on the committee on constitutional amendments, served eight 
years as Judge of the Court of Review of the American Church (Epis- 
copal) in United States, and is one of the board of trustees of the West- 
ern Theological Seminary and is a member of its board of incorpora- 
tors. He is chancellor of the Diocese of Springfield and one of the 
Governors of the Country Club. 

In politics Mr. Gilbert is a Democrat. He is chairman of the Alex- 
ander County Central Committee of his party ; has served as president 
of the Illinois Club, and of the Alexander Club, also serving the latter 
on its governing board ; and for nineteen years was a member of the 
board of education, and its president for ten years. 

Mr. Gilbert was married in Alton, Illinois, October 18, 1875, to Miss 
Addie Louise, a daughter of Amasa S. Barry, of Chicago. Mr. Barry 
was a wholesale druggist in his vocation. He married Miss Katherine 
Riley. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert: Nellie, now 
Mrs. Samuel Halliday, of Cairo, and Edward L., one of the capable 
young business men of this city. 

JUDGE ALFRED COMINGS is one of the few men still in active life 
whose residence here covers the period of the Civil war. Since 1862 he 
has occupied a place among the body politic of the city and has for 



728 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

more than forty years of that time been connected with public affairs. 
For nearly a third of a century he has been justice of the peace for the 
second precinct, and has therefore been a prominent actor in the drama 
of municipal litigation. Born at Cornish, New Hampshire, December 
24, 1830, Alfred Comings is descended from Colonial ancestry on both 
sides of the house. His remote ancestor and the founder of the Comings 
family was 'Isaac Comings, born in the north of Scotland in 1601, who 
came to America in 1632 and settled at Ipswich, Massachusetts. One 
of his great-grandsons was Leonard Comings, the direct ancestor of 
Judge Comings, tracing down through Samuel L. and Uriel, the latter 
the father of the Judge. Uriel Comings was born at Cornish, New 
Hampshire, in 1793, passed his life in the sawmill industry, also op- 
erated a gristmill, and had some ability as an architect. There were 
patriot soldiers in the Revolution among his forefathers, and his char- 
acteristics reflected the strong points and fighting stock of these loyal 
Americans. 

Uriel Comings married Sarah Robinson, a lineal descendant of 
George Robinson, who left his native Scotland in 1680 and settled in 
Massachusetts. From this old patriarch three Georges descended in a 
direct line and were grandfathers, far removed, of Sarah. The third 
one was Rev. George Robinson, her grandfather, and his son, David, was 
her father. Sarah Robinson was born February 28, 1793, and was the 
exact age of her husband. She passed away in 1878, and he died two 
years later. Of their eight children Alfred is the only survivor. The 
issue in order of birth were : Farris, born in 1817 ; Warren, who was 
two years younger; Samuel L., born in 1811, who was killed in the bat- 
tle of Antietam and is buried in Baltimore ; Nellie M., born in 1815, who 
married W. F. Smith ; Angeline, born in 1823, who became the wife of 
Gilman Bartlett ; Dr. David L. M., born in 1825, who was a surgeon in 
the Fourth New Hampshire Volunteers during the Civil war and died 
in the service in 1863 ; Uriel L., born in 1829, who was honored with the 
position of doorkeeper of the lower house of the Legislature of New 
Hampshire for ten years and postmaster of Windsor, Vermont, for 
twelve years; and Judge Alfred, who is the youngest of the family. 

Judge Alfred Comings' boyhood and youth were passed in the 
healthful atmosphere of an ancient community, and his education was 
secured without much ado, he being a part of the domestic circle until 
he reached the age of twenty-six years. In 1856 he came to Illinois and 
located at Decatur, where he spent two years teaching school, and he 
then went to Sangamon county and taught there until his departure 
for the war in 1862. While in Sangamon he made the personal ac- 
quaintance of Abraham Lincoln, then attaining a national reputation 
and engaged in expounding Republican doctrines. He became a stanch 
partisan of "Honest Abe," and has steadfastly remained an adherent 
of the party the great war president honored. His patriotism prompted 
Judge Comings to enlist in the Illinois Vounteers, and he joined Com- 
pany F, Seventieth Infantry, and was commissioned captain of the 
company. Orrin T. Reeves was colonel and the regiment was assigned 
to the duty of guarding Confederate prisoners at Camp Butler from 
June until September, 1862. Judge Comings was then detailed to take 
one thousand two hundred prisoners to Vicksburg for exchange. He 
was conveyed down the river on the boat "Albert Pierce," and ar- 
ranged his exchange with General Robert Olds and returned to his 
regiment at Alton. On October 23, 1862, the whole company was 
mustered out. On November 2nd, Judge Comings was paid off in 
Springfield, and there met Hon. Newton Bateman, then state super- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 729 

intendent of public schools, who sent him to Cairo to take charge of 
the public schools. 

After a year with the schools of Cairo Judge Comings entered the 
postoffice as a clerk, remained a year, and then took a position in the 
paymaster's office here. This position gave him a vivid insight into 
the methods of graft practiced by his superior. With the termination 
of this employment he engaged in the commission business and con- 
tinued it here four years. Returning to the government service, he 
was appointed ganger at Cairo, holding that position three years, and 
spent the next nine years as bookkeeper for a wholesale whiskey house. 
At the end of that time he organized the first building and loan asso- 
ciation of Cairo and named it after the city. He was chosen its first 
secretary and has held that offce in the Cairo Building and Loan Asso- 
ciation ever since. 

In 1870 Judge Comings entered city politics and was elected police 
magistrate, an office which he held by repeated elections for twelve 
years. He was chosen justice of the peace some thirty years ago and 
has been biennially elected to it since. He is a Republican, and during 
the early years of Republicanism he was an active participant in county 
and congressional conventions and was a delegate to the national con- 
vention of 1884 when Blaine and Logan were nominated. He is a 
Master Mason and belongs to the subordinate and encampment of Odd- 
fellowship. In addition he is a member of the Elks Camp at Cairo, 
and of the Commercial Club of this city. 

Judge Comings was married at Newbury, Vermont, to Miss Maria 
E. Jordan, a daughter of the Rev. E. Jordan, of the Methodist church. 
She died at Metropolis, Illinois, where the Judge lived for some years, 
in 1868. The children of this union were : Lenora B., who married 
H. E. Ince and is now deceased; and Elmer E., born November 25, 
1861, who grew up in Cairo, spent five years in Buenos Aires, South 
America, where he married Miss Sarah Morse, an English lady, and is 
now identified with the Cairo Building and Loan Association ; and 
Walter, the third child of the Judge, who married Maggie McEwen, 
and died in 1889, leaving a daughter. The second wife of Judge 
Comings was Sarah A. Mason, who died in 1891, leaving one child: 
Alfred B., who is a court reporter in Mississippi, and who married 
Miss Julia E. Tierney. Judge Comings was married the third time 
to Mrs. Adelaide Cundiff, a daughter of Moses Phillips, of Vermont. 

WILLIAM D. LYERLY. The present efficient state's attorney, Wil- 
liam D. Lyerly, of Jonesboro, has, during the thirteen years that he 
has been practicing before the Union county bar, proven himself one 
of the bright legal lights of Southern Illinois and a man of much more 
than ordinary administrative and executive ability. An able and un- 
tiring official, he has ever been faithful in his discharge of the duties 
of his high position and relentless in his prosecution of those who have 
disregarded the laws of the state, but a high sense of justice has tem- 
pered his actions always, and he has ever been ready to assist those 
whose misfortune it has been to have become the victims of circum- 
stance. Mr. Lyerly is a native of Union county, Illinois, and was born 
April 28, 1872, a son of John and Melvina M. Lyerly, farming people 
of Union county who are now living retired in Jonesboro. 

William D. Lyerly attended the district schools, and graduated from 
the Union Academy, Anna, in 1892. During the next six years he was 
engaged in teaching school in Union county, and during this time 
prosecuted his law studies. Eventually he entered the law offices of 
Judge Crawford, in Jonesboro, and he was admitted to the bar in 1898, 



730 HISTORY OF' SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

at which time he began practice. In 1908 Mr. Lyerly was elected 
state's attorney, having served very acceptably in the office of city at- 
torney from 1898 to 1903, and as president of the board of education 
from 1905 to 1909, and during the fall of 1910 he was the candidate 
of the Democratic party for Congress, but met with defeat. Several 
of his cases have gone to the Supreme Court, where Mr. Lyerly 's con- 
tentions have been upheld. He has identified himself with various 
business enterprises of a large nature and is now a director of the 
Union County Milling Company and president of the Jonesboro Plank 
Road Company. Mr. Lyerly is a man of whom it can be said he has 
chosen well. He possesses the courage of his convictions and has been 
fearless in championing what he believes to be just and right. He has 
the gift of oratory, which has been admirably displayed in a number of 
important cases, and his thorough knowledge of law and jurisprudence 
has made him an almost invincible opponent. 

In 1901, Mr. Lyerly was married to Miss Ethel Nusbaum, who was 
born at Jonesboro, October 27, 1879, daughter of the Rev. D. S. Nus- 
baum, Baptist pastor at Jonesboro. Mrs. Lyerly was for several years 
engaged in teaching in the public schools of this place. Two children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lyerly : Martici and Edna, aged eight 
and seven years respectively. The family is connected with the Bap- 
tist church, in which both Mr. Lyerly and his wife are very active, he 
now being a member of the board of trustees and for seven years su- 
perintendent of the Sunday school. Fraternally he is connected with 
Blue Lodge No. Ill, Jonesboro, and Chapter No. 45, Anna, of Masonry ; 
Lodge No. 241, of the Odd Fellows; the Modern Woodmen and the 
Order of the Eastern Star, No. 163, in all of which he has been through 
the chairs, while Mrs. Lyerly is a member of the last-named order. 
The family is widely known in this section, and both Mr. and Mrs. 
Lyerly enjoy the respect and esteem of an exceptionally large circle of 
friends. 

DANIEL McCALL, was born September 21, 1861, in Mississippi, and 
is a son of Robert R. and Mary "E. (Dawson) MeCall. Thomas Mc- 
Call, the grandfather of Daniel, was a native of North Carolina and 
was of Scotch-Huguenot descent, and it is said that the founder of the 
family in this country served in a Pennsylvania regiment during the 
war of the Revolution. Robert R. McCall, son of Thomas and father 
of Daniel, was born near Nashville, Tennessee in 1825, and there be- 
came a farmer and minister of the Christian church. Later moving 
to Mississippi, he became a plantation owner and slave holder, but at 
the outbreak of the war was a Union sympathizer and counseled his 
kinsmen to leave Mississippi until that struggle should be ended. He 
followed them in 1863. when all Union families were compelled to leave 
the state. In January, 1865, he came to Illinois with his family and 
settled on a partly-improved farm of forty-eight acres five miles north- 
west of Vienna, on which had been erected an old log house. At first 
the hardships and privations of the little family were many, but with 
sturdy pluck and perseverance Mr. MeCall continued to labor in cul- 
tivating his land, and success eventually came to him in a small way 
and well-merited manner, and when he died, in June. 1883. he was a 
highly-respected citi?en of his community. His wife, Mary (Dawson) 
MeCall, was a daughter of John M. Dawson, a native of Tennessee, 
who migrated to Mississippi, and a granddaughter of John Dawson, of 
English descent. She died in 1900. at the age of seventv-one years. 
The children born to Robert R. and Mary (Dawson) MeCall were as 
follows: Dr. Robert M. ; Frances, who died in infancy; Victoria and 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 731 

Rebecca, who died when about thirteen years of age; Thomas and 
James, who died in infancy ; William, who died while studying medi- 
cine at Indianapolis, Indiana; and Daniel. 

Daniel McCall received only a slight common-school education, in 
the old Smith schoolhouse, as when he was a youth he was very indus- 
trious and preferred hard work in the open air to studying in the close 
schoolroom. He is practically self-educated, and is very well read, 
having been a close student all of his life. He worked for his father 
until the latter 's death, and after that always made his home with his 
mother, a woman of great intelligence and good judgment, whose ad- 
vice and teachings were greatly prized by her children. Before he was 
of age Mr. McCall had purchased sixty acres of land adjoining the old 
homestead, and later added a twenty-acre tract to this, and subse- 
quently eighty acres more. In 1889 his health became impaired, and 
on the advice of his physician he gave up farming, sold his property 
and moved to Vienna, where in 1890 he established himself in the liv- 
ery business. This he successfully carried on until 1896, when he sold 
out and again took up farming, but his health again failed and he was 
compelled to once more sell his land and move to the city, where for 
some time he was engaged in the grocery business. He could not re- 
sist the temptation, however, to return to the tilling of the soil, and 
in March, 1903, he bought his present property, a fine tract of one 
hundred and fifty acres located near Vienna, where he has since been 
engaged in farming and stock breeding. His buildings are in fine con- 
dition, and include a handsome residence, good substantial barns, 
necessary outbuildings and a modern silo. There is no doubt that Mr. 
McCall could have succeeded in any line to which he cared to turn 
his attention, as whatever has claimed his activities has prospered. 
Farming, however, is the vocation that he prefers to follow, and his 
standing among Johnson county's agriculturists is exceptionally high. 
He has not cared to enter the political field, nor is he connected with 
any secret societies, his only interest outside of his farm being his 
membership in the Christian church, in the work of which he and his 
family have been active. 

Mr. McCall was married (first) in 1884, to Miss Mary "Winchester, 
who died in 1885, without issue. His second marriage was to Miss 
Josephine Stout, daughter of William and Anna (Boomer) Stout, and 
seven children have been born to this union : Mary ; Anna and Wil- 
liam, who died in infancy; and Ruth, Robert Lee, Lillie and George 
Edward. 

ELMER PEARL EASTERDAY. It was twenty-five years ago, or in 1887, 
that Elmer Earl Easterday first took up his residence in Mound City, 
Illinois, and during that period he has been identified with the office 
of circuit clerk of Pulaski county, first as a deputy, and since 1904 as 
the incumbent of that office. 

He was born at Vandalia, Illinois, July 23, 1866, and at the age of 
thirteen accompanied his father, Melancthon Easterday, who receives 
individual mention elsewhere in this work, to Cairo, where the follow- 
ing three years were spent in the public schools of Cairo. He was a 
high school student when he abandoned his studies to take up practical 
business life in the office of his father. There he familiarized himself 
with the land titles in Alexander county and did clerical work as a 
compiler of a set of individual records until 1887, when, having at- 
tained his majority, he separated himself from parental associations 
and began an independent career at Mound City. He here established 
himself as an abstractor of titles, having gained a thorough and practi- 



732 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

cal knowledge of the business while in the office of his father, and has 
continued in that line of business to the present time. His training and 
ability in that direction led to his appointment the year of his advent 
to Mound City as deputy to B. L. Ulen, then circuit clerk of Pulaski 
county, and he later served eight years in a similar capacity for C. S. 
Britton during the latter 's incumbency of the circuit clerk's office. 

In 1904 Mr. Basterday was himself elected circuit clerk of Pulaski 
county as a Republican, and in 1908 was re-elected to the office, his 
last election being without opposition. During this long service, he 
has compiled a set of records for himself besides doing a vast amount 
of other work while a deputy, and his acquaintance with the condition 
of titles in Pulaski county exceeds that of any other of its citizens. He 
has also served twelve years as police judge and is president of the 
Board of Education of Mound City. In all of his public service he has 
proved a faithful, prompt and capable official, discharging his duties 
with a sense of conscientious obligation, and as a citizen he has so lived 
as to command the highest respect of his community. 

He is a prominent figure in the fraternal circles of his city. For 
many years he has served as secretary of the Blue Lodge of Masons at 
Mound City ; is a past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias, 
has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge of that order and was made 
chairman of the committee on necrology in that body; is a past noble 
grand of the Mound City Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, and has served his lodge in the Grand Lodge of the state; is 
sachem of the local lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men ; worthy 
patron of the Masonic auxiliary order, Order of the Eastern Star ; and 
is a member of the Modern "Woodmen of America and the Pythian Sis- 
ters. He also holds a membership in the K. M. K. C. of Cairo. 

On May 26, 1890, at Mound City, Illinois, Mr. Easterday was united 
in marriage to Miss Bertie Kennedy, a daughter of William R. Ken- 
nedy, whose father served as the first sheriff of Pulaski county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Easterday have one son, Floyd Easterday, who is now a trav- 
eling salesman for the U. S. Gypsum Company of Dallas, Texas. 

WILLIAM S. HILL. The Carbondale Herald, a weekly publication, is 
a bright, clean, newsy journal, decidedly Republican in its views, and is 
ably conducted by two gentlemen of talent and ability, William S. Hill, 
the subject of this sketch, having charge of its editorial department, 
while his son, Burt E. Hill, is business manager. A son of John Mc- 
Dowell Hill, William S. Hill was born in Monroe county, Illinois, July 
10, 1843, coming from Virginian ancestry. 

John McDowell Hill was born in Virginia in 1816. Six years later 
he was brought by his parents to Monroe county, Illinois, where he was 
brought up and educated. Succeeding to the occupation of his ances- 
tors, he became a tiller of the soil, and continued in that independent 
occupation until his death, in March, 1845, ere reaching manhood's 
prime. He was a man of sterling worth, and a member of the Baptist 
church. He married Nancy Gooding, of Belleville. Illinois, and she 
survived him upwards of half a century, dying in Jackson county, Illi- 
nois, in 1902. 

The only son of his parents, William S. Hill was a small child when 
left fatherless. He lived with his mother in Belleville, Illinois, until 
teven years of age, when he went to Randolph county, where he was 
employed on a farm near Percy until 1861. Going to Chester, Illinois, 
in 1864, he established a small printing business, which he conducted 
for seven years. From 1868 until 1880 Mr. Hill was engaged as a 
painting contractor at Steeleville, Illinois, and the following ten years 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 733 

was actively engaged in mercantile pursuits in Cutler, Perry county. 
Going to DuQuoin, Illinois, in 1890, he founded the DuQuoin Herald, of 
which he was the manager for two years. Coming to Carbondale in 
1892, Mr. Hill started the Carbondale Herald, but soon afterward sold 
the paper to John H. Barton, and worked in its office as city editor. In 
1910, in company with his son, Burt E. Hill, Mr. Hill purchased the 
paper, and has since continued its editorship. 

Mr. Hill married, in Chester, Illinois, in 1865, Eliza Servant. Her 
father, the late Colonel R. B. Servant, was born at Old Point Comfort, 
Virginia, in 1801, and died in Chester, Illinois, in 1870. He was a man 
of much prominence and influence, and in addition to representing his 
district in the Illinois State Legislature for six years was for several 
terms judge of Randolph county. Of the eight children born of the 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Hill, seven are living, namely : "W. C., of Chi- 
cago ; Nancy 0., wife of N. S. Weiler ; Burt E., business manager of the 
Herald; Parker L. ; Jennie, wife of W. O. Hern, of Carbondale ; Samuel 
G. ; and Eva R. 

Burt E. Hill was born July 5, 1875, in Randolph county, Illinois, 
and received his early education in the public schools of that and Jack- 
son counties. Active, industrious, and possessing undoubted executive 
ability, he is now meeting with well-merited success as business mana- 
ger of the Carbondale Herald, which he, jointly with his father, owns. 
A Democrat in politics, he has rendered the city excellent service as an 
alderman, having represented the Fourth ward for two terms in the 
City Council. He is a member of the Christian church, and contributes 
generously towards its support. He married, in 1903, Etta Brantley, 
who died November 11, 1907, leaving one child, Margaret Hill. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of 
Masons, to which his father also belongs ; of the Knights of Pythias ; the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ; and to the Modern Woodmen 
of America. 

WILLIAM OSCAR HEARN. Disease, accident, ordinary sickness "the 
thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to" render necessary in 
every community good drugs and medicants in sufficient quantities to 
meet requirements and within easy reach when they are needed, which 
is often with the utmost haste. The men who deal in these indispens- 
able articles, and deal squarely with the public in handling them, are 
public benefactors and entitled to high consideration from those who 
are the beneficiaries of their enterprise. 

For this reason, and because of his excellent character as a man, 
his public spirit and progressiveness as a citizen, his engaging social 
qualities and his ample and up-to-date provision for the wants of the 
people in his lines of trade, William 0. Hearn, one of the successful 
and capable druggists of Carbondale. is held in the highest esteem by 
the residents of the city and the county of Jackson in which it is lo- 
cated. He has been connected with the drug trade in the city but seven 
years, and merchandising in it on his own account but one, but he has 
won their confidence by his ability in his chosen line of work and his 
integrity and square dealing in all his transactions with them. 

Mr. Hearn was born in Carbondale, on April 30. 1881, and is a son 
of William L. and Mary (Pulley) Hearn. The father is a contractor 
and builder, and the evidences of his skill and capacity in his line of 
work are to be found in all parts of the city in residence and business 
structures, and also in some of the more pretentious works of public 
improvement put up for the enlarged comfort and convenience of the 
people. He takes a great interest in the growth and progress of the 



734 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

city and county, and is always willing to do all he can to aid in pro- 
moting this and providing for the general welfare of the community in 
every way. 

The son received a high-school education, and after being gradu- 
ated therefrom studied pharmacy at the State University in Chicago, 
from which he was graduated in 1904. He then returned to his native 
city and began his business career as a clerk with E. K. Porter. On 
May 1, 1910, he purchased the E. S. Patten Drug Store, now known as 
"The Hearn Drug Store, " and that name has become synonymous with 
excellence in goods, skill in pharmacy and uprightness in dealing. This 
was the first drug store established in Carbondale. 

It is to be said to the credit of Mr. Hearn that although he is still 
a young man in years and much younger, even, in business, he is very 
enterprising both in studying the wants of the community and in pro- 
viding for them ; and also that he is not only skillful but conscientious 
in the application of his science to the practical requirements of his 
trade. His prescription department is directly under his personal su- 
pervision at all times, and is all that full knowledge and the utmost 
care can make it in the purity of its drugs and the manner in which 
they are compounded. 

On June 21, 1905, Mr. Hearn was united in marriage with Miss 
Jennie S. Hill, a daughter of W. S. Hill, editor of the Southern Illinois 
Herald, one of the wide-awake and progressive newspapers published 
in Carbondale. Mr. Hearn is a deacon in the Christian church and the 
secretary of its Sunday-school. Fraternally he is a Freemason, a Mod- 
ern Woodmen of America and a Knight of Pythias, and at this time 
(1911) is chancellor commander of his lodge in the order last named. 

GEORGE H. HUFFMAN. Rapidly the ranks of those who took active 
part in the Civil war are thinning. One after another the gray-haired 
veterans are going to join their comrades in a land where bloodshed 
and suffering are unknown. Comparitively few of the defenders of 
the flag in the 'sixties are now left who are able to hold their own 
in the keen struggle of present-day commercial life. Physical infirm- 
ities have long since compelled the great majority of the survivors to 
drop out of the race. Yet here and there are to be found exceptions. 
Now and then a sturdy old warrior is found whose eye is as bright 
and whose step is as firm as those of the younger generation, and who 
yet finds keen enjoyment in a struggle in which he is pitted against 
the sons and grandsons of his comrades of other days. Such a man is 
George H. Huffman, the well-known stock buyer and dealer of Vienna, 
who, although more than sixty-six years of age, has declined to fall 
behind in the rapid march of American progress, and stands today a 
sturdy type of American enterprise. Mr. Huffman was born Decem- 
ber 30, 1845, on a farm in Guilford county, North Carolina, and is a 
son of Hillary and Salome (Clapp) Huffman, and a grandson of Joshua 
Huffman, whose father was a native of Germany. 

Hillary Huffman took his family from North Carolina to western 
Tennessee, and from the latter locality, in 1860, to Johnson county, on 
account of his Union sympathies. Settling on a farm near Vienna, Mr. 
Huffman engaged in agricultural pursuits, and there his death oc- 
curred at about the time of the close of the Civil war. lie and his 
wife had children as follows : John J., Catherine Elizabeth and Sarah 
Ellen, all of whom are deceased ; George H. ; Mary Ann, who died in 
infancy ; J. C., who lives in Grand Tower, Jackson county ; and Mrs. 
Alice Meredith, who resides in Lincoln. Nebraska. 

George H. Huffman received a common school education, and when 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 735 

still a lad learned to operate machinery, his first employment being in 
his father's mill in North Carolina. In the spring of 1863 he enlisted in 
Company G, Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry, under Captain William Prick- 
ens and Colonel Capron, in General Sherman's army. His first service 
was around Knoxville, Tennessee, from whence he went to Big Shanty, 
Kenesaw Mountain, served around Atlanta and Macon, and partici- 
pated in the famous "March to the Sea." At Mulberry Creek, 
Georgia, he was taken prisoner by the enemy, and was confined for 
eight months and seven days in various Confederate prisons. He was 
at the terrible place of confinement at Andersonville, and when re- 
moved to Charleston he and his fellow-prisoners suffered the dangers 
and agony of mind of being under the bombardment of their own 
troops. He was then taken to Florence, South Carolina, and eventually 
to Goldsboro, North Carolina, and from the latter place succeeded in 
making a daring escape. From eight hundred to one thousand men 
were under the supervision of three lines of guards, the prisoners' 
camp being located near a pine woods. Mr. Huffman discovered that 
a large pine tree had fallen over the line of the wall, and during the 
night climbed into the branches, and under the cover of darkness 
worked his way out. At nine o'clock he found himself in a ravine, and 
during that day managed to place three miles between himself and his 
pursuers. He was then hidden by Lazarus Pearson, a Quaker farmer, 
at whose home he remained for seven days, when he was given the 
Friend 's exception papers, for which the good man had paid the Con- 
federacy the sum of five hundred dollars. With Henry Preston, a fel- 
low-refugee, to whom had been given the Quaker's son-in-law's papers, 
and accompanied by Pearson's two daughters, Mr. Huffman then wenb 
through the Confederate cavalry lines. Later, at Wilmington, North 
Carolina, with William Pickens and a Mr. Cox, Mr. Huffman was again 
captured with a gang of recruits, but during the next day managed to 
get away at Newbern, which was held by the Union forces. From 
thence he went to Annapolis and safety, and was sent from that point 
to the barracks at Camp Butler, where he was mustered out of the 
service in the spring of 1865. At the beginning of his career Mr. 
Huffman served as a scout for the Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry, the 
Seventh Tennessee Cavalry, the Fifth Iowa Cavalry and the Fourth 
Illinois. Cavalry, and while engaged in this service in Carroll county, 
Tennessee, received a wound in his right thigh which many years later 
developed into a large tumor, which it was necessary to remove. 

After his gallant and faithful service Mr. Huffman returned to the 
occupations of peace and developed into an excellent citizen. His first 
employment was at the blacksmith trade, which he followed until 1869, 
being engaged by contractors on the Big Four Railroad at Tunnell Hill 
when that railroad was under construction, and there his knowledge 
of machinery stood him in good stead. After this he engaged in farm- 
ing and the implement and farm machinery business, subsequently 
opening a mine at New Burnside, which he operated for three years, 
but sold it on the completion of the railroad, and in 1873 moved to a 
farm of two hundred acres located in Simpson township. In 1879 Mr. 
Huffman took his family to Metropolis, in order that his children might 
be educated iinder Professor Bowlby, and continued to live there until 
1884, Mr. Huffman in the meantime managing his farm as well as a 
sawmill in Johnson county. He returned to the farm in 1884, and for 
a few years conducted an implement business as well as a meat and 
produce enterprise in Vienna, but gradually gave up his other interests 
as his livestock business grew, and to this he now gives the greater 
part of his time and attention, the farm having been sold in 1905. His 



736 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

livestock business now totals sixty carloads or sixty thousand dollars 
annually, while he does an annual business in horses and mules that 
amounts to fifteen thousand dollars. He owns one of the finest resi- 
dence properties in Vienna, valued at three thousand five hundred dol- 
lars. On February 7, 1894, Mr. Huffman met with a serious accident, 
in which he lost his left arm, but he has not allowed this handicap to 
interfere with his business activities. A public-spirited citizen who is 
always ready to do his share in looking after the interests of his com- 
munity, Mr. Huffman served as treasurer of Johnson county for four 
years, beginning in 1899. However, he has not been a seeker after the 
spectacular, but has kept the even tenor of his way. He has been con- 
tent with the ordinary rewards of life, and thus it is that we find him 
today one of the few of his generation who are still able to continue the 
daily routine of business. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, and is very popular with the comrades of Vienna post, while 
his religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church. 

In 1870 Mr. Huffman was married to Miss Marian Jones, daughter 
of the Hon. Thomas Jones, former representative and a leading man of 
his day in Johnson county. Twelve children have been born to this 
union, of whom nine survive, as follows : Mrs. Marion McConnell ; Mrs. 
Gertrude Allard ; Mrs. Clara Gillespie ; Mrs. Dollie Palmer ; Mrs. Daisy 
Carter; Mrs. Mamie Eagan, of Chicago; Mrs. Pearl Whielen, of Ste- 
ger, Illinois ; Charles G., an attorney of Vienna, Illinois ; and Frances 
Marion. 

SAMUEL H. REES. The modern pharmacist is a man of many call- 
ings, for he is expected to bear upon his shoulders the burden and 
responsibilities of others, and not only must he understand his own 
profession thoroughly, but he must be able to rectify and detect the 
occasional blunders of the medical fraternity, to give kindly advice to 
those unwilling or unable to call in a physician, and to at all times 
place his establishment and time at the disposal of the general public. 
The course of training is long and arduous and the fitting up of a mod- 
ern store expensive, and no other line of human endeavor demands 
such prolonged hours of service, so that the pharmacist of today, in 
order to be successful, must be a man whose love of his chosen voca- 
tion is placed above all other things. One who has proven worthy of 
the trust and confidence placed in him, and a man who has been prom- 
inent in public life, is Samuel H. Rees, owner of the only pharmacy at 
Belknap, a man than whom there is no more highly esteemed nor pop- 
ular citizen in the community. He was born on a farm in Jackson 
county, Illinois, March 11, 1861, and is a son of the late Dr. Alonzo 
P. and Jane (Krews) Rees. 

James L. Rees, the grandfather of Samuel H. Rees, was a native 
of Virginia, of German descent, who migrated to Tennessee and thence 
to Jackson county, Illinois, where he became one of the earliest set- 
tlers. Dr. Alonzo P. Rees was born and reared in Tennessee, and as . 
a young man took up the study of medicine, which he practiced for 
many years in Jackson, Johnson and Pulaski counties. He was one 
of the earliest practitioners of this section, and at the time of his death, 
in 1887, when he was fifty-eight years of age, no man was better 
known or more sincerely liked in this part of the state. His wife, who 
bore the maiden name of Jane Krews, was born and reared in Jack- 
son county, and died in 1895, at the age of fifty-six years. They had 
a family of seven children, as follows: Samuel H. ; John D., who is 
engaged in the clothing and general merchandise business at Owens- 
boro, Kentucky ; H. F., who is a United States rural free delivery car- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 737 

rier; Mary D., the wife of Samuel D. Peeler, one of the leading agri- 
culturists of Cache township ; Martha P., wife of T. E. Williamson, of 
Claremore, Oklahoma; Anna, the wife of J. D. Copeland, of Blythes- 
ville, Arkansas ; and Nellie, the wife of W. P. Weeks, of Joppa, Illinois. 
Samuel H. Rees spent his boyhood on the home farm and attended 
the district schools until he was fifteen years of age, at which time he 
came to Belknap and secured employment as a clerk in the drug store, 
also attending school in the winter and doing sawmill work until he 
was twenty years of age. In 1881 he took a position in a drug store 
at Vienna, where he remained until 1884, and then went to Murphys- 
boro, where he followed the same line until the summer of 1886. At 
this time he came to Belknap and purchased the business which he 
has continued to conduct for the past quarter of a century, his popu- 
larity being so great with the people of his community that no rival 
establishment has offered competition. Until 1910 he was the owner 
of a farm near Belknap, but in that year disposed of it, and he also 
has engaged in life insurance work, but the major part of his atten- 
tion has been given to his pharmacy. He has a full and up-to-date 
line of drugs, proprietary medicines, and other articles usually found 
in a first-class drug establishment, and his business extends all over 
Belknap and the surrounding country. He is the owner of his own 
residence and the building in which his business is carried on. A 
stanch Republican, Mr. Rees has, up to a year or so ago, taken an ac- 
tive interest in the success of his party, in the ranks of which he has 
ever been a willing and faithful worker. Enjoying to the fullest de- 
gree the friendship and confidence of the men high up in the coun- 
cils of the party, he has always sought rather to assist his friends than 
himself, although at various times he has been mayor, alderman and 
school director of Belknap, and has shown marked executive ability. 
He started in life without a dollar, his business in Belknap having 
been opened on borrowed capital, with no other security than his per- 
sonal word, but he was soon able to repay the loan and to build up a 
profitable business. He has been, however, a man of many charities, 
and in giving assistance to his friends has often embarrassed himself in 
a financial way. A faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
Mr. Rees has been liberal in supporting its movements, and, being a 
modest, unassuming and unostentations man, the extent of his char- 
ities will probably never be known. Fraternally he is popular with 
the members of the Masons, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Odd 
Fellows and the Tribe of Ben Hur, to all of which he belongs. During 
ing President Cleveland's first administration Mr. Rees was appointed 
postmaster at Belknap, and again, on August 1, 1902, he received the 
appointment to that position, serving therein until April 15, 1911. 

In 1885 Mr. Rees was married to Miss Ella Hartman, of Chester, 
Illinois, daughter of Tobias and Mary A. Hartman, the former of 
whom is now deceased, while the latter resides in Washington, D. C., 
and six children have been born to this union, namely: Walter A., a 
Methodist minister at Gillette, Arkansas, who is married and has a 
son, William ; Guy H., a barber by trade, and now an attendant at the 
hospital at Kankakee; Mrs. Blanche Carter, who has one child, Glen; 
Theodore, a carpenter by trade, who resides at Gillette, Arkansas ; and 
Edith and Helen, who reside at home with their parents. 

AURELIUS GREEN HUGHES. The shadow of adversity hung darkly 
over this valued citizen and public official of Carbondale even before 
his birth. Its gloomy pall continued to droop around him in his child- 
hood and youth, and was never lifted until by his own efforts he totally 



738 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

dispelled it by boldly challenging Fate to do her worst and making his 
own way in the world to consequence and standing among men by his 
own efforts and in spite of her displeasure. When she found out the 
mettle he was made of, and realized that he did not tremble under her 
frowns, she changed her demeanor toward him, as if weary of tor- 
menting him, and became all smiles and generosity. 

Mr. Hughes was born in Franklin county, Illinois, on April 8, 1862, 
and is the son of Granville and Adaville (Clark) Hughes, natives of 
Tennessee. The father was a farmer in that state, and prospering as 
such according to the standard of his time and locality. But he was not 
spared to continue his labors and put himself in a position to make 
any provision for his family after his death. This occurred sometime 
before his son Aurelius was born, and after the sad event the mother 
moved to Illinois. She died soon after giving birth to her son, and he 
was left in early infancy to the care of an uncle. This relative reared 
him to the age of twenty-one, and gave him such school facilities as his 
circumstances allowed. The uncle, E. L. Hughes, was a farmer in Jack- 
son county, this state, but had a struggle for his own advancement, and 
the nephew was obliged to take his part in the work of the farm and 
make his schooling secondary to that. He did not repine at this, for 
he felt within him the stirring of a spirit of enterprise and self-reliance 
which kept him inspired with the hope of better things, and he has since 
realized them. 

After attaining his majority Aurelius G. Hughes worked in mines 
four years, and then returned to farming. For three years he worked 
industriously and to good purpose on farms he rented, then bought a 
farm on credit. As he paid for one tract of land he puchased another, 
and kept on in this way until he owned 200 acres. He was living at 
that time in Williamson county, and there he bought and sold a great 
deal of land, becoming a considerable dealer in real estate of an agri- 
cultural character. All the while his fortunes were mending and he 
was forging ahead in the struggle for progress among men. He gave 
his own affairs close and careful attention, but did not neglect the pub- 
lic interests of the county in which he lived, and devoted to them a fair 
share of his time and energy. For many years he served his locality 
as school director, and for nine as road commissioner. That his ser- 
vices were faithful, intelligent and progressive, and that the community 
found them highly useful is proven by the universal appreciation in 
which they were held and the warm commendations passed upon them 
by all classes of the people. 

In 1902 he moved to Carbondale and became the proprietor of a 
hotel, the Hundley House. He managed his business in this enterprise 
with his customary energy and close attention to every detail, and was 
making an extended reputation for the house, when a disastrous fire 
destroyed it and its contents a few months after he took charge of it, 
and he once more became a tiller of the soil, also engaging in the livery 
business. He was not dismayed by his misfortune, and lost no time in 
repining over it. He went at his farming operations and livery trade 
as if he meant to make them compensate him for what the fire had 
robbed him of, and he did it in the course of time. 

In 1907 Mr. Hughes was elected county supervisor of Jackson 
county. He was re-elected in 1909 and again in 1911, and has been 
chairman of the board during the 1909 and 1911 terms. His services in 
this position have been well and wisely rendered, and are accounted as 
of great advantage to the county. They have been twice submitted to 
the judgment of the people, and in both cases have been handsomely 
approved by them. To those who know the facts the reason is patent 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 739 

enough. He is intelligent, progressive and knowing, and he applies 
all his powers to the work of his office, just as he does to his own affairs. 
He is prudent and careful, too, of the public funds at the command of 
the board, and as the county receives good work and secures excellent 
results from his official industry without any extravagant outlay, its 
people cannot but be well pleased, and they do not hesitate to say 
they are. 

Mr. Hughes was married on September 30, 1884, to Miss Clara 
Clark of Carbondale. They have two children: Harmon A., who is as- 
sociated with his father in conducting the operations of the farm; and 
Louis D., who is a physician in active practice at Delaware, Oklahoma. 
He was graduated from the medical department of the St. Louis Uni- 
versity at the age of twenty-one. 

The father is a Republican in politics and active in the service of his 
party, although he never allows partisan considerations to outweigh his 
sense of duty in the administration of his office. In connection with 
that his first concern is the welfare of the people, and he has no other. 
In fraternal circles he belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Modern Wood- 
men of America and the Carbondale Lodge of Elks, and takes an earnest 
interest and an active part in the proceedings of all his lodges. He 
is one of the Jackson county's most reliable and useful citizens. 

OLIVER M. FEAIM. A man of enterprise and progressive ideas who 
has done much to develop the interests of Johnson county, especially in 
the line of reclaiming farming lands from the swamp and timber, Oliver 
M. Fraim, of Belknap, Illinois, has associated himself with ventures of 
an extensive nature and is now considered one of the leading business 
men of his community. As the promoter of various enterprises he has 
done much to develop the best resources of this section, and for a num- 
ber of years he has been identified with railroad contract work and the 
automobile industry, while his present large general merchandise house 
has grown from a small beginning into one of the leading stores of its 
kind in this part of the county. Mr. Fraim was born April 14, 1864, in 
Mt. Vernon, Indiana, and is a son of Elvis Linch and Margaret (Meek) 
Fraim. 

Elvis Linch Fraim was born in Indiana, whence his father, a native 
of the East, had come at an early day and engaged in the packing busi- 
ness. Elvis L. as a young man interested himself in flat-boating from 
Indiana points to New Orleans, and when the Civil war broke out he 
enlisted and served until its close in the Union army. On his return he 
engaged in farming near the town of Flora, Illinois, where he died in 
December, 1911. He married Margaret Meek, daughter of Isaac Meek, 
a cabinetmaker who was city clerk of Kinmundy, Illinois, up to the time 
he was eighty-two years old, and they had a family of six children, 
namely : Emma, Mattie, Lula, Maggie, Oliver M. and William E. 

Oliver M. Fraim was educated in the schools of Loogootee, Indiana, 
and when sixteen years of age became a clerk in a store owned by 
Daniel A. Goodman, who was engaged in the timber business in South- 
ern Illinois, with headquarters at Indianapolis, Indiana. In April, 
1893, Mr. Fraim was made a flattering offer by a South Bend concern, 
but his employers refused to release him, and in August of the same 
year, when they asked him to take a lay-off, he decided to branch out on 
his own account. He had traveled extensively over the south in the in- 
terests of his firm, and had filled important contracts for the railroads of 
Southern Illinois, and is still an extensive tie and timber buyer, fur- 
nishing the ties for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. On his 
return from Indianapolis, in 1893, he located in Belknap, where he 



740 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

opened a restaurant, and also engaged in the buying and selling of wheel 
spokes for Eastern firms in Ohio, Indiana and Eastern Pennsylvania. 
He soon built up a big store trade, which has grown into the present large 
general merchandise business, with an investment of ten thousand dol- 
lars. Also, during this time, he contracted with the Big Four Railway 
Company to furnish their piling and timber for extensions, and with the 
Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad for their piling at Joppa and their 
inclines. From the beginning of the automobile industry until Septem- 
ber, 1907, when he retired from the field, Mr. Fraim furnished seventy- 
five per cent of all the spokes that were put into automobile construction 
throughout the United States. Mr. Fraim is also an agriculturist, and 
was the pioneer in the development of bottom or swamp land. He 
would buy farms considered practically worthless, for a few hundred 
dollars, would cut the timber, drain the swamps, and sell the same 
property for around three thousand or thirty-five 'hundred dollars. 
Quick to see and grasp an opportunity, Mr. Fraim 's operations have cov- 
ered a wide field and have brought him into contact with a number of 
the leading business men of his section. Although he is shrewd and keen 
in his dealings, he has always respected the rights of others, and his busi- 
ness standing wherever he has operated is high. As mayor of Belknap 
he gave the city an admirable business administration, during which 
many needed reforms were introduced. Fraternally he is popular as a 
member of the Belknap Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and he and his family 
are members of the Belknap Methodist Episcopal church, of which he 
has served as a trustee for the past ten years. 

In 1883 Mr. Fraim was married to Miss Mattie West, of Belknap, 
daughter of Lemuel West, a native of Ohio, and they have had a family 
of seven children, namely: Eric, a minister at Port Sanilac, Michigan, 
who is married and has four children, Beatrice, Irene, Elden Morton 
and Virgil Ray; Floyd, in the timber business in Louisiana, is married 
and has two children, Elizabeth and Harvey Oliver; Grace, the wife 
of S. D. Martin, a barber of Belknap, has one child, Hazel ; Fred ; Mrs. 
Hazel Matheny; Ray McKinley and Mabel reside at home with their 
parents. 

HUGH SEYMOUR ANTRIM. One of the prominent business citizens 
of Cairo, whose activities in the commercial world have been such as 
to make his name familiar to the large grain-buying firms of Southern 
Illinois, and who has also interested himself in the public welfare of 
his adopted city and with social and religious matters, is Hugh Sey- 
mour Antrim, head of the H. S. Antrim Grain Company and president 
of the Cairo Board of Trade. Mr. Antrim was born at St. Louis, 
Missouri, October 14, 1867, and during the following year his father, 
John Antrim, brought his family to Cairo, where he had been engaged 
in business during the Civil war, and where he passed the remaining 
years of his life. 

The progenitor of the Antrim family, according to tradition and 
history, came to the United States as a member of Penn's Colony, be- 
ing of Scotch and Irish descent. The grandfather of Hugh S. Antrim, 
Joel Antrim, came from the Keystone state of Indiana during the early 
history of the latter commonwealth, and there died. John Antrim was 
born in Madison, Indiana, in 1830, and there spent his youth in a modest 
clerkship. He began life with little more than an elementary educa- 
tion, became a flatboatman when nearing his majority, and ran the 
Ohio river for several years, passing late in the 'forties and during the 
early 'fifties the site of Cairo when a single house marked it. When 
he left the river he engaged in merchandising at Metropolis, Illinois, 



BHYERSITY 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 741 

but left that point and came to Cairo, being a merchant in the latter 
city during the Civil war, while it was occupied by Federal troops. 
He made the intimate acquaintance of Generals Grant and Logan and 
other officers of high rank, a fact which served him advantageously later 
on in life. Going from Cairo to St. Louis, Mr. Antrim carried on a 
mercantile business in the latter city for a rather brief period, when 
he returned to the city at the junction of the big rivers and died here 
in 1904. He became a stockholder in the old First Bank of Cairo, 
contributed as a public-spirited citizen toward the general welfare of 
the town, took a citizen's interest in politics as a Republican and was 
highly esteemed by all who knew him. He was a Knight Templar 
Mason and past high Priest of his Chapter, and was a consistent and 
liberal member of the Presbyterian church. He married Eliza Parr, 
a daughter of Eli Parr, an agriculturist of Concordia, Kentucky, where 
Mrs. Antrim was born, and she died in 1892, having been the mother of 
the following children: John, who is a traveling salesman out of 
Cairo; Albert, who passed away in 1891, unmarried; Nellie May, who 
became the wife of John A. Haynes and died in 1899 ; Addie P., who 
married Fred A. Kent, of Chicago; Miss Viola, who lives in Chicago; 
Hugh Seymour; and Walter S., who died at New Orleans in 1899, leav- 
ing a son, Charles F. Antrim, of Chicago. 

Hugh Seymour Antrim was educated in the Cairo graded schools 
and began his business career at the age of fourteen years as a clerk 
in the grain firm of C. M. Howe & Brother. He became a member of 
the firm in 1900 and succeeded to the business in 1906. His business 
is a purely domestic one and embraces the handling of food-stuffs as 
a shipper to points affording the best market for grain. In his public 
relation to the community Mr. Antrim is active among the commercial 
interests of Cairo. He is president of the Cairo Board of Trade and 
has represented his city as a delegate from that body in various meet- 
ings over the country, Chicago, Washington, D. C., St. Louis and 
Kansas City, and as a delegate to the Deep Waterway conventions he 
represented his city at Washington, December 7, 1911. He served as 
a member of the city council from the Third ward of Cairo for one 
term, and is a member of the Commercial Club and a director of the 
Central Building and Loan Association. He is a Master Mason and 
past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and past exalted ruler of the 
B. P. 0. E., representing that order as delegate at Detroit in 1910, 
and at Atlantic City in 1911. 

On October 9, 1894, Mr. Antrim was married at Carbondale, Illi- 
nois, to Miss Claribel McNeal, of Denver, Colorado. Her father was 
the late Judge R. T. McNeal, prominent in church and at the bar of 
Denver, and founder of the Women's College of Colorado. He passed 
away January 14, 1911, and he and his wife, who was a Miss Ellett, 
of Virginia, had seven children. Mrs. Antrim was educated in Potter's 
College, Bowling Green, Kentucky, and she and Mr. Antrim have 
three children, namely : Hugh Seymour, who is a junior of the Cairo 
High school; Walter Ellett, a freshman in the same school; and Vir- 
ginia. Mr. Antrim has brought up his household in the Presbyterian 
church, and was trustee of the congregation during the erection of the 
new house of worship of that faith some years ago. 

CHARLES WEHRENBERG. The life of Charles Wehrenberg, Sr., since 
he became a citizen of the United States, has been rife with activity, 
in both a political way and in his private citizenship. Coming to 
America as a young man he early fell a victim to the charm of public 
life, and he has been a vital force in every movement which compelled 



742 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

his attention from the beginning of his life as a citizen up to the pres- 
ent time. 

Charles Wehrenberg was born in Coeslin, Pomerania, one of the 
small states of the German Empire, on January 31, 1848. He is the 
son of Frederick W. and Adelaide (Egel) Wehrenberg, and he is the 
sole survivor of their four children. The father, Frederick W. "Weh- 
renberg, came to America in 1864 and did a considerable prospecting 
about with a view to finding a suitable location, it being his intention 
to bring his family and settle in America. He became engaged in 
farming near Mound City, Illinois, and it was while thus occupied that 
his son Charles came over to pay a visit to his father and, if possible, 
persuade him to return to the home in the Fatherland. However, 
before he was able to influence the elder Wehrenberg to that end, the 
father fell suddenly ill and died in 1868. Charles Wehrenberg had 
by that time become so attached to America, recognizing in it as he 
did the splendid opportunities for the future that lay at every hand 
that he himself was unwilling to return to his home in Germany, and, 
instead, settled down in the home his father had prepared for them 
and took up the business of farming where the father had left off. 

The early education of the young man had been somewhat beyond 
that of the average German youth, he having secured a liberal edu- 
cation in the Royal Prussian Gymnasium, and he was thus well fitted 
for the duties of public life, which attracted him from the beginning 
of his residence in America. 

Mr. Wehrenberg lived quietly on his farm and devoted himself 
industriously to that pursuit, becoming widely known throughout the 
county as a practical and successful agriculturist, and it was not until 
the year 1889 that he permitted his energies in that line of endeavor 
to abate somewhat, at which time he was elected to the office of sheriff 
of Pulaski county, and he moved into Mound City to take up the 
duties of that office. In the year 1885 he was named for the offices 
of assessor and treasurer by the Democratic party, whose cause he had 
adopted when he became a citizen, and he was duly elected to those 
offices, ably and satisfactorily performing his duties while still re- 
taining the actual management of his farm. He served one term in 
that capacity and another in that of sheriff of his county. While the 
encumbent of the latter named office his was the arduous task of main- 
taining order during the Switchmen's strike of 1892, and later in the 
Universal strike of the Illinois Central Employes of 1894. An inter- 
esting incident of the latter difficulty was the sending by the Illinois 
Central of a carload of Pinkerton men to be sworn in as deputies. Mr. 
Wehrenberg, however, in his official capacity, declined their aid, be- 
lieving that he would have better results with the aid of his own 
constituents as deputies. Of the thirteen capital crimes committed 
during his tenure of office, Mr. Wehrenberg was successful in arrest- 
ing and bringing to trial all of the murderers, and his entire admin- 
istration was marked by the same efficient performance of every duty, 
however slight, that characterized his private life and made him a suc- 
cessful man of business. 

At the expiration of his term as sheriff Mr. Wehrenberg gave over 
his active farming interests and engaged in the real estate business. 
He also acquired the insurance agency of Bradley & Roberts, and 
since that time he has controlled the major portion of all the under- 
writing business done in the county seat. He is still interested in 
farming, however, and is an extensive holder of farm land, regarding 
it as the safest form of investment for the conservative buyer, and 
believing it to be the property which promises the most secure support 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 743 

against the day of adverse circumstances which the future may unfold 
for even the most prosperous. 

On April 16, 1873, Mr. Wehrenberg married in Pulaski county 
Miss Mary Curry, a daughter of James Curry and a grand-daughter 
of Judge J. M. Thompson, widely known throughout this country and 
one of its pioneers. The issue of this marriage were : Frederick, who 
died in early childhood ; Adelaide, wife of Michael Murphy, of Mound 
City; Charles, Jr., who has followed in the footsteps of his father and 
is at present sheriff of Pulaski county; and Flora. Lola and Mollie, 
three fair young daughters who were called home within a brief period 
and whose loss the family mourns irreparably. 

Mr. Wehrenberg is a Master Mason, a Knight of Pythias, and is a 
member of the Lutheran church. 

HON. JOHN PRESTON MATHIS. Trained faculties and an enlightened 
understanding, in these modern days, contribute materially to individ- 
ual success, and more and more is the world at large asking for educated 
men, not only for the accepted professions, but also for those along 
agricultural lines and in the field of politics. The trained thinker is 
demanded for the deciding of public questions which, while they may 
be perplexing problems to the general public, must be clear to the law 
maker. In Hon. John Preston Mathis Johnson county, Illinois, has a 
man of scholarly attainments, one who for more than a decade was an 
educator himself, and one who has made his knowledge a stepping-stone 
to positions of great public responsibility. Mr. Mathis was born on a 
farm in Bloomfield township. Johnson county, July 26, 1867. and is a 
son of Robert D. and Lucinda (Fairless) Mathis, grandson of William 
Mathis, a native of Kentucky, great-grandson of John Mathis, of Vir- 
ginia, and great-great-grandson of John Mathis. 

The great-grandfather of John P. Mathis was one of the pioneer 
settlers of Trigg county, Kentucky, and was married to Margaret Brown, 
settling in Randolph county in 1846. "William Mathis. one of his sons, 
migrated to Southern Illinois in 1849, coming with his wife and four 
children in an ox-eart. and bought land from the Government in Bloom- 
field township, on which he erected a log cabin. The remainder of his 
life was spent in agricultural pursuits, and his death occurred Novem- 
ber 22, 1860. His wife was Cynthia Scott, of Kentucky, a daughter of 
William and Marv (Moore) Scott, and they had a family of five chil- 
dren, namely: Robert D., Elizabeth E.. John B., Margaret A. and 
James P. 

Robert D. Mathis was born in Trigg county. Kentucky, January 18, 
1836. and was thirteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to 
Johnson county. After his marriage he lived on rented land for six 
years, but eventually purchased forty acres in Bloomfield township, and 
added thereto until he was the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and 
forty acres. A stanch Republican and a leader in his party's counsels 
in his section, he served as justice of the peace for seventeen years, col- 
lector of taxes two years and township treasurer ten years, and was 
honored and respected as a self-made man. a useful citizen and an honest 
and capable public official. He and his family were connected with the 
Methodist church. Robert D. Mathis married Lucinda Fairless, a 
daughter of Robert and Mahala (Buchanan) Fairless. of Gallatin 
county, Illinois, and they had a family of children as follows: Ellen, 
who is deceased ; William and James, who died in boyhood ; John Pres- 
ton ; George W. ; Alonzo S. ; and Mrs. Lillie Elkins, who is deceased. 
Robert D. Mathis died in October. 1900. 

John Preston Mathis was educated in the common schools of Bloom- 



744 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

field township, in a select school and in the Southern Illinois Normal 
University, at Carbondale, and during the fall of 1888 began teaching 
school. During the eleven years that followed he became well known as 
an educator in Bloomfield and Vienna townships, and during one term 
he had charge of a school in Missouri. Always an industrious and pro- 
gressive citizen in all things, Mr. Mathis carried on farming operations 
while teaching, in addition to attending select schools during the spring 
terms. It was not until 1900, after the death of his parents and his 
retirement from the homestead to Vienna, that Mr. Mathis accepted his 
first public office. At that time he became deputy county clerk, a posi- 
tion which he held until the ^all of 1902, and he then served as deputy 
sheriff until 1906, when he was elected sheriff of Johnson county on the 
Republican ticket, and capably discharged the duties of that office for 
one term. He was chosen his party's candidate in the fall of 1910 for 
the office of state representative, was elected by a comfortable majority, 
and the work he has done as a member of the Legislature has shown that 
his fellow citizens made no mistake when they chose him to look after 
their interests. Although he makes his residence in Vienna, Mr. Mathis 
still carries on farming, and owns two fine tracts, of ninety -five and 
eighty-one acres, respectively. Fraternally he is connected with the 
Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, in all 
of which his popularity is great. 

Mr. Mathis was married in 1902 to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Whiteaker, 
daughter of Captain Mark Whiteaker, and they have one child, Evelyn 
Gertrude, who is now three years old. 

JOSEPH B. BUNDY. Presenting as it does a worthy example to the 
rising generation, the life of Joseph B. Bundy, of Carbondale, Illinois, 
which from early boyhood has been one of assiduous industry, untiring 
energy and unquestioned integrity, is well deserving of being sketched, 
however briefly, in the pages of this volume. Possessing untiring per- 
severance, Mr. Bundy in his youth educated himself and rose to posi- 
tions of honor and trust in the educational field, and since giving up 
that profession has been prominently identified with various large busi- 
ness enterprises, being at present auditor of the Ohio and .Mississippi 
Valley, and the Murphysboro Telephone Companies. Mr. Bundy was 
born in Saline county, Illinois, April 9, 1868, and is a son of Thomas 
and Octave (Phillips) Bundy. 

Thomas Bundy was born in 1829, in Wilson county, Tennessee, and 
was reared on a farm, coming to Illinois in 1861, and settling on a farm 
in the western part of Saline county, where he spent the remainder of 
his life, his death occurring April 25, 1892. He was a prominent agri- 
culturist of his day, was a stanch Democrat in his political views, and 
his religious faith was that of the Baptist church. The Bundy family is 
of French descent, the family name being originally spelled Bundeie, 
and first located in this country in North Carolina during Colonial 
days, from which members migrated to Ohio, Tennessee, Illinois and 
Missouri. In 1857 Thomas Bundy was married to Octave Phillips, also 
of Tennessee, and she survives her husband and lives on the old home- 
stead in Saline county, a firm believer in the teachings of the Christian 
church. They had a family of five daughters and five sons, and of 
these children Joseph B. Bundy was the fourth in order of birth. 

Joseph B. Bundy 's early life was spent on the old home farm in 
Saline county, and his early education was secured in the rural schools, 
made of logs, in which they were taught the "Three R's" and spelling 
from the old blue-backed spelling book. He grew to manhood on the 
farm, and on reaching his maturity moved to Harrisburg, the county 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 745 

seat, to make his home with his uncle, who was serving as county judge. 
During the summer he worked on his uncle's farm, with the under- 
standing that he should be allowed to attend school, but in 1884 was 
prevailed upon to come to Carboudale and enter the Southern Illinois 
Normal University. His limited means necessitated the strictest econ- 
omy, and before the close of the first year he had gone into debt one 
hundred dollars to complete his schooling, but during March, 1885, he 
passed the examination of the county superintendent of schools and re- 
ceived a teacher's certificate. He then returned to the old homestead, 
but secured a school known as the Hiller Schoolhouse, five miles west 
of Carbondale, where he taught a five months' term at a salary of thirty- 
five dollars per month. He then re-entered the normal school for the 
spring term of 1886, and in the meantime secured a school known as 
the Keown Schoolhouse, just south of the city, for a six months' term at 
forty dollars per month, in the spring following again entering the nor- 
mal. He next taught the same school at forty-five dollars per month, 
and during the following winter secured a school north of town at fifty 
dollars per month for six months, each spring term being spent as a 
student in the normal school. At this time he was elected principal of 
the Grand Tower schools, at sixty-five dollars per month, but resigned 
this position to enter the normal school for the year of 1889-1890. In 
the spring of the latter year he was elected principal of the East Side 
school of Murphysboro, at seventy-five dollars per month, a position 
which he held for two years, during the latter year receiving an ad- 
vance of ten dollars per month. At this* time, lacking but a few subjects 
to complete his course, Mr. Bundy completed his work in the normal 
school, going back and forth between the two cities, and in the spring of 
1892 was again elected to the same position, at a ten-dollar increase, but 
resigned this office to become superintendent of the public schools at 
Nashville, Illinois, the county seat of Washington county, and continued 
there for six years, during which time he built up the high school at- 
tendance from eighteen to one hundred and forty-seven pupils and 
placed it upon the list of accredited high schools of Illinois. In 1898 
Mr. Bundy gave up his school work to enter the telephone and electric 
light business in Carbondale, and has associated himself with various 
other enterprises, including the hardware and implement business. The 
possession in which he takes the greatest pride, however, is the old 
homestead, which he has purchased, and on which he has made numerous 
improvements. Mr. Bundy 's business qualifications have been univer- 
sally recognized, and his associations in the business world of Southern 
Illinois have been such as to make him one of this section's most influen- 
tial men. His political principles are those of the Republican party, 
but he has not engaged in public life, and is not a member of any fra- 
ternal associations. His religious affiliations are with the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

HON. GEORGE ~W. ENGLISH. It would be hard to find a better illus- 
tration of the facility with which, under the liberal institutions of this 
great country, a man of ability and integrity may rise to any station, 
perhaps, among the most exalted, than is afforded in the history of the 
Hon. George W. English, now serving his third term as representative in 
the State Legislature, and who is fast ascending the ladder of public 
fame. Mr. English was born May 9, 1866, on a farm in Johnson county, 
Illinois, six miles east of Vienna, a son of Manuel C. and Rebecca 
(Smith) English, who both now reside on the old homestead. 

Mr. English's great-grandfather, Abraham English, came from 
county Kerry, Ireland, with his brother, James English, and settled at 



746 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Roanoke, North Carolina, during Colonial days. Abraham later re- 
moved to the Pedee River, in South Carolina, while James went North 
to Vermont, and was with Ethan Allen at the battle of Ticonderoga. 
Abraham English furnished the horse that carried the messenger bear- 
ing the news to the band of patriots that a company of Royalists were 
camped on the Pedee River, which culminated in the dispersing of that 
company. His son, Jonathan English, grandfather of George W., was 
born on the Pedee River in 1812, and became a large land owner in the 
South, but gave up a part of his land and came North at the time of the 
Seminole war, and settled in Illinois in 1846, spending the remainder of 
his life in Massac county, where his death occurred in 1891. 

Manuel C. English was born in Marshall county, Kentucky, April 
17, 1842, and when the Civil war broke out became a member of Com- 
pany B, One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer In- 
fantry, with which he served three years, participating in numerous 
engagements and establishing an excellent war record. He was mar- 
ried to Rebecca Smith, who was born in the northern part of Massac 
county, Illinois, September 5, 1843. She was of Swedish-Scotch des- 
cent, her grandfather being an Emerson of Scotland, whose ancestors 
had originally come from Sweden, and he married Elizabeth McDonald. 
Mrs. English's father, Americus Smith, a native of North Carolina, was 
a Baptist minister, who commenced preaching when he was twenty 
years of age, and continued to preach the Gospel until he reached the 
age of seventy-five years. He came to Illinois in 1814, and at the battle 
of the Regulators against the Flatheads, at Fort Massac in 1846, he 
laid down the Bible to take up arms in behalf of law and order. It is 
believed that Sergeant McDonald, of Revolutionary fame, is also a 
member of this family 011 the maternal side. Manuel C. and Rebecca 
(Smith) English had the following children: Caddie Elizabeth Barham, 
who died in 1884, the mother of two children ; George W. ; Julia Vic- 
toria, who died January 20, 1912, the wife of H. A. Roundtree, has two 
sons and five daughters; and Charles Americus, of Mayfield, Kentucky, 
has a family of four sons and four daughters. 

George W. English remained on the home farm until he was twenty- 
four years of age, and his primary education was secured in the public 
schools. In 1883-4-5 he attended Ewing College, and he subsequently 
entered Illinois Wesleyan University, at Bloomington, from which he 
was graduated in law in 1891. In 1893 he entered into practice at 
Vienna, in partnership with H. M. Ridenhouse, of this city, and when 
that gentleman died in 1896 Mr. English took over the practice of the 
firm and has since followed it alone. He was elected to the office of city 
attorney of Vienna, and during his incumbency of that office he dis- 
played vigorous action and strict enforcement of law and order in 
the community. In 1888 he held a commission as aide-de-camp on the 
staff of Colonel Frank McCrillis, and in May, 1907, he was appointed to 
the staff as counselor of the state commander of the Sons of Veterans, 
of which he is a member. In 1906 his long and faithful labor in the 
ranks of the Democratic party in this section was rewarded by his elec- 
tion to the office of member of the Illinois State Legislature, and he is 
serving his third term in that high position, representing the Fifty-first 
district. Fraternally he is connected with the A. F. & A. M. and the 
R. A. M., the I. 0. 0. F., the K. of P., the Order of the Eastern Star, 
the Modern "Woodmen and the Royal Neighbors. His wife is an active 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is the teacher of 
the Bible class. 

On September 23, 1894. Mr. English was married to Miss Lillie M. 
Farris, of Johnson county. Illinois, daughter of Thomas G. and Mary 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 747 

A. (Gillespie) Farris, natives of North Carolina. Mr. Farris was of 
French descent and was reared near Salisbury, North Carolina. He 
and his wife removed to Tennessee, from whence they came to Illinois, 
where they first met and were married, and here Mr. Farris was engaged 
in agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1894. His widow, who sur- 
vives him, resides on the Johnson county homestead. Mr. and Mrs. 
English have four sons : Thomas Farris ; George W., Jr., Virgil Carroll 
and William Jefferson. 

Mr. English has invariably commanded the respect of his co-workers 
in the Legislature, creating the impression that he is a man of judgment 
and convictions, one who could voice his sentiments before a body politic 
when there was occasion. He has administered the affairs of his office 
with marked ability and success and no districts have possessed a more 
creditable representative either in appearance or capability. His pop- 
ularity is evidenced by the fact that he has been victoriously returned 
to his high office although the opposition parties have made the most 
strenuous efforts to defeat him, thus proving that the people have faith 
in him and have long since become convinced that his policies are as safe 
and sure as they are broad, generous and progressive. 

HALL WHITEAKER, M. D. It is ordinarily conceded that when a man 
has made an unqualified success of one profession he has done all 
that the demands of ambition require, and may then be permitted to 
rest upon his laurels; but in the case of Dr. Hall Whiteaker he has not 
been content to be known and regarded only as one of the ablest ex- 
ponents of the medical profession in his locality, but has found new 
"worlds to conquer" in the field of politics. 

Dr. Hall "Whiteaker was born at New Burnside, Illinois, October 
17, 1869, and is the son of Captain Mark Whiteaker, of Vienna, 
Illinois, one of the leading citizens of Johnson county and its ex- 
sheriff. Captain Whiteaker was born in Massac county, Illinois, in 
1833, being the son of Hall Whiteaker, Sr., who migrated to Illinois 
from Pennsylvania, and later moved from Massac county to Johnson 
county, in which county he lived and died finally at his home in New 
Burnside in the year 1842. Hall Whiteaker, Sr., married Elvira 
Dameron, and of their six children five are still living. 

Their eldest child was the son, Mark, and his early educational ad- 
vantages were of the sort peculiar to Johnson county in the early 
forties. W T hen he reached his majority and found the responsibility 
of man's estate upon him he engaged in farming, in which he was 
occupied until the opening of the Civil war, when he promptly en- 
listed in the Federal army and was commissioned captain of Company 
G, One Hundred and Twentieth Infantry, serving in General Grant's 
army in its preliminary advance upon Vicksburg. He saw active ser- 
vice at Corinth, Guntown and Shiloh, subsequent to which engage- 
ments he was discharged for disability. Following the close of the 
war and the return of natural conditions once more, Captain White- 
aker was elected sheriff of his county under a Republican administra- 
tion, of which party he was a staunch supporter, and served in that 
capacity for four years. 

Before the war Captain Whiteaker had married Miss Elizabeth 
Deaton, a daughter of William Deaton, who came to Illinois from 
Alabama. The issue of their union are : Arista, the wife of I. N. Mc- 
Elroy, state agriculturist for the penitentiary at Chester, Illinois ; 
Martha, who is Mrs. 0. E. Burris, of Simpson. Illinois; Geneva, wife 
of Dr. A. I. Brown of Vienna, Illinois; Dr. Hall, the subject of this 
sketch ; Dr. William J., of Pulaski, Illinois ; Elizabeth, who married 



748 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

J. P. Mathis, of Vienna, Illinois, a member of the General Assembly ; 
and Gertrude, the wife of A. L. Compton, a merchant of Mound City. 

Hall Whiteaker was a student in the common schools of his home 
town until mid-youth, when he took a complete course in the North- 
ern Illinois Normal and Business College at Dixon, Illinois. He fin- 
ished the teacher's course there, following which he took his place in 
the school room and served three years in the capacity of a teacher. 
It was not his wish or intention, however, to spend his life teaching 
school, and at the time he gave over his labors in that field he had 
already become possessed of some of the elementary rudiments of the 
study of medicine through private reading under careful supervision, 
and he became a student at the Foreman School of Medicine, preced- 
ing which he took a course of lectures in the Indianapolis School of 
Medicine. Following his studies at the Foreman School he went to 
Arkansas, where he successfully passed the examinations of the state 
board of health and went on to Garner, Arkansas, where he became 
actively engaged in the practice of his profession. At the close of 
two years' practice there he had completed his course of medical study 
with the Barnes Medical College, now a part of the Washington Uni- 
versity of St. Louis, graduating from" that school in 1893 and locating 
at Hodges Park, Illinois. After sixteen months of practice there he 
removed to Olmstead, as offering a wider field for his talents, and there 
he remained for seven years, enjoying an enviable reputation in that 
place, and in 1901 he came to Mound City, where he has since taken 
high rank in his chosen profession. 

The enthusiasm of Dr. Whiteaker for his profession has led him to 
identify himself with various medical societies, conspicuous among 
which are the Southern Illinois Medical Association, The Illinois State 
Medical Association, The American Medical Association, and also the 
Association of Surgeons of the Illinois Central System, embracing the 
sub-systems of the Indiana Southern and the Yazoo & Mississippi Val- 
ley Railways. Dr. Whiteaker is local surgeon for the Illinois Central 
at Mound City. In the years 1907 and 1909 he fortified his already ex- 
tensive course of study by taking post graduate work in the New York 
Polyclinics, and has left nothing undone that might be calculated to 
aid him in the successful demonstration of his chosen work. 

True to the principles of his early home influence Dr. Whiteaker on 
reaching his majority manifested a more than casual interest in political 
matters, his sympathies being with the Republican party, as were his 
father's. His splendid mental equipment for public life, combined with 
his zeal for party interests and his willingness to bear his share of the 
burdens of party labors, resulted in his being led into convention work 
from time to time, and he served ably in various senatorial, congressional 
and state conventions as the delegate of the Republican party. His 
ward in Mound City made him its councilman, which, with his previous 
service, manifested eloquently his especial fitness for safe and conserva- 
tive work in the General Assembly. Accordingly he was nominated by 
primary September 15, 1910, receiving the largest vote ever accorded to 
a candidate for that office in those parts, a very speaking circumstance 
with regard to his high position in the hearts of his fellow men in the 
town and district where he is best known. As a member of the General 
Assembly he quickly attained to places of importance on that body. He 
was chairman of the committee on state institutions; a member of the 
committees on drainage and waterways, federal relations, fraternal and 
mutual insurance, miscellaneous subjects and railroads, roads and 
bridges. During the session he took the opposition on the proposed 
civil-service legislation, and made a strong effort to secure some legisla- 



HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 749 

tion touching upon the profession of medicine and its practice. In his 
campaign he took active part in the labors of the party, and stumped 
the district in the interests of his party and himself. 

Fraternally Dr. Whiteaker is a thirty-second degree Mason, being a 
member of the Mound City lodge, of the Cairo Chapter and Command- 
ery, and of the Oriental Consistory in Chicago. Both he and his wife 
are members of the Congregational church. 

On September 29, 1891, Dr. Whiteaker married Miss Cina West at 
Belknap, Illinois, a daughter of Joshua West, of Massac county, a 
veteran of the Union army. 

GEORGE A. HICKMAN. Wnen a man has chosen one of the professions 
as his life work he must be prepared to make many sacrifices and to 
always hold his own interests in abeyance to the demands of his chosen 
occupation. Legal practitioners have always found this to be true, and 
it is especially so when a lawyer has been selected to fill a position of 
trust in his community, for, leaving all thought of self aside, he must 
give of his time, his strength and his talent in the interests of his fellow- 
citizens, his labors often being reimbursed only with a sense of duty 
well done. George A. Hickman, state's attorney at Benton, Illinois, is 
one of the conscientious young officials of that town, and as a member 
of the legal firm of Hickman & Hickman has an extensive practice. Mr. 
Hickman was born in Benton, Franklin county, Illinois, May 3, 1876, 
and is a son of Zachary and Julia (Johnson) Hickman. 

Snowden Hickman, the paternal grandfather of George A. Hickman, 
was born in North Carolina and as a young man moved to Tennessee, 
where the remainder of his life was spent in agricultural pursuits. His 
son Zachary was born to Wilson county, Tennessee, and came to Illinois 
in 1860, settling in Saline county, from whence he enlisted in the Civil 
war as a surgeon. He continued in the Union service until the close of 
the war and then returned to Saline county, where he married Miss 
Julia Johnson, who was born in Wisconsin, daughter of Mark Johnson, 
a native of New York, who moved to Wisconsin in young manhood and 
spent the remainder of his life in Milwaukee county. After his marriage 
Zachary Hickman moved to Franklin county, where he is today the 
oldest practicing physician, as well as the owner of a fine farm. 

George A. Hickman was educated in the Benton public and high 
schools, and studied law in the offices of Hart & Spiller, being admitted 
to the bar in 1897. He succeeded to the practice of his former em- 
ployers, who moved from Benton, and in 1909 entered into partnership 
with his brother, the firm style being Hickman & Hickman. This firm 
has handled some of the most prominent cases tried here in recent years, 
and have won a reputation that extends far beyond the limits of their 
city. George A. Hickman has always been a stalwart supporter of the 
principles of the Democratic party, and has worked hard and faithfully 
in the interests of that organization. In 1908 his loyalty to his party 
was rewarded by his nomination to the office of state's attorney, and he 
was elected to that office in the ensuing election that fall by a handsome 
majority. In addition to his official duties, in the discharge of which he 
has demonstrated marked ability, and his work in his private practice 
Mr. Hickman finds time to look after his farm, a finely-cultivated tract 
in Franklin county, where he raises pure bred horses and fancy poultry. 
He is very popular in the social circles of Benton, and belongs to the 
B. P. 0. E. and the M. W. A., of which latter organization he was con- 
sul for three years. Mr. Hickman has never married. 



750 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

HON. PLEASANT T. CHAPMAN. Everywhere in our broad land arise 
leaders of men, individuals who, from some inherent qualities which 
usually cannot be forecast, push their way irresistibly to the front, and 
in periods of financial danger and doubt skillfully guide their fellowrnen 
to prosperity again. The Hon. Pleasant T. Chapman, ex-member of 
Congress and a well known financier of Southern Illinois, has been 
identified with numerous enterprises of importance in this part of the 
state, and is a member of a family that has been connected with the 
interests of John county for more than a century, where he was born 
on a farm October 8, 1854, a son of Daniel C. and Mary Rose Chapman. 

The Chapman family is of English descent, and was founded in this 
country by the great-grandfather of Pleasant T. Chapman, Daniel Chap- 
man, a Revolutionary soldier, and his brother, Samuel J. Chapman, who 
fought through the war of 1812-14. Daniel Chapman came to Johnson 
county, Illinois, in the year 1800, from New York, and some years there- 
after several of his sons followed him West, one of whom, also named 
Daniel, the grandfather of Pleasant T., came in 1818 and located on a 
farm four miles east of Vienna, where he spent the remainder of his life. 
The history of the Chapman family has been closely intertwined with 
that of Johnson county, and for more than one hundred years members 
thereof have been prominent in various walks of life. Daniel C. Chapman, 
the father of Pleasant T., served in the Mexican war. and on his return 
home was elected to the office of sheriff of Johnson county, in which he 
served three terms. He and his wife, who survives him, had a family of 
eight children, as follows : Pleasant T. ; J. C., who is engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits in Johnson county ; Sidney A., deceased, who was the wife 
of A. G. Benson, and had four children; Mary E., the wife of J. N. 
Benson, assistant deputy warden of the Chester Penitentiary; Daniel L., 
who is deceased, left two children, and his widow, Kate, is now teaching 
school in East St. Louis; Estella, wife of Mayor Noel Whitehead, of 
Vienna, has three children; Ida C., the wife of D. "W. Whittenburg, 
cashier of the First National Bank of Vienna, has two children; and 
Charles H., of Philadelphia, national bank examiner of the eastern 
district of Pennsylvania, has one child. 

Pleasant T. Chapman attended' the common schools of his native 
vicinity, and all the surrounding circumstances of his youth combined 
in a remarkable degree to hasten the development of his character and 
to enable him to constantly store up that quality of knowledge which is 
a condition of leadership and success in a generation eminently prac- 
tical and looking mainly to material results. Later he entered Mc- 
Kendree College, at Lebanon, Illinois, from which he was graduated 
with the degree of A. B. in 1876, and then began teaching school, in the 
meantime assiduously devoting his spare time to study of the law. He 
was admitted to the bar at Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 1879, when he be- 
gan the practice of his profession, and during that same year was ap- 
pointed county superintendent of schools, later serving four years by 
election to that office. In 1884 his eminent abilities were recognized by 
his election to the county bench, and in 1888 he was reelected to that 
position, and from 1890 to 1902 served as state senator from the Fifty- 
first district. He was then a member of the Fifty-ninth, Sixtieth and 
Sixty-first Congresses, being elected from the Twenty-fourth district, 
and his record as a member of that august body is one of which he may 
well feel proud. Quickly winning the confidence of its members, he 
became one of its wisest and most willing workers. Arduous work in 
the committee rooms, personal conferences with his fellow men and with 
the departments of the government, and careful care of the interests of 
even the most humble constituent, made his incumbency of his high of- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 751 

fice an eminent one and stamped him as one of his state's most con- 
scientious legislators. 

Mr. Chapman has been one of the leading financiers of this section 
for many years and is the oldest bank president in point of continuous 
service in Southern Illinois. The First National Bank, of which he is 
now president, was organized in 1890, having formerly been a private 
bank. He has served in the capacity of bank president for a quarter 
of a century, and for more than thirty years has been identified with 
the mercantile interests of Vienna. He is the owner or is interested in 
two thousand acres of land in Johnson county, and no important enter- 
prise feels that its personnel of official members is complete that does not 
bear his name. 

In 1882 Mr. Chapman was married to Miss May Copeland, formerly 
a teacher in the Vienna schools, daughter of John W. and Mary (Smith) 
Copeland, of Massac county, and three children have been born to this 
union: Daniel Ward, special agent for the National Fire Insurance 
Company, of Chicago ; Marian, the wife "of Lieutenant Paul Raburg, 
U. S. Cavalry, located at Fort Russell; and Ralph D., who is a student 
in the Illinois University. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, are well known in church circles, and lib- 
eral supporters of all movements of a religious or charitable nature. 
He is a member of the Union League Club of Chicago, and is fraternally 
connected with the Masons, in which he has attained to the thirty-second 
degree, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Sons of the 
American Revolution. Mrs. Chapman is regent of the local chapter 
(named after the great-grandfather of Mr. Chapman) Daughters of the 
American Revolution and is widely known in social circles of the city. 

True to his friends, loyal to his party, ardently devoted to the town 
of his adoption, Mr. Chapman was as much a conspicuous and faithful 
member of that great body of intelligent citizens who control the des- 
tinies of the country as he is today, and always has been, wise in counsel, 
original in conception, shrewd in management and fearless in the exe- 
cution of those plans which he believes will result in prosperity to the 
city, the state and the nation. 

The First National Bank of Vienna was organized October 7, 1890, 
having been preceded by a private bank of which the Hon. Pleasant T. 
Chapman was the president. This institution enjoys a prestige among 
financial concerns in Illinois rarely equalled, and is noted for the many 
able citizens and financiers who have been connected with it. Among 
these may be mentioned : Hon. P. T. Chapman, whose record it is need- 
less to here repeat ; George B. Gillespie, now senior attorney for the New 
York Central lines at Springfield ; C. Cohn, former director and one of 
the original organizers, now located in San Bernardino, California, and 
one of the leading business men of that state ; L. 0. Whitnell, a former 
director, now Illinois attorney for the Missouri Pacific Railway ; Robert 
Gillespie, president of the Illinois Trust Company, East St. Louis ; John 
B. Jackson, banker at Anna, Illinois; Charles H. Chapman, national 
bank examiner for eastern Pennsylvania; J. F. Mackay, cashier of the 
Merchants State bank; William M. Grissom, president of the Merchants 
State Bank of Centralia, Illinois ; L. 0. Walker, cashier of the First Na- 
tional Bank of Cobden, Illinois; Richard Chapman, assistant cashier of 
the State Bank of Mounds. Illinois; and D. W. Chapman, assistant 
cashier of the City National Bank of East St. Louis. This institution is 
capitalized at sixty thousand dollars with a surplus of sixty thousand 
dollars, and the present board of directors is made up of the following 
well known citizens: Pleasant T. Chapman, D. W. Whittenberg (who 
has been a bank cashier for the past twenty-five years), W. M. Grissom 



752 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

of Centralia, J. P. Mackay of Centralia, J. K. Elkins, W. L. Williams 
and 0. H. Rhodes. 

FRED HOOD presents to Mound City a splendid example of bril- 
liant young manhood, who at the early age of thirty-three has accom- 
plished that which many have failed to attain in a life time of effort. 
As state's attorney for Pulaski county he occupies an enviable posi- 
tion in the political affairs of his city and county, and he is steadily 
mounting higher in the pathway of success. 

Fred Hood was born in Johnson county, Illinois, March 31, 1878. 
He is the son of James W. Hood, who at the time of the birth of Fred 
was a merchant in New Burnside, Illinois, having come to Illinois from 
Hardeman county, Tennessee. James W. Hood was born in Alabama, 
in 1839. "When he came to Illinois in the year 1862 he settled at Mount 
Pleasant, Union county, later passing on to New Burnside. He was 
a member of the old and aristocratic family of Hoods of South Caro- 
lina, his father also having "been a James Hood, who passed away in 
Union county, Illinois, in the year 1882, and who was the father of 
thirteen children, from whom a dozen new families have sprung. 

As a young man James Hood, the .father of our subject, was en- 
gaged in merchandising, and the towns of New Burnside and Olm- 
stead, the latter his present home, have known him intimately through- 
out the entire course of his business life. He married Victoria Maxey, 
a daughter of an early settler from Tennessee, then engaged in the 
farming industry in Union county, Illinois. Mrs. Hood having been 
born in Tennessee in 1854. She, however, is the second wife of her 
husband, he having a daughter, Mrs. Virginia Martin, of Olmstead, 
Illinois, the product of an earlier marriage. His union with Victoria 
Maxey was blessed with three sons-. Fred, of whom we write; Harry, 
an attorney in Cairo, Illinois; and Barney, who died in the early days 
of his young manhood. 

Fred Hood passed his boyhood days as a pupil of the common 
schools of his home town, and in the autumn of 1894, when he was 
sixteen years of age, he entered the Southern Illinois Normal School. 
The next year he became a student at the Southern Collegiate Institute 
at Albion, Illinois, and the year following that he completed a course 
in the Dixon Business College, at Dixon, Illinois. Thus equipped with 
a working knowledge of the technicalities of business, flanked by his 
common school training and his limited University experience, he took 
up the study of law in the office of Judge W. A. Wall, of Mound City. 
After reading with Judge Wall sufficiently to prepare him for entry at 
a law school, he entered the Northern Illinois College of Law at Dixon, 
Illinois, from which he was graduated in 1900, with the degree of Master 
of Laws. 

At the close of his college career Mr. Hood found it expedient to sup- 
plement his finances in some manner, which he did by serving for two 
years as principal of the village of Olmstead schools. He then joined 
his brother Harry, and the two opened offices in Mound City, under the 
name of Hood & Hood, attorneys. 

In the year 1904 Fred Hood was appointed to the office of master in 
chancery, a signal honor for one of his years and experience, in which 
capacity he served for one year and a half. He was elected city attorney 
in 1907, serving one term, and in 1908 was elected states attorney under 
a Republican administration. His constant affiliation with party affairs 
has brought him a wide acquaintance with state political leaders and 
other men of prominence, and it is but reasonable to assume that a ca- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 753 

reer which has opened so auspiciously cannot fail to be crowned with 
the highest honors that his fellows can bestow. 

Mr. Hood was married in Mound City, on September 1, 1909, to Miss 
Blanche Boyd, a daughter of Hon. Thomas Boyd, a lawyer and banker of 
that city. Mrs. Hood is a young woman who is well fitted to assist her 
husband most efficiently in the many duties devolving of necessity upon 
a man of his position. One son, Frederick, Jr., has been born of their 
union. 

Mr. Hood is a member of Caledonia Lodge, No. 47, A. F. & A. M., and 
is its past master, having represented it in the Illinois Grand Lodge. He 
is also a Knight of Pythias and member of Modern Woodmen of America, 
as well as being a member of the Congregational church of Mound City. 

WILLIAM P. SLACK. Valiantly aiding in the defense of his country 
and its flag in war and contributing directly and materially, according 
to his opportunities and resources, to its industrial and mercantile great- 
ness and power in peace, William P. Slack, of Carbondale, has proven 
himself a useful man in everything he has put his hand to, and a citizen 
altogether worthy of the high esteem in which he is held wherever he is 
known. 

His life began at New Hope, Bucks county, in that great hive of in- 
dustry, Pennsylvania, where almost every form of human endeavor finds 
fruitful expression and adds to the wealth of the country. He lived in 
his native county from his birth on January 12, 1844, until he reached the 
age of ten years, and began his scholastic education in the schools of 
Philadelphia, which were easily accessible from his home. In 1854 his 
parents, Henry and Rachel (Kitchin) Slack, decided to leave their 
Eastern home and establish a new one in the West, where everything 
was new and opportunities for advancement were eagerly bidding for 
takers of the right caliber. 

Accordingly, in that year they moved their family to Freeport, Illi- 
nois, where for a time the father continued the mercantile enterprise 
he had previously conducted in Pennsylvania. From Freeport the 
family moved to Pana in Christian county, and afterward to Cairo. He 
engaged in merchandising in all these cities, and his son attended school 
in them in turn until the beginning of the Civil war. When that 
momentous conflict opened he was fired with patriotic zeal for the sal- 
vation of the Union, and determined to join the forces mustering for 
its defense. 

On August 26, 1861, when he was but little more than seventeen 
and a half years of age, he and his brother Charles enlisted in Com- 
pany G, Fifth Illinois Cavalry. The regiment was soon on the march 
for St. Louis, Missouri, and while it was in that state saw active ser- 
vice in a number of skirmishes. From St. Louis the command pro- 
ceeded to Pilot Knob, and from there to Helena, Arkansas, making its 
way sometimes without opposition, and sometimes being compelled to 
wrest the right to advance from obstinate opponents in arms who made 
determined resistance. 

The army division to which the Illinois troops were assigned at 
length reached the scene of intense hostilities and took part in the bat- 
tle of Sligo in the vicinity of Vicksburg. William Slack was the bugler 
of his regiment, and the stirring calls he put forth from his bugle al- 
ways gave the troops fervor for a fight and animated them for the 
charge. His term of enlistment expired in September, 1863, and on the 
sixteenth day of that month he was released from the service. 

From the excitement of the battlefield, the ardor of the march, the 
ennui of the camp, and all the other exacting conditions of war, he re- 



754 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

turned to Cairo and became a clerk in a clothing store, with which he 
was connected in that capacity until 1869. He then opened a store of 
his own, which he conducted until 1882, when he sold it and moved to 
Carbondale. Here he again engaged in merchandising in the clothing 
trade, and continued his operations in that line of endeavor until June 
3, 1898. On that date he was appointed postmaster, and he has filled 
the office ever since, having been reappointed three times. 

Mr. Slack was united in marriage with Miss Orpha Crabb, a native 
of Indiana and a popular school teacher in Southern Illinois. They had 
three children, all of whom are living : Emma, who is the wife of Frank 
Rendleman, a wholesale fruit merchant in Chicago ; Harry L. ; and 
Mary, the wife of Lee Haldeman, a prosperous plumber in Anna, Illi- 
nois. Their mother died, and the father contracted a second marriage, 
uniting himself with Miss Louie Olmstead, of Anna, Union county, in 
this state. His political faith and allegiance are given without stint or 
reservation to the Republican party, and he is one of the most ar- 
dent and effective workers in the county for its success in all campaigns. 
Fraternally he is a Freemason of the Royal Arch degree and with the 
rank of past master in his lodge. He also belongs to the Grand Army 
of the Republic and holds his membership in John W. Lawrence Post, 
No. 297, at Carbondale. 

JUDGE WILLIAM A. WALL. Twenty years or more of efficient service 
in the professional, business and political circles of Southern Illinois 
has made the life record of Judge William A. Wall, of Mound City, 
an honored one, and the fact that he is a native son of Southern 
Illinois and has spent his whole life in this section of the state well 
entitles him to representation in this volume. 

Judge Wall was born in Union county, Illinois, August 17, 1864, 
and grew to manhood near the village of Western Saratoga, that county. 
Pleasant recollections center around the old Pleasant Ridge school 
where as a youth he acquired his earlier education, and a backward 
look over those years recalls experiences closely akin to those of Whit- 
tier's "Barefoot Boy." He subsequently spent two terms in the South- 
ern Illinois Normal University and a like period was spent in the 
Union Academy at Anna, Illinois, his work in college having been 
alternated with several months of teaching in country schools. His 
professional preparation was obtained in the law department of the 
Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, from which he was 
graduated in 1890. He was admitted to the bar by examination be- 
fore the supreme court the year of his graduation, and on April 15, 
1890, he began the practice of his profession at Mound City, Illinois, 
where his ability soon placed him in the front rank of attorneys and 
where as the years have passed he has directed his professional labors 
to the acquirement of success and prominence. He associated him- 
self with Judge Joseph P. Robarts, late judge of the Southern Illinois 
judicial circuit, and the firm of Robarts & Wall existed until Judge 
Robarts was elevated to the bench. Then by arrangement the late 
Judge Caster became a member of the firm, the style being Wall & 
Caster, and remained so until death claimed the junior member in 
1909. Judge Wall then formed a partnership with ex-district attorney 
George E. Martin, and Wall & Martin is the foremost legal firm of 
Pulaski county. 

Judge Wall's practice has been general and, save in a few in- 
stances, none of it has been of historic interest. His connection with 
much of the litigation growing out of the State Drainage act, creating 
a drainage district in this section of Illinois and forcing the adjust- 



T"\ *'"*'' 

'ft ',": 
SWER5ITY OF HUE 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 755 

merit of many matters in the courts, even to the supreme court of the 
state, is well known to have been extensive. Also his connection with 
suits involving the interpretation of the fire insurance laws of the 
state by the supreme court was the means of placing a new decision 
before the people regarding the admissibility of evidence in a suit 
brought for the collection of a fire loss. In this particular case the 
plaintiff was the defendant in a prior suit brought by the insurance 
company for burning his property for the insurance. A witness for the 
plaintiff said that he burned the barn, among other things, yet the 
defendant was acquitted. Subsequently the defendant and the wit- 
ness against him got into an altercation and the witness was killed. 
Then the defendant brought suit against the insurance company for 
the amount of his policy and the company offered to introduce the tes- 
timony of the deceased witness as part of the defense. This move was 
checked by an objection of Judge Wall, the plaintiff's counsel, that 
such testimony was incompetent for use in the case, and was sustained 
in the circuit court. The defense appealed the case and the judg- 
ment was affirmed. 

The official and professional career of Judge Wall have paralleled 
each other, for they both began the same year of 1890, the former 
with his election to the office of county judge. He served one term 
and in 1896 was elected a member of the State Board of Equalization, 
to which office he was re-elected in 1900 for another term of four 
years. In that body he served on the railroads committee, the com- 
mittee on farm lands and town lots, and was chairman of the auditing 
committee. In 1904 he was appointed a member of the Cache River 
Drainage Commission and was chairman of it during his two years' 
service. The commission formulated plans for draining eighty-five 
thousand acres of land in the counties of Massac, Johnson, Union and 
Pulaski, the largest drainage district in the state. In December, 1909, 
he was appointed by Governor Deneen to fill the vacancy in the office 
of county judge caused by the death of Judge Caster, and was elected 
to that office without opposition in November, 1910. It will thus be 
seen that for over twenty years Judge Wall has been in the active and 
continuous service of his state, and in each position that he has filled 
his service has been marked for ability and the conscientious discharge 
of duty. 

Judge Wall is a staunch supporter of Republican politics and in 
that sphere is the same forceful and influential man as in law and 
official life. He ascribes to his mother, a woman of strong mind and 
character, much of the influence which shaped his political views and 
dominated his choice of party affiliations. He was chairman of the 
Pulaski County Central Committee for ten years and was the head 
of the judicial committee of his judicial district for twelve years. He 
has been a delegate to every Republican state convention for a score 
of years and has frequently been chairman of the county delegation, 
and was a delegate to the longest and noisiest convention ever held 
for selecting a judicial candidate, the one finally nominating Judge 
Robarts. 

Judge Wall has not only attained prominence and usefulness in 
his community along professional lines and in public life, but his keen 
business instincts and unvarying faith in Southern Illinois have made 
him a man of large and substantial properties. He is vice-president 
of the First State Bank of Mounds, and holds stock in the First State 
Bank and the First, National Bank of Mound City, in the First 
National Bank of Ullin and in the First State Bank of Grand Chain. 



756 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

He is a stockholder in the Mound City Building and Loan Association 
and in the Mounds Building and Loan Association. 

Judge Wall is a son of James B. Wall, a retired farmer now re- 
siding in Mound City. The latter was born February 22, 1842, at 
Lebanon, Tennessee, and came to Illinois in 1864 with his father, Byrd 
Wall, who settled in Union county. Byrd Wall married Malinda John- 
son, and of his twelve children James B. was the youngest. James B. 
Wall married Miss Anna Wright, a daughter of Ambrose and Melissa 
Wright, also from Tennessee, and William A. is the eldest of their 
twelve children, the following of whom came to mature years: Wil- 
liam A. ; Agnes, who married William Penrod ; Clementine, wife of 
Andrew Wright ; Sherman B. ; and Maude, the wife of Frank Southall, 
of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. 

Judge Wall was married first in Mayfield, Kentucky, January 8, 
1882, to Miss Louie Kaltenback, who died November 9, 1897, leaving 
a son, Warner. He married his present wife in Mound City, June 5, 
1907. She was Miss Margaret Browner, a daughter of the late Thomas 
Browner, who came to the United States from county Wexford, Ire- 
land, where he was born in 1831. His wife, who was Mary McCarthy, 
died in Mound City in 1911, ten years after his own demise. Two 
other children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Browner: Michael F., the 
mayor of Mound City for a dozen years, and Miss Mary Browner, who 
also resides in Mound City. 

In his social and fraternal connections Judge Wall is a member of 
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of 
America. 

The large figure of Judge Wall has the commanding air of vigor, 
of will and of strong personality, and everything about him testifies to 
his integrity, yet he is the most courteous and affable of men, his 
warm heart and cheerful disposition making friends and intrenching 
him in the good will and esteem of his fellow citizens. 

JACKSON L. HAMMOND. Prominent among the live, up-to-date news- 
papers of Southern Illinois is the Anna Democrat, published at Anna, 
Union county, a weekly publication with a large circulation which 
wields a large influence in its section of the state. This paper's rapid 
growth and the high standard attained by it, has been brought about 
by the efforts of its capable editor and general manager, Jackson L. 
Hammond, who holds an enviable position in Illinois journalism. Mr. 
Hammond is a product of the East, having been born in Hagerstown, 
Washington county, Maryland, in 1865, and was brought to Illinois 
by his parents in 1867 the family spending three years at Forreston, 
Ogle county, where his father had a charge as Lutheran minister, and 
five years at Shuey's Mills, Wisconsin, where young Hammond first 
attended school. He then spent two years at Sharon, Wisconsin, and 
twelve years at Princeton, Iowa, and took a two-year classical course at 
Carthage, Illinois. Mr. Hammond first entered the newspaper busi- 
ness with Joseph Gill, at Murphysboro, Illinois, where he learned the 
details of making up a successful sheet, but left that connection to 
become chief clerk at the Illinois Southern Hospital for the Insane 
at Anna. After four years, during which time he had an excellent 
record as a public official, Mr. Hammond took charge of the fortunes 
of the Anna Democrat, both in the editorial and advertising lines, and 
in his operations has been exceptionally successful, building up the 
circulation of the paper and giving its advertisers such good returns 
for their money as to increase its patronage exceedingly in that line. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 757 

The Anna Democrat aims to give its readers the best news, local, na- 
tional and international, to be accurate in every statement made and 
to keep its 2,160 subscribers fully informed as to what is going on 
around them and in the outside world. Its editorials have been 
timely, interesting, virile and snappy, and the humorous features of 
the news have not been overlooked. Although his journalistic duties 
have been heavy and have demanded a great deal of his attention, Mr. 
Hammond has found time to act in a public capacity, and the con- 
fidence and esteem in which he is held by his fellow townsmen was 
evidenced during the last election, when he was unanimously elected 
clerk of Anna, it being the sixth consecutive time he has held this 
office. His political views are those of the Democratic party, and he 
is recognized as a leader, not only as a citizen who has ever been ready 
to work hard in the ranks of his party, but as the able editor of a 
newspaper that does much to influence a large number of people to its 
views. Mr. Hammond is a self-made man, the success which he has 
attained having come through the medium of his own hard, persistent 
efforts. Fraternally, he is connected with the Court of Honor, and 
his progressive spirit caused him to be instrumental in organizing the 
Commercial Club of Anna, of which he was secretary the first two 
years. 

On September 11, 1894, Mr. Hammond was united in marriage with 
Miss Martha Aden, of Dongola, Illinois, and they have had two chil- 
dren, both of whom reside at home : Mary Prances, aged thirteen years ; 
and Josiah, who is ten years old. 

ALBERT S. TIBBETS. Like many of the successful journalists of 
today, Albert S. Tibbets, owner and editor of the Jonesboro Gazette, of 
Jonesboro, Illinois, started his newspaper career in the humble position 
of "devil," and has devoted his whole life to the gathering and distrib- 
uting of news, gradually working his way up the ladder of success until 
he now stands in the front rank of the men of his profession in Southern 
Illinois and is an acknowledged power in the local political field. Mr. 
Tibbets is one of the self-made men of his section, and the success which 
has finally rewarded his efforts has come only after years of discourage- 
ments and disappointments. Born at Auburn, Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois, in January, 1858, Mr. Tibbets is a son of Hiram and Martha 
(Wilson) Tibbets. His father, who was a farmer and fruit grower, 
came to Jonesboro in 1868 and died two years later, and his widow sur- 
vived until May, 1897, when she passed away in this city. 

Albert S. Tibbets attended school until he was fourteen years of age, 
at which time he began to contribute to the support of the family. He 
secured a position in the office of the newspaper of which he is now the 
owner, beginning as "devil" and rising from position to position until 
1893, when he purchased the journal from his father-in-law. The 
Jonesboro Gazette was established in 1849, and is one of the oldest in 
Southern Illinois. It is now published weekly and has a paid-up circu- 
lation of 1,200. It is a Democratic organ, but aims to present to its 
readers a fair, unbiased opinion on all matters of importance. A neat, 
well-printed sheet, its pages are devoted to the interesting news of the 
day, together with all the local happenings and terse, well-written edi- 
torials. It has endeavored to educate the reading public into discourag- 
ing sensational matter, the management believing that a clean, reliable 
newspaper will be the means of ultimately developing the best interests 
of the community. Mr. Tibbets has been loyal to the Democratic party, 
and was for many years secretary of the County Democratic Central 

Committee. He has identified himself with various business enterprises 
VOL n is 



758 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

and is at present a stockholder in the Fruit Growers Package Company 
of Jonesboro. 

In 1887 Mr. Tibbets was united in marriage with Miss Esther 
Bouton, who was born in 1860, at Jackson, Michigan, daughter of 
Thomas F. Bouton, a well-known newspaper man of Southern Illinois, 
for twenty-five years editor of the Jonesboro Gazette, and five children 
have been born to this union, namely : Jennie, who married Noah R. 
Cluster, and resides at Gary, Indiana ; John A., unmarried, who is 
business manager of the Gazette and fraternally is connected with 
Jonesboro Lodge No. Ill, A. F. & A. M., and the Order of the Eastern 
Star, in both of which he is very popular; and Thomas, Esther and 
Elizabeth, who live at home with their parents. The family is connected 
with the Baptist church. Mr. Tibbets is widely known in newspaper 
circles throughout this section of the county, and as a representative of 
the type of men who have been the architects of their own fortunes has 
the respect and esteem of all with whom he has come into contact. 

JAMES FRANKLIN HIGHT. Probably there is no better known figure 
in Southern Illinois than the Hon. James Franklin Hight, judge of the 
County Court of Johnson county, a man universally respected as a 
public official, known as an efficient and practical agriculturist, and a 
preacher of wide reputation at various evangelistic meetings. In 
every walk of life Judge Hight is well worthy the esteem and respect 
in which he is held, and no citizen enjoys to a greater degree the warm 
personal friendship of so many of his community's people. He was 
born April 17, 1858, on a farm in Grantsburg township, Johnson 
county, Illinois, and is a son of Robert D. Hight, a native of Ten- 
nessee. 

William Hight, the great-grandfather of Judge Ilight, was a native 
of North Carolina, and his brother, Robert Hight, fought as a soldier 
during the war of 1812, serving under General Andrew Jackson at 
New Orleans, and later fighting valiantly in the Indian wars, partici- 
pating in the battle at Horse Shoe Bend, where the power of the 
Indians was broken. Robert D. Hight 's brother, Archibald Hight, 
fought in the Civil war. In 1844 Robert D. Hight came to Southern 
Illinois with his father, Sion Hight, and settled in Grantsburg town- 
ship, where he purchased an improved farm and also entered Govern- 
ment land. Some of his first land had been granted during President 
Van Buren's time, and a number of the old deeds and grants in pos- 
session of the family were made out over the signature of President 
Fillmore. Robert D. Hight became a very successful farmer, and at 
one time owned eight hundred acres of land, also being prominent in 
county affairs and serving as sheriff and county commissioner. He 
died March 20, 1880. Mr. Hight was married first to Miranda 
Smith shortly after settling in Illinois, and she died a few years later. 
His second wife was Mrs. Ann (Vanderbilt) Donaghy, widow of W. B. 
Donaghy, and he married for his third wife Eliza Lorina McCorkle, who 
became the mother of Judge Hight and Alonzo D. Hight. She died 
September 9, 1875, at the age of forty-three years. In 1876, Robert D. 
Hight married for his fourth wife a widow, Mrs. Nancy (French) 
Conley, and she survived him some years but is now deceased. Mr. 
Hight had two daughters by his first marriage, and two sons by each 
of his second and third marriages, named as follows : Mary and Miranda, 
both deceased ; Milton L., who is engaged in farming ; 'Robert Marshall, 
who is deceased; James Franklin; and Alonzo Decatur, a lawyer of 
Poplar Bluff, Missouri. 

James Franklin Hight was reared on the home farm and attended 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 759 

the old log and frame district schools, his boyhood being spent much 
the same as that of other farmers' youths of that day. He is remem- 
bered to have been the leader of the lads in his neighborhood in games, 
sports and all kinds of frolics. The year after he completed his stud- 
ies in the old Grantsburg school he returned as teacher and for the 
next twenty years, off and on, was engaged in teaching, varying this 
profession with farming and preaching. For the past twenty-three 
years he has been a preacher in the Church of Christ, and is an evan- 
gelist of renown and ability, having held evangelistic meetings in 
several states. As an orator and exhorter he has taken part in a 
number of religious discussions, in which he has defended his positon 
in a proper manner and earnest spirit. In political matters he is a 
Republican, but is inclined to be independent, reserving the right to 
cast his vote for the candidate whom he deems best fitted for the 
office. In December, 1885, he was commissioned justice of the peace 
in Massac county by Governor Richard Oglesby, and a quarter of a 
century later was commissioned by the former governor's son, Acting- 
Governor John G. Oglesby. He has always resided on a farm, and 
now has a tract of fifty-five acres in Vienna township, situated eight 
miles from Vienna. He has found time to spare from his religious 
and official duties to engage in hunting, his favorite sport, and main- 
tains a fine pack of foxhounds. Judge Hight belongs to the Brother- 
hood of America, and also is connected with the Farmers' Union, of 
which he served as county, state and local champlain in 1910. 

On March 19, 1882, Judge Hight was married to Mary Isabella 
Presgrove, of Massac county, daughter of D. F. and Sophia (Curtis) 
Presgrove, and nine children have been born to this union, as fol- 
lows : Joy, who is the wife of William Poe ; Alonzo R. D. ; Atha, who 
married Harris Clymore ; Zenia, who is deceased ; Frank ; Dewey, who 
is deceased; Mary; and two unnamed children who died in infancy. 
Judge Hight has two grandchildren : Ruth and Bernice Poe. 

The popularity of Judge Hight is beyond the question of a doubt. 
As a leader of movements calculated to benefit Johnson county in an 
educational, commercial, spiritual or social way, he has given his in- 
fluence and means freely and gladly, and has done his full share in 
building up and developing the community. His home life has been 
beautiful, while the extent of his charities will probably never be 
known as he has given in a quiet, unostentatious manner. A true 
Christian gentleman, he well merits the high esteem and respect in 
which he is held. 

JAMES MARCUS ETHERTON. Merchant, public official, banker and 
promoter, and influential factor for the good of his city, county and state 
in many ways, James M. Etherton, of Carbondale, is well and favorably 
known in all parts of Illinois as one of the leading citizens of his county 
and one of the most progressive and public spirited men in the state. 
He has turned his hand to several different lines of activity and made a 
good record in them all ; succeeding where others have failed or won 
but moderate triumphs; expanding small enterprises into affairs of 
moment ; arresting public thought and action and forcing it into line 
with his own for the general welfare, and generally exhibiting the high- 
est traits of broad-minded, enterprising and highly serviceable citizen- 
ship. 

Mr. Etherton has a special interest in Carbondale from the fact that 
he was born and reared in the country near Carbondale and began his 
education in its schools. It has also been the seat of all his business 
operations, and is in its present-day development and strident progress 



760 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

largely the creature of his energy and stimulating and directing intelli- 
gence. His life began here on April 5, 1862, and he is a son of William 
and Miami (Reynolds) Etherton, prosperous farmers of Jackson during 
the lifetime of the father. The father, who died some years ago, was 
born in Jackson county, Illinois. The mother, who is still living, is a 
native of England, and the father's ancestors were also residents of that 
country for many generations. The mother is a relative of former Gov- 
ernor Reynolds of this state. 

Their son James M. grew to manhood in Carbondale. He completed 
his education at the Southern Illinois Normal University, from which 
he was graduated in 1899. After leaving school he started in business 
as a merchant in charge of a general store, and he is still connected with 
that line of mercantile life, and conducting his trade on a large scale. 
He is also one of the three owners of the William T. Phelps Land and 
Coal Company and its manager. The holdings of the company are 
located in Saline county, Illinois, and embrace fourteen hundred acres 
of choice mineral deposit and land valuable for other purposes. The 
mines on this land are undeveloped as yet. 

In addition to his other possessions Mr. Etherton owns a consider- 
able block of the stock of what is now the Carbondale National Bank, 
and is its president, an office which he has held for a number of years, 
and filled with great credit to himself and benefit to the city and county 
in which it is located. He has largely increased its resources, patronage 
and usefulness and made it one of the leading financial institutions in 
the southern part of Illinois, with a record second to none for pro- 
gressiveness in business and wisdom and prudence in management. 

Mr. Etherton is a firm and faithful Democrat in his political faith 
and allegiance, and one of the strongest men in ability and influence in 
his party. He served as a member of the Carbondale school board three 
years and two terms as a member of the city council. He has also 
served two terms as a member of the city council. He has also served 
two terms in the lower house of the state legislature as a representative 
of the Forty-fourth legislative district, and in this office he showed his 
interest in the state and its people in a very conspicuous and bene- 
ficial way with excellent results. 

In the house to which he was twice elected he served on the commit- 
tees on appropriations, education, fish and game, the geological survey, 
and banks and banking. He introduced and secured the passage of a 
bill making an appropriation for the erection of the Woman's Building 
at the Southern Illinois Normal University. He took an earnest interest 
in this bill and worked it through the house by a hard fight in which he 
was obliged to battle for every foot of his ground. He also secured ap- 
propriations for other extensive public improvements, and labored ard- 
uously to promote not only the cause of education but every other inter- 
est of the people of the state. In consequence of his extended public 
service he has become acquainted with every party man of prominence 
in both of the leading political organizations, and it is greatly to his 
credit that he is cordially esteemed by them all. 

On the 21st of September, 1884, he was united in marriage with Miss 
Levina Jane Lee, of Pomona, a daughter of Dr. A. M. Lee of that city. 
Three children have been born of the union, all of whom are living. 
They are Leona, Ruby and James Everett. The parents are devoted 
members of the Baptist church, and the father has been one of the trus- 
tees of the congregation to which they belong during the last seven 
years. Both are active workers in the church, with responsive hearts 
and open hands for all the demands its benevolent and Christianizing 
agencies make upon them, and ready at all times to perform any duty 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 761 

they can in its service or for the benefit of those to whom it ministers. 
They are among the best and most useful citizens of Jackson county, 
and are universally recognized as in that class and esteemed accordingly. 

CABBONDALE NATIONAL BANK. The Carbondale National Bank is 
an outgrowth of a much humbler and more unambitious financial insti- 
tution, which was known as the Jackson State Bank, and was founded 
in October, 1898. Its officers were: S. W. Dunaway, president; W. W. 
Clemens, vice president, and F. T. Joyner, cashier. The capital . stock 
was twenty-five thousand dollars, and on this basis the bank did a good 
business of considerable magnitude and with excellent service and 
steady benefits to the city of Carbondale and county of Jackson. 

But in time the demands outgrew its resources, and in February, 
1905, it was reorganized as The Carbondale National Bank, with a cap- 
ital stock of sixty thousand dollars and a surplus of twelve thousand 
dollars. The present officers are : James Etherton, president ; F. M. 
Hewitt, vice president, and Chas A. Gullett, cashier. The wisdom of 
the reorganization and enlargement of the institution has been amply 
shown in the increased advantages it has provided for the city and its 
people, and the alacrity with which they have made use of them. The 
deposits at this time (1911) amount to two hundred and sixty-five 
thousand dollars, and the business of the bank is very extensive, active 
and comprehensive. 

The institution conducts a general banking business, embracing 
every approved feature of modern banking, and meets all requirements 
with promptness and in the most satisfactory manner. It has a savings 
department and pays four per cent interest on time deposits. The busi- 
ness is conducted on the first floor of a fine three-story brick building, 
twenty-six by one hundred feet in dimensions, which it owns. The 
second and third floors are devoted to office and lodge purposes, and are 
much in demand for the uses for which they were designed, as they are, 
like the portion of the edifice used by the bank, modern in every respect, 
and provided with every convenience and desirable feature in equip- 
ment. 

A brief sketch of the life of James M. Etherton, the president of the 
bank, will be found preceding this article. He is accounted one of 
the best business men in the county, and his services to the bank have 
been striking in their magnitude and value. He has aided greatly in 
popularizing the bank, increasing the volume of its business and aug- 
menting its strength and reputation in banking circles locally and 
throughout the state. In his management of its affairs he combines a 
serviceable progressiveness with a prudent conservatism, making the 
institution as liberal in its policy and dealings as due care for absolute 
safety will allow, but never risking anything beyond this limit, however 
great the temptation or bright the promise, although eager at all times 
to secure for it all the patronage and profit he can. He conducts the 
bank as he does his private interests, and with as much care for its 
stockholders and depositors as he exercises for himself in the manage- 
ment of his own business. 

JOHN GRAHAM MULCASTER, agent of the Illinois Central Railroad at 
Makanda, Illinois, and a citizen who has been identified with the realty 
interests of Southern Illinois for some years, is a veteran of the Span- 
ish-American war, and a member of an English family of great 
antiquity, which traces its lineage back to the year 1066. His father, 
Richard Mulcaster, was a son of Thomas Mulcaster, a younger 
brother of Lord Mulcaster, of Ravenglass, England, and the family 



7fi2 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

home in England, "Brackenthewaite, " an estate of one thousand 
acres, has been in the possession of the family for more than six hun- 
dred years. Mr. Mulcaster was born October 1, 1876, in Monroe 
county, Illinois. 

Richard Mulcaster was born at Carlisle, county Cumberland, Eng- 
land, June 1, 1829, and received excellent educational advantages, 
being sent to Oxford College, but before graduating therefrom en- 
listed in the English navy during the Crimean war, and served until 
the close of that struggle. On his return to England he was for two 
years engaged in civil engineering, and then went to Toronto, Canada, 
and later, in 1857, to Troy, where he assisted in laying out the town. 
He then returned to his native country, but at the time of the break- 
ing out of the Civil war came to the United States, and remained in 
New Orleans until the close of the war, being employed by the Con- 
federate Government as a civil engineer, although he never enlisted 
in the Southern army. When the war had closed he came North, 
and settled in Monroe county on the Mississippi river, near Modoc, 
where he purchased a farm, but subsequently removed to Waterloo, 
Illinois, and became a school teacher and justice of the peace. In 
1884 he located in Jackson county, purchasing a farm in Degonia 
township, and there carried on agricultural pursuits and conducted a 
general merchandise store until 1892, when he retired from activities. 
His death occurred in Murphysboro, March 4, 1894. In 1867 Mr. Mul- 
caster was married to Miss Mary Ilickman, at Kimmswick, Jeffer- 
son county, Missouri, and she is still living, making her home at St. 
Louis, and has been the mother of seven children, of whom John Gra- 
ham is the fourth in order of birth. She is a member of the Episcopal 
church, of which her late husband was also an attendant, and his poli- 
tical belief was that of the Republican party. Mrs. Mulcaster, in 1849, 
when a child, was a member of a party bound for California in prai- 
rie schooners, journeying via St. Joseph, Missouri, and Salt Lake, and 
this same party followed on the heels of the one which was extermi- 
nated in the Mountain Meadow massacre. 

John Graham Mulcaster attended the country schools of which his 
father was the teacher from the time he was six years old until he 
was ten, at which early age he entered the Murphysboro High School, 
and was graduated therefrom four years later. He then secured em- 
ployment in the general office of the St. Louis Ore and Steel Company, 
where he worked eighteen months, and then became an employe of 
the Western Union Telegraph Company, remaining one year and com- 
pleting a course in telegraphy. Leaving that firm, Mr. Mulcaster 
went to work for the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, where he spent three 
years as an operator, resigning to accept a position with the Illinois 
Central Railroad, with which he was connected at the time of the out- 
break of the Spanish-American war. Enlisting in the Seventh United 
States Signal Corps, under Captain J. B. Inman, of Springfield, Mr. 
Mulcaster served in General Shafter's army at Santiago, Cuba, and 
then went with General Miles' expedition to Porto Rico, remaining 
there until the close of the war, after which he assisted in putting 
in the telegraph service throughout that island. He was mustered 
out of the service at Chicago, in December, 1898, and shortly there- 
after re-entered the service of the Illinois Central as railroad agent 
at Herrin. Since that time he has held the same positions at various 
stations, and is now located at Makanda. Mr. Mulcaster has invested 
his money in real estate, and now owns considerable property at 
various places in Illinois and Oklahoma. 



HISTOKY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 763 

On May 6, 1900, Mr. Mulcaster was married to Miss Ella Walker, 
of Carterville, Illinois, daughter of J. B. Walker, a prominent farmer. 
Mr. Mulcaster is an earnest worker in the ranks of the Republican 
party, and his loyalty has been rewarded by election to the offices 
of alderman and village clerk. He is a member of the ancient and 
august order, A. F. & A. M., of the Odd Fellows and the Knights of 
Pythias, and he and Mrs. Mulcaster attend the Baptist church. In 
all matters pertaining to the welfare of his adopted locality Mr. Mul- 
caster has shown the greatest interest, and his aid and influence may 
always be counted upon to forward movements of a progressive na- 
ture. He is widely known through Southern Illinois, and wherever 
he has been stationed has had hosts of friends. 

C. R. WALSER, D. D. S. The dental surgeons of Union county are 
represented by as fine a body of men as can be gathered anywhere in 
the country. They have taken the present exhaustive course which has 
reduced the care, preservation and restoration of the teeth, and the 
treatment of the various disorders attendant upon them, to an exact 
science. The dentist of today is a man thoroughly trained under the 
supervision of experts, and after the exacting course of study has been 
taken, he must keep abreast by reading and attending lectures of all 
discoveries and improvements of his profession. One of the leading 
exponents of dentistry in Union county is Dr. C. R. Walser, the oldest 
practitioner in point of continued practice in the city of Anna. 

Dr. Walser was born and reared in Edwards county, Illinois, and 
his youth was spent on his father's farm, in the vicinity of which he 
attended the district schools. Subsequently he secured a teacher's li- 
cense and for the .next five years was engaged in teaching school, during 
which time he attended the Southern Illinois Normal University at Car- 
bondale. He first took up the study of dentistry in the Central Univer- 
sity of Kentucky, at Louisville, where he took a course of three years 
and graduated in 1897, and this was later supplemented, in 1903, by a 
course of post-graduate work in the Chicago Dental College. After 
his graduation from the Kentucky school, Dr. Walser settled in Anna, 
and now has not only the largest but the best practice in this city and 
many of his patients come from all over Union and the surrounding 
counties. His suite of offices is splendidly equipped with all the appli- 
ances known to dental science, and he is thoroughly proficient, some of 
his work having been really remarkable and attracted much interest in 
his profession. He is president of the Jefferson Union and County 
Dental Societies, and his fraternal connections are with the Masons, the 
Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. Dr. Webster has 
taken an active part in public matters, and his record as a member of 
the school board shows that he has been a faithful official who carefully 
guarded the interests of the educational institutions of his community. 
His belief in the future of Anna has been made manifest by the pur- 
chase of a number of pieces of real estate in the city. 

Dr. Walser was married in 1902, at Jonesboro, Illinois, to Miss Delia 
Kiest. who came from northern Illinois, took a course in music and was 
educated at Chicago and Dixon, Illinois. Five children have been born 
to this union, namely : Delford Roy, Clayton Kiest and Edith Mildred, 
all of whom are attending school ; and Elsie Winifred and Morris 
Franklin, at home. Dr. Walser is a trustee of the Lutheran church, of 
which his wife is a consistent member. Both are very popular socially 
and in their church connections. Dr. Walser is an excellent dentist, 
conscientious, skilled and progressive, and from the very first practice 



764 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

has prospered. He has the full confidence of his city, not only as a pro- 
fessional man, but as a good citizen and a pleasant, genial compnion. 

EMMET FRANKLIN THROGMOETON. The most admirable feature of 
life in the United States is the possibility offered to all of its native born 
citizens without regard to wealth or inherited rank, to attain to any 
position, no matter how lofty. The most influential of our statesmen, 
the most successful of our manufacturers, merchants and bankers, in 
fact, our brilliant, conservative and intelligent men in the various pro- 
fessions and occupations, are largely self-made, and are justly proud of 
the fact that what they possess, in material wealth or public honor, has 
been earned through their own efforts. One of Johnson county's most 
progressive and enterprising young citizens, Emmet Franklin Throg- 
morton, at the time of whose election in 1906, at the age of twenty-four 
years, was the youngest county clerk in Illinois, is already widely known 
in the educational and political fields, and has placed himself in his 
present high position by the exercise of those inherent qualities which 
go to make for success. 

Emmet Franklin Throgmorton was born near the old town of New 
Burnside, Johnson county, Illinois, December 17, 1882, and is a son of 
Josiah and Elizabeth (Reeves) Throgmorton. The Throgmorton family 
originated in Throgmorton street, London, England, and two members 
thereof came to the United States, founding the Throgmorton family 
and that of Morton. One settled in Pennsylvania, of whom the late 
Levi P. Morton, vice-president of the United States descended, while the> 
other located in North Carolina and was the progenitor of the Johnson 
county Throgmortons. Josiah Throgmorton, the grandfather of Em- 
met P., was born in North Carolina, from whence he migrated to Ten- 
nessee and thence to the southeastern part of Johnson county during 
the Civil war, in which two of his sons, Pinckney and John, served val- 
iantly. John was among the missing after the battle of Shiloh, and 
was probably killed in that engagement. Josiah Throgmorton was a 
Christian minister and established the Old Bethlehem Christian church, 
preaching in the various pioneer churches of Johnson county from the 
time of his arrival, and carrying on extensive farming operations. He 
married Martha Pierce, of North Carolina, who later moved to Tennes- 
see and thence to Johnson county, Illinois, and she died in Williamson 
county, in 1910, when ninety years of age, he having passed away in 
1888. 

Josiah Throgmorton, son of Josiah and father of Emmet Franklin, 
was born in Johnson county, Illinois, and was here married to Miss 
Elizabeth Reeves. She was born in 1854, in Marshall county, Ken- 
tucky, daughter of Abner Reeves, a native of Virginia, who migrated 
to Kentucky over the old Daniel Boone trail, fought during the Civil 
war in the Confederate army, and died from the effect of wounds di- 
rectly after the war had closed. Mrs. Throgmorton came to Johnson 
county with her sister, Nancy Reeves, riding all the way from Marshall 
county on horseback. Josiah Throgmorton died in 1899, at the age of 
forty-four years, one of the best-known men of his community, and at 
the time of his death was serving in the office of county commissioner, a 
position which he had held for some years. He and his wife had eleven 
children, of whom nine are now living, as follows: Martha; Arthur, who 
is married and has two children ; Emmet Franklin ; Almus, who mar- 
ried Miss Hettie Snyder and has one child ; and Walter, Nellie, Norris, 
May and Robert at home. Walter, Nellie, Norris and May are gradu- 
ates of the Southern Illinois Normal School, and are now engaged in 
teaching school. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 765 

Emmet Franklin Throgmorton remained on the home farm, and 
received his primary education in the public schools, completing his 
course in 1900. In the next year he entered the Southern Illinois Nor- 
mal University at Carbondale, Illinois, pursuing a teacher's course, and 
for three years attended college in winters and taught school in sum- 
mers, thus working his way through. He taught school during the win- 
ter of 1905-1906 -and in the fall of the latter year was elected to the of- 
fice of county clerk, received the re-election in the fall of 1910, and still 
holds that position. Mr. Throgmorton 's rise has been remarkable for 
such a young man, but he is eminently fitted to discharge the duties of 
his office, and has the full confidence of the people of the county. He 
takes a deep interest in the cause of education, and all that tends to- 
wards the advancement of the moral, physical or material welfare of his 
community. Fraternally he is connected with Ozark Lodge of Odd Fel- 
lows, Romeo Tent No. 53, Knights of Pythias, Vienna Lodge and Royal 
Arch Chapter of Masons, and the Modern Woodmen of America, at 
Vienna. 

In 1906 Emmet Franklin Throgmorton was united in marriage with 
Miss Leah Bass, who was born and reared in Johnson county, Illinois, 
a former teacher and daughter of A. H. and Jane (Albright) Bass, na- 
tives of North Carolina, who migrated to Tennessee and thence to 
Johnson county. Mr. and Mrs. Throgmorton have one son : Joseph. 
Mr. Throgmorton is one of the best-liked young county officials that 
this section has known, being popular with all classes, and he has already 
shown himself capable of advancing far in the field politic. 

Arthur Throgmorton, brother of the county clerk, and now serving 
as deputy clerk, was born August 18, 1880, on his father's farm in 
Johnson county, and worked on his father's farm until twenty -one 
years of age, in the meantime securing a district school education. For 
five years thereafter he taught public schools in Johnson county, and 
spent five terms in the Southern Illinois Normal University. In April, 
1906, -he was appointed deputy county clerk, and again in 1910, and he 
still holds that office. He is a member of the Modern "Woodmen of 
America, and is a consistent attendant of the Christian church of 
Vienna. He was married, May 16, 1907, to Miss May Murrie, daugh- 
ter of William and Margaret (McFatridge) Murrie, members of one 
of Johnson county's oldest and most highly respected families, and two 
children have been born to this union: Robert, who is three years of 
age, and Marguerite, who is two. Like his brother, Mr. Throgmorton 
has numerous friends in Vienna, and he is known as a capable, hard- 
working and painstaking official. 

JAMES C. CARTER. Among the most enterprising and energetic busi- 
ness men of Cypress, Illinois, James C. Carter stands well to the fore- 
front. Mr. Carter has had a career that has led him into various lines of 
endeavor at different periods and in every instance he has achieved 
conspicuous success. His grandfather, Samuel Carter, a native of Vir- 
ginia, was the first of the family to become a settler in Southern Illinois, 
he having brought his family to this section in 1861. He lived to the 
advanced age of ninety-one years and died in 1870. One of his sons was 
Jonas C. Carter, who was born in Tennessee, married Elizabeth Buford, 
also a native of that state, and they became the parents of James C. 
Carter, whose life this sketch briefly outlines. He was one member of a 
family of nine children, but only one brother and one sister are now 
living, namely, Stephen and Mrs. Ethel Wilkinson, whose husband is 
deceased. One of his brothers, William L., was accidentally killed in 
October, 1902, another died of a congestive chill in 1884, and a sister, 



766 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Ellen, succumbed to an attack of the measles when thirteen years old. 
Jonas C. Carter, the father of this family, and his wife lived on a farm 
in Cache township until 1881, when they removed to a home in Union 
county and are now residing on a farm there. 

The birth of James C. Carter occurred July 20, 1864, in Cache town- 
ship, Johnson county, Illinois. During his boyhood James attended the 
district school of his neighborhood and worked on the farm when school 
was not in session, continuing thus until twenty years old. He pursued 
his education further at Anna, Illinois, studying under the direction of 
Professor John R. "Dean. Securing a teacher's certificate, he engaged 
two terms as instructor and then entered McKendree College, and 
finally completed a four-year classical course there, teaching and study- 
ing alternately. 

After acquiring his college diploma Mr. Carter devoted a number of 
years to continuous pedagogical work, in 1890 returning to Johnson 
county and teaching there. He was principal of schools at several points 
at different times during his career as a teacher, filling that position at 
Grand Chain, Pulaski county, Belknap, Johnson county, in 1893, 1894 
and 1895 ; and was also at one time principal of Wetaugh schools in 
Pulaski county, continuing there two years. 

In 1898 Mr. Carter made an unsuccessful race for the office of county 
superintendent of schools, and the same year received the appointment 
of Cypress postmaster, attending to the duties of that office and teaching 
a country school at the same time. 

In the summer of 1900 Mr. Carter purchased a stock of merchandise 
and turned his attention to business and discontinued school teaching as 
a profession. Ill health compelled him to resign his postmastership and 
dispose of his store, which he sold to Wilhelm Brothers. In 1902 he was 
able, however, to renew his activity as a merchant and he re-ourchased 
his old business and has ever since been engaged in merchandising and 
various other pursuits. He has been at all times closely identified with 
the growth and development of Cypress, and has done a prosperous busi- 
ness in his lines, increasing its volume to -meet the demands of an in- 
creasing population in that thriving town. He erected a fine brick 
business block here in 1910, a portion of the space in which is devoted 
to his five thousand dollar stock of merchandise. Previous to locating 
in the new building Mr. Carter suffered the loss by fire of his entire 
store stock, valued at seven thousand dollars. 

In addition to this business he is the owner of several other fine 
properties, including a considerable acreage of real estate. He possesses 
a fine residence in the west part of town, has a farm of one hundred 
and sixty-three acres west of Cypress and another, containing one hun- 
dred acres, east of town. He devotes a portion of his time to superin- 
tending the raising of fine stock on his farms, including horses and hogs, 
and also owns a valuable herd of Hereford cattle. His industrial hold- 
ings include a sawmill for the manufacture of commercial lumber. Mr. 
Carter is an expert in timber and lumber matters, it having been when 
teaching school that he first became interested in timber and land, by 
trading in which he secured the funds that went for the purchase of his 
first store. 

While giving personal attention to his many business interests Mr. 
Carter has yet found time to perform his full duty as a citizen and at 
times as a public official. He was elected a member of the board of 
county commissioners in 1904, and continued to serve in that capacity 
until December, 1910. He was elected to that office on the Republican 
ticket, and proved to be an exceedingly efficient man for the office. 

The Methodist church counts Mr. Carter as among one of its most 



* Ifct 

8iVfisirr OF 







fe <7\S&Hs<s^&~rJ 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 767 

devoted and influential members. He is also a lodge man of promi- 
nence, belonging to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independ- 
ent Order of Odd Fellows. 

The marriage of Mr. Carter occurred in 1887, when he took as his 
wife Miss Minnie Mowry, of Johnson county, daughter of John and 
Nancy Mowry. They have a family of three children, the eldest, a son, 
being a young man of twenty -two years; Ray C., nineteen years of age, 
and Fay, a daughter, aged fifteen years. 

Mr. Carter is a citizen of the highest type, the weight of whose influ- 
ence in all matters of moral and civic import is always found on the 
right side. He is a man of superior attainments, true to every trust, 
public or private, and enjoys the admiration and respect of friends and 
associates in every walk in life. 

LEON EMORY DENISON. In every community there are leaders, men 
of superior ability, energy, judgment and intelligence, who whether 
in the professions or in the business world, not only attain prominence 
in their particular line of endeavor, but at the same time are large 
factors in the advancement of their community along all lines of prog- 
ress. One of the foremost business men of Cairo, Illinois, is Leon 
Emory Denison, who as president of the Denison-Gholson Wholesale 
Dry Goods Company and as a partner in the firm of W. T. Wall & 
Company, proprietors of a large department store, has done much to 
promote the commercial importance of Cairo. 

Mr. Denison was born in Marion, Illinois, May 29, 1870. His 
father, the late Hon. Charles H. Denison, of Marion, Illinois, was a 
prominent financier and man of affairs in that locality who had made 
Marion his home and the scene of his business activities from 1870 
until the time of his death in 1909. Charles H. Denison was born 
at Seneca Falls, New York, August 31, 1837, the third of seven chil- 
dren. His father, Edward Denison, a native of Vermont but of Irish 
descent, was born in 1789 and died at Marengo, McHenry county, Illi- 
nois, in 1872. At Utica, New York, Edward Denison married Evelina 
Hitchcock, who was born in LTtica in 1808 and was of 'English lineage. 
They removed to Huron county, Ohio, in 1841 and thence to McHenry 
county, Illinois, in 1849. There Edward Denison spent his life as a 
farmer and died in 1872, as stated, but was survived by his wife until 
July, 1886, when she passed away at the home of her son in Marion. 
Charles H. Denison was reared on a farm in McHenry county and re- 
mained a resident of that county until his marriage, in 1869, when he 
removed from the northern part of the state to a farm near Bainbridge, 
Williamson county. There he alternated farming and dealing in live 
stock with school teaching until 1873, when he took up his duties as 
circuit clerk of Williamson county, to which office he had been elected 
as a Democrat. In the meantime he had removed his family to Marion, 
and upon the expiration of his official term as circuit clerk, engaged in 
the drug business with W. H. Bundy, but sold out two years later and 
gave his attention to handling real estate and live stock until 1890. 
In that year he entered banking', opening a private bank under the 
firm name of Searing & Denison, with a capital of thirty thousand 
dollars. From that time until his death he was identified with the 
banking interests of Marion and was a financier of recognized ability, 
conservative yet progressive. On July 24, 1902, the present Marion 
State and Savings Bank was incorporated, with a capital of sixty 
thousand dollars, of which Judge Denison, as he was familiarly called 
by his friends, was the largest stockholder and was president. At the 
time of his death he was one of the wealthiest men of Williamson county, 



768 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

owning besides his bank interests farm lands in that county valued at 
fifty thousand dollars, and other realty of an equal value in Marion, 
Illinois, and in St. Louis Missouri. He was for several terms mayor 
of Marion, his service in that office beginning in 1903. On March 21, 
1869, Charles H. Denison married Mary E., daughter of Dr. Samuel 
H. and Mary A. (Smith) Bundy, the former of whom was a surgeon in 
the Thirty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war, which 
regiment was raised and commanded for a time by General John A. 
Logan. Mrs. Denison, who was born in DeKalb county, Tennessee, in 
1848, still survives and occupies the old home in Marion, where she 
brought up her family. To this union were born : Leon Emory Deni- 
son, the immediate subject of this review; Edward Everett Deni- 
son, a graduate of Yale University and of his own University of Illi- 
nois, and now a prominent attorney -at-law in Marion, Illinois; Lora B., 
now the wife of Charles E. Lane, president of the Union Station Bank 
of St. Louis, Missouri ; and Samuel B. Denison, who died at Marion, 
Illinois. 

Leon Emory Denison is a Harvard man, and was graduated from 
that well known and historic institution in 1896, with the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts. After his graduation he immediately entered upon 
an active business career, first as the associate of his father; then later 
he aided in founding what is now the Carterville State and Savings 
Bank. A few months after that he engaged in the retail merchandise 
business at Marion, Illinois, from where he went to St. Louis Missouri, 
where he was connected with the Rice Stix Dry Goods Company. He 
remained there six years and during that time acquired a great deal 
of valuable experience and information bearing on the line of business 
he has since followed so successfully. In 1904 he came to Cairo, Illi- 
nois and formed the Denison-Gholson Dry Goods Company, a wholesale 
firm with a capital of fifty thousand dollars. This company was 
composed originally of Roy Gholson, D. L. Mark, J. F. Roberts and 
Mr. Denison. A reorganization was effected in 1910, the capital in- 
creased and Mr. Denison was promoted from the office of vice-president 
to that of president. In January, 19.11, another reorganization oc- 
curred and the capital was made two hundred thousand dollars. The 
company erected its own business house of six stories on a plot one 
hundred by one hundred and twenty-five feet, is represented on the 
road by ten salesmen, and gives employment in the house to some thirty 
of Cairo's citizens. Mr. Denison has further emphasized his faith in 
Cairo as a commercial city by entering extensively into the retail trade, 
being an equal partner in the large department store of W. T. Wall & 
Company, one of the fine establishments of its kind in Cairo. Having 
enjoyed the advantages of a splendid education and a good business 
training, and being possessed of industry and admirable commercial 
judgment, Mr. Denison 's position in the business circles of Cairo were 
soon established after his advent to that city, and today he stands in 
the fore of its most successful business men. 

Since his residence there he has entered heartily into every move- 
ment which would promote the growth and welfare of the city, and in 
this direction he affiliates as a member of the Cairo Board of Trade and 
the Commercial Club. His educational attainments and happy social 
temperament render him a valued associate in the different clubs and 
orders to which he belongs. He is a charter member of the Elks Club 
at Marion, Illinois, belongs to the Alexander Club at Cairo, and is a 
member of the governing board of the Cairo County Club. Frater- 
nally he is a Royal Arch Mason and a past chancellor commander of 
the Knights of Pythias. In political affairs he is a Republican. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 769 

At Litchfield, Illinois, on June 14, 1905, occurred the marriage of 
Mr. Denison and Miss Mary E. Bennett, a daughter of Dr. B. E. Ben- 
nett. Mr. and Mrs. Denison have two sons Richard Charles and Leon 
Emory. 

LEWIS A. DAWSON is a member of the well known firm of Dawson 
Brothers, of Herrin, whose connection with mercantile enterprises here 
has been continuous and somewhat varied during the past decade. 
Their present business has developed into one of the extensive feed and 
flour houses in Williamson county, and the personnel of the firm com- 
prises Lewis A. and his brother John M. Dawson. The brothers are 
both indigenous to the soil of Franklin county. Lewis A. Dawson was 
born on a farm near Christopher, Illinois, January 27, 1864, and John 
M. was born on the same estate November 8, 1871. They are sons of 
Allen Dawson, who became identified with the region of Franklin county 
before the dominion of Williamson was set off from it. Allen Dawson 
was born in the state of Alabama in 1822 and he accompanied his father, 
Arfax Dawson, to Illinois about the year 1835. The family on its ar- 
rival in this state located near what subsequently became Christopher, 
where Allen died in 1877. His life was devoted to agriculture and the 
rearing of his family, and his public service embraced the incumbency 
of the office of county commissioner of Franklin county, to which posi- 
tion he was elected as a Democrat. 

Arfax Dawson, just after the close of the Civil war, decided to re- 
move with a portion of his family to Texas, the journey being made by 
wagon and team. Texas was then dangerous ground for a man from 
the north to tread upon without military protection, as Mr. Dawson dis- 
covered when nearing Dallas. In the vicinity of that city he was set 
upon by rebel sympathizers, who presumed that he was arrayed against 
them during the war, and they murdered him upon some pretext. His 
family remained in Dallas county and a number of his descendants are 
still inhabitants of that section of the state. The Dawsons were natives 
of Alabama and of course entertained southern ideas and the same po- 
litical sentiment. None of the sons of Arfax participated in the war 
of the rebellion. His children were Allen, Ephraim, George, Judy and 
Catherine. Allen Dawson married Mary Vaughn, and the Dawson 
Brothers of this sketch are members of a family of thirteen children. 

Lewis A. and John M. Dawson both grew up under the invigorating 
influence of the old homestead farm and they acquired their somewhat 
limited educational training in the neighboring district schools. They 
.left the farm to engage in business in Herrin in the year 1900, and 
Lewis A. gained his first experience along mercantile lines as a clerk for 
his brother, C. C. Dawson, engaged in the grocery business in this city. 
Discovering an opening for an exclusive feed business in Herrin, he as- 
sociated himself with his present partner and opened a store at the cor- 
ner of Jackson and Mulberry streets, where their place of business, two 
hundred by forty feet in lateral dimensions, contains their feed mill and 
carload stocks of feed and flour. They manufacture all their feed stuff, 
save bran, are heavy shippers of corn to Herrin to meet the demand of 
this industrial community, and their flour comes to them in lots of ten 
cars, which they job out to dealers in Herrin and the country normally 
tributary thereto. Recently the brothers have added implements to their 
stock in trade and this department promises a favorable return for the 
money and effort expended. As previously intimated, the Dawson 
brothers are stanch Democrats in their political adherency. 

On February 14, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Lewis A. Daw- 
son to Miss Margaret Dial, a daughter of Minyard Dial. Mr. and Mrs. 



770 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Dawson became the parents of four children, of whom Basil is deceased. 
Bessie and Nellie remain at home with their parents and Roily is en- 
gaged as office man in the Dawson Brothers' store. 

John M. Dawson married Miss Etta Whiteside, a daughter of Frank 
Whiteside, of Herrin. This union has been prolific of three children. 
Kenneth, Helen and Joe Vaughn. The Dawson Brothers rank among the 
most prominent citizens of Herrin, where they are ever on the alert to 
do all in their power to advance progress and development. They are 
honored for their fair and straightforward business dealings and hold a 
high place in the confidence and esteem of their fellow men. 

BYFORD H. WEBB. A practicing physician since 1906, Dr. Byford 
H. Webb has in five years made rapid strides in his profession, ac- 
complishing more in that brief period than is given to many men even 
more happily situated in a much longer time. He has gone so far 
towards making a permanent reputation for himself that his future is 
practically assured, and it is not too much to predict for him a bril- 
liant future in the field of his chosen profession. 

Born in Ewing, Franklin county, Illinois, on May 19, 1881, Byford 
H. Webb is the son of Dr. L. M. and Amanda (King) Webb. Both 
parents were born in Franklin county, and Dr. Webb, the elder, was 
a well known physician for forty years in Ewing. He was a most suc- 
cessful man in his profession and when he. died, in 1906, he left a 
goodly estate, as well as a reputation for honor and fair-mindedness 
that will live for all time. He was known and loved throughout 
Franklin county for his kindly generous nature, many of the admir- 
able traits of his father, Elijah Webb, living in him. Elijah Webb 
was one of earliest settlers in Franklin county. He was a Baptist 
preacher, and the church at that time being in a primitive state of 
organization, Reverend Webb traveled extensively through Illinois in 
the interests of the work. He was well known and universally 
esteemed throughout the state, his work and ministry being of a 
nature that endeared him to all who came in contact with him. The 
maternal grandfather of Byford Webb is William King, one of the 
first born in Franklin county. Mr. King is now eighty-six years of 
age, and lives on his old homestead near Ewing. He was one of the 
founders of Ewing College and is a life member of its board of trus- 
tees. He has always been active in educational promotion and his 
efforts in that direction have been amply rewarded. Mr. King is a 
well-to-do man, having been particularly successful in a material way. 
He is the owner of eight hundred acres of fertile Illinois land, in 
addition to a number of other valuable realty holdings. 

Byford H. Webb followed his common school training with a four 
years' course at Ewing College. At the conclusion of that course 
he entered the Medical Department of St. Louis University, graduat- 
ing therefrom in 1906, and receiving his well earned degree of M. D. 
He began his practice in Ewing and remained there actively engaged 
in his professional work until he had succeeded in defraying the cost 
of his education. In 1909 he moved to West Frankfort, and since 
his establishment there he has been favored with a most pleasing prac- 
tice, and in which he has been unusually successful, his standing in 
West Frankfort being of an order that precludes any possibility of 
any but a highly successful career. 

Dr. Webb is a member of the County and State Medical Associa- 
tions, being active and prominent in both societies, and is affiliated 
with the Masonic order. He is a Democrat, but is not deeply inter- 
ested in political matters. He is a member of the Baptist church. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 771 

In 1907, while residing in Ewing, Dr. Webb married Madoliene 
Jones, the daughter of Henry Jones, of Marion. Mr. Jones is the 
post-master of Marion, Illinois. Dr. and Mrs. Webb are the parents of 
two children Maurine, aged three years, and Byford Lewis, born in 
1912. 

WILLIAM W. WILEY. The life of William W. Wiley of Anna, Illi- 
nois, carries a lesson for the youth of today who feels that he has been 
handicapped in his struggle to win success in the business field or a place 
of prominence among his fellows. Mr. Wiley, at the very outset of life, 
before he had left boyhood, sustained a misfortune under which one of 
less sterner makeup would have given up, totally discouraged, but his 
has been the nature to overcome his affliction and to fight his way steadily 
forward, until today he holds a prominent place in the city's business 
life and no man in his community enjoys to a greater extent the respect 
and esteem of his fellow-townsmen. Mr. Wiley was born at Jonesboro, 
Illinois, October 22, 1851, and is a descendant on his mother's side, of 
Winstead Davie, the founder of the city of Anna, and a grandson of the 
well-remembered and much-beloved lady in whose honor the city was 
named. 

Abel Wiley, the paternal grandfather of William W., was born in the 
state of Maryland, and was there married to Rebecca Richardson. He 
died near the city of Anna in 1867. 

Ben L. Wiley, son of Abel, was born in 1821, in Jefferson county, Ohio 
and as a youth was engaged in carpentry and the grist milling business 
with his father, subsequently engaging in school-teaching. At the out- 
break of the Mexican war he became a soldier in the United States army, 
but the war was nearly ended when he reached Santa Pe, and his princi- 
pal service was with the commissary department. In 1845 he located in 
Vienna, Johnson county, Illinois, and subsequently settled in Jonesboro, 
from whence he enlisted in the Civil war in 1861, and served as lieuten- 
ant-colonel of the Fifth Illinois Cavalry until 1863, when he was trans- 
ferred to the provost-marshal's office at Cairo, remaining there until the 
close of the war. His death occurred in Jackson county, Illinois, in 
March, 1890. In 1850, Mr. Wiley was married to Miss Emily Davie, who 
was born in Jonesboro in 1830, the daughter of Winstead and Anna (Wil- 
lard) Davie. Winstead Davie was born in 1797, in Rowland county, 
North Carolina, from whence he removed in his youth to Tennessee, and 
came from the latter state to Jonesboro, Illinois, in 1818 or 1819. 
Winstead Davie had the misfortune to be a cripple from birth 
and was compelled to use crutches, but in spite of this became 
a very successful business man and was well known to the mill- 
ing trade of this section, having moved his business from Jones- 
boro to Anna in 1858. A merchant by occupation Winstead Davie 
brought a stock of bankrupt goods from Tennessee, disposed of them here 
and returned the money to the creditors. He rose to a place of promi- 
nence in Union county and was elected to all the county offices with the 
exception of that of sheriff, and for some years taught school in a room 
in the Court House. He followed the general merchandise business in 
Jonesboro and Anna until six or seven years prior to his death, which oc- 
curred in the former city, in July, 1885. The city of Anna, which was 
named after his wife and was formerly known as Jonesboro Station, was 
laid out in lots by Mr. Davie. Anna (Willard) Davie was born in Ver- 
mont in 1809, and died in December, 1880, at Jonesboro, and was the 
mother of these children : Daniel, who is eighty-five years of age and a 
resident of Jonesboro ; Emily, who married Mr. Wiley ; Mrs. Mary Per- 
rine, who lives at Anna and is seventy-three years of age ; Mrs. Nannie 



772 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Brown, sixty-seven years old, who also lives at Anna ; and Mrs. Walton, 
who met her death in a railroad accident in 1907. 

William W. Wiley attended the public schools until he was eleven 
years of age, at which time he lost his eyesight. During the next five 
years he attended the Jacksonville Institution for the Blind, where he 
learned the trade of broommaking. He then returned to a farm near 
Makanda, where for ten years he continued making brooms, and even- 
tually came to Anna where he established himself in a little business, 
keeping candy, tobacco and cigars to sell while he still occupied him- 
self with broommaking. His business gradually grew to include school 
supplies, and after ten years he was able .to give up broommaking and 
give his whole attention to his store, which has subsequently become one 
of the largest bookstores here and does a large business. During the 
thirty years that Mr. Wiley has been a merchant here he has gained the 
esteem and respect of all who know him. A cheerful, industrious 
worker, he has never allowed himself to be discouraged, and the success 
that has attended his efforts is but a just reward for his years of faith- 
ful endeavor. 

Mr. Wiley was married (first) in 1881, to Mrs. Mary Greer Glascow, 
who was born in Jonesboro in 1852 and died in 1895, having been the 
mother of these children : W. Davie, who married Floy Halstead, is 
engaged in business with his father, and has one child, Helen ; and Ber- 
tha, who lives at home with her father. Mr. Wiley's second marriage 
was to Miss Helen Short, a native of Kansas, who was born in 1858, and 
died at Anna in 1907, there being no issue. Mr. Wiley is a consistent 
member of the Presbyterian church and takes a great interest in its 
work. His kindly and genial manners have made him very popular 
with the people of his community, and he has hosts of friends through- 
out the city. 

VIVIAN 0. BOGGS. Having tried his hand at many different things 
in various parts of the country, Vivian 0. Boggs has been content at 
last to settle down near his old home to the life of a prosperous mer- 
chant. His varied business experiences equipped him well for his 
present occupation, and the drygoods store which he bought, as re- 
cently as 1909, is one of the most popular trading places in Dongola. 

Vivian O. Boggs, was born in 1878, a Christmas gift to his parents, 
F. G. Boggs and Emma (Norfleet) Boggs, for his birthday was the 
25th of December. F. G. Boggs is a native of Marion county, Illi- 
nois, having been born and reared on the farm where he now resides, 
and where his son was born. His father was Clark Boggs, who is 
supposed to have emigrated from one of the eastern states at an early 
date. Clark Boggs was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil 
war and laid down his life for his country, being buried in Tennessee 
where he died. F. G. Boggs was born in 1852. His wife, Emma Nor- 
fleet, is the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Norfleet, who was a na- 
tive of Tennessee. They had three sons, Vivian 0., Victor and Earl. 
The father is one of the most respected and admired men in Marion 
county, and some of his son's success is no doubt due to the qualities 
he inherited from his father. 

Vivian 0. Boggs was educated in the common schools of his home 
county, and then studied for three years at the Southern Illinois 
Normal school at Carbondale, Illinois. Later he spent one year at 
Monmouth College, at Monmouth, Illinois and finally finished his work 
by taking a course at Brown's Business College in Centralia. Illinois, 
in the fall of 1901. His first position was held with the Harrison 
Machine Works, at Belleville, Illinois. He remained in their sales 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 773 

department for one year as stenographer and bookkeeper, and then 
became assistant purchasing agent for Armour and Company for the 
same length of time. Butler Brothers of St. Louis offered him a posi- 
tion as house salesman, and he accepted, remaining with them for a 
year. The next two years he spent in the employ of various firms, 
all the while storing up for future use many bits of business 
knowledge and valuable experience. During parts of 1907-08 he was 
engaged in a hardware business at Flat River, Missouri, and on the 
18th of January, 1908, he removed to Dongola, where he began to put 
his experience to good use as a manager of the store which he after- 
wards bought. He purchased this general merchandise and dry goods 
business in 1909, and the trade has so increased that he has been 
forced to add to the amount of stock carried, until it is now valued at 
$10,000. 

Mr. Boggs believes thoroughly in the principles adhered to by the 
fraternal orders, and is himself a Modern Woodman of America, and 
also belongs to the Royal Neighbors of Dongola. He is a member 
of the Presbyterian church of Belleville, Illinois, and in the absence 
of a church of this denomination in Dongola, he is a faithful attendant 
at the Lutheran church in his home town, believing that in religious 
matters a broad minded attitude is most desirable. 

In 1904, Mr. Boggs married Anna May Eimer, a daughter of 
Charles G-. Eimer, of Belleville, Illinois. They have only one child, 
Leland C. G. Boggs. 

Although the years that Mr. Boggs has spent in his present home 
have been comparatively few yet he, being originally from this sec- 
tion of the country, naturally has the welfare of the community at 
heart and is glad of any chance he may have in the building up of 
Dongola. In this short time he has made many friends in the district, 
as well as among the many patrons of his store. 

CORNWALL E. KIEKPATRICK. The combination of human attributes 
which yields success in many fields, though a rare one, is embodied in 
the subject of this review. Fire insurance, farming, dealing in fruit, 
vegetables, seed, oats and coal, the picture business, whatever he has 
turned his hand to has given a balance on the right side of the ledger, 
so carefully has he studied and so carefully has he wrought, and in 
addition to successfully pursuing these lines of endeavor he has served 
for the past twenty years as secretary of the board of trustees of the 
Southern Illinois Hospital for the Insane. Mr. Kirkpatrick was born 
in Point Pleasant, Ohio, January 10, 1852, and is a son of Cornwall and 
Amy (Vance) Kirkpatrick. 

Cornwall Kirkpatrick was born in Ohio, and as a young man moved 
to Mound City, where he was for some years engaged in the pottery busi- 
ness. Later he came to this city and for a long period was the owner of 
the Anna Pottery, which he was conducting at the time of his death. 
His wife, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, also died in Anna. Cornwall E. 
Kirkpatrick was seven years of age when brought to Anna, and his 
education was secured in the public schools. For four years he was 
engaged in the picture business, then becoming proprietor of a phar- 
macy, but after three years entered the employ of the American Express 
Company, whose agent he was for twenty-six years, and in the meantime 
was also engaged in business with "W~. N. Corlis. He now handles whole- 
sale fruit, vegetables, seed, oats and coal and does a business aggregating 
eighty thousand dollars per year, and for thirty years has dealt in fire 
insurance, representing the Phoenix, Continental, New York Under- 
writers and Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Companies, in addi- 



774 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

tion to owning a fine farm of forty-five acres, on which he carries on 
truck gardening. 

From his father, who was a lifelong Republican, he inherits an inter- 
est in public matters which has manifested itself in his active work in 
politics. This has been more than local, his counsel carrying weight 
among the county leaders, and he has served as alderman of Anna and 
secretary of the Republican County Central Committee for six or eight 
years. Twenty years ago he succeeded his father as secretary of the 
board of trustees of the Southern Illinois Hospital for the Insane, a 
position which he has very ably filled till the institution went into the 
hands of the board of control. Both in his business and public relations 
Mr. Kirkpatrick has displayed more than ordinary ability, and his 
standing as a business man and citizen is exceptionally high. Frater- 
nally, he is connected with Blue Lodge No. 520 and Royal Arch Chapter 
45, of Masonry, and I. 0. 0. F. Lodge No. 291 and Encampment, in 
both of which he has gone through the chairs, while in the Encampment 
he has been treasurer for the past fifteen years. He is very popular with 
the members of both orders. 

Mr. Kirkpatrick was married in 1878, to Miss Frank Hubbard, who 
was born in Indiana in 1858, and to this union there have been born 
children as follows: Harlow B., Olive M., Harriet V., Cornwall E., 
John R., Margaret F. and Hubbard. Harlow B. Kirkpatrick, a gradu- 
ate of the Union Academy and the University of Illinois, taught at the 
latter institution, and Syracuse (New York) University, went to the 
Philippine Islands on two occasions for the United States Government, 
and at the present time is harbor engineer for the Sanitary District of 
Chicago. He married Miss Elizabeth Hileman and resides at 
LaGrange. Olive M., graduate of Union Academy, Anna, married Rev. 
William Baker, pastor of the Episcopal church of Bloomington, Illinois. 
Harriet V. is a graduate of Union Academy and resides at home, as does 
Cornwall E., who graduated from the Anna High School and has been 
on one trip to the Philippines as engineer for the United States Govern- 
ment. John R. Kirkpatrick is living in Los Angeles, California, where 
he is in the employ of the American Express Company. Margaret F. 
and Hubbard are living at home, the former being a graduate and the 
latter a student of Union Academy. The family is connected with the 
Presbyterian church of which Mr. Kirkpatrick has been elder for a 
number of years. 

CLYDE DUNBAR HARRIS. Prominent among the best citizens of Don- 
gola, and a man who possesses the esteem and good-will of all who 
come in contact with him is Clyde Dunbar Harris, superintendent of 
the Dongola Public Schools. He has occupied that responsible posi- 
tion but a short time, but in the months that have elapsed since he 
became the incumbent of the important office he is so successfully 
filling, he has found favor with his fellow citizens, and is conducting 
his work in fullest confidence of the support and loyalty of the entire 
community. 

Clyde Dunbar Harris is the son of Frank R. Harris, a native of 
Union county, and a former teacher. He died in 1894. His mother 
is Minnie Lane Montgomery, the daughter of Dr. E. L. Montgomery, 
who settled in Union county in 1866. He came thence from Louisiana, 
where he was a slave owner before the war, being the possessor of 
fifty-five slaves, who worked a large plantation for him. Dr. Mont- 
gomery served in the Confederate army as a cavalryman during the 
war. He fought valiantly for the cause of the south, giving of his 
substance freely, and at the close of the war he found himself to be 



HISTOEY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 775 

financially ruined. His father was an itinerant Presbyterian minister 
who helped to spread the gospel among the early settlers and among 
the Indians of Louisiana and Mississippi. 

Dr. Montgomery studied medicine at Keokuk, Iowa, graduating in 
1868, and he practiced his profession at Mill Creek until the time 
of his death in 1898. His daughter, Minnie Lane Montgomery and 
the mother of Clyde Dunbar Harris, has been thrice married. Her 
first husband was William Karraker, and she bore him two sons, 
Oscar and Charles Karraker. By her second marriage, when she be- 
came the wife of Frank B. Harris, she became the mother of a son 
and daughter; Clyde Dunbar and Grace, the latter dying at the age 
of nine months. Her third husband was Thomas Jasper Karraker, a 
well-to-do farmer in the vicinity of Dongola. Two children have been 
born of this latter union : Oral and Lois. 

Clyde Dunbar Harris was born April 15, 1889, on a farm in Union 
county. He passed through the common schools of his home town, 
and later attended the Southern Illinois Normal University at Car- 
bondale, graduating therefrom in the spring of 1911. In that same 
year he was elected to the position of superintendent of the Dongola 
schools. He is ably assisted by a corps of six efficient teachers, and 
the schools have an enrollment of two hundred and thirty-three 
pupils. The curriculum of the schools includes a four year high school 
course, which is up-to-date and thorough in every detail. Mr. Harris 
has already shown especial ability in his line of work, and a brilliant 
future for him is freely predicted. 

ANDREW J. PICKRELL. The lawyer-postmaster of Anna, Illinois, An- 
drew J. Pickrell, needs no introduction to the people of that city. That 
he is well and favorably known is evidenced by the office to which he has 
been appointed each term without opposition since March 1, 1903, and 
which he now holds and fills so acceptably. Mr. Pickrell was born Octo- 
ber 19, 1854, on a farm near Mount Pleasant, Union county, Illinois, and 
is a son of John and Hannah Pickrell, and a grandson of a Virginia 
planter who removed from that state to Tennessee. John Pickrell was 
born in Tennessee, and migrated to Illinois at an early age with his par- 
ents and early in life engaged in agricultural pursuits in Union county, 
from whence he enlisted for service during the Civil war, in Company I, 
One Hundred and Ninth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He 
was for many years a well-known and prosperous farmer of Union 
county. He died in Anna after a residence there of thirty years, at the 
age of eighty-one years, his burial taking place under the auspices of 
the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he had been for a long period 
a popular comrade. His wife, who before marriage was Hannah Dick- 
son Wiggs was a native of North Carolina. She also died in Anna, aged 
seventy-two years. 

Andrew J. Pickrell was given the benefit of a good education, at- 
tending the common schools of Union county, the Sam Harwood school, 
of Carbondale, and Ewing College. During the next three years he 
studied law in the offices of M. J. Inscore, and in 1889 was admitted to 
the bar, practicing from that year until 1903. From 1898 until 1900 he 
served the people of Anna as city attorney, and during his incumbency 
of that office revised the city ordinances. In 1894 when the Republican 
party was casting about for a suitable candidate for the office of State 
representative, Mr. Pickrell 's name was brought forth, and in the elec- 
tion which followed he received the largest vote ever polled for a can- 
didate for that position. Although he only served one term, Mr. Pick- 
rell made his presence felt in the Legislature, being fearless in cham- 



776 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

pioning the issues which he felt would benefit his constituents, and serv- 
ing as a member of the Judiciary and four or five other committees. 
One of the most important bills advocated by him was one to regulate 
the express companies, placing them under control of the Railroad and 
Warehouse Commission. When he was first appointed postmaster of 
Anna, the postoffice here belonged to the third class, but the business has 
nearly doubled during his incumbency and it is now a second-class office. 
He has ably kept pace with all improvements in the department, and 
has demonstrated his capability and efficiency in every way. He is 
courteous,' considerate and obliging, has been one of the best and most 
popular postmasters Anna has known, and it is certain that when 
he leaves the office he will have added hosts of friends to those he al- 
ready has. The highest compliment that can be paid to Mr. Pickrell is 
the general opinion of all who know him that he is a man who does his 
duty as he sees it, and that he is upright, fearless and absolutely sin- 
cere. He has been popular in fraternal circles, and is connected with 
Lodge No. 520, A. F. & A. M. and R. A. M., Chapter No. 45, at Anna; 
with Cairo Commandery No. 13, and with the Modern Woodmen of 
America. 

PLEASANT W. ROSE, M. D. One of the prominent physicians of 
Southern Illinois, whose skill and ability have gained him a wide and 
enviable reputation, and as a consequence a large and liberal clientele, is 
Pleasant W. Rose, M. D., of Cypress, Illinois, where he is the proprie- 
tor of a drug establishment. Dr. Rose was born on a farm in Grants- 
burg township, Johnson county, August 25, 1877, and is a son of Pleas- 
ant W., Sr., and Mary Elizabeth (Farris) Rose, farming people of this 
county. 

The Rose ancestry can be traced back to Revolutionary times, several 
of the name having fought as soldiers in the Colonial army. The 
grandfather of Dr. Rose, also named Pleasant, was born in Hardin 
county, Illinois, in 1812, and lost his father in early childhood. His 
mother took her little family to an unimproved farm in Pope county, 
Illinois, where the boy grew up to the hard life of the pioneer farmer, 
and at the age of twenty-two years was married to Mary Ann Ellis, of 
North Carolina, a member of a poor but honorable pioneer family. Pos- 
sessed of untiring energy and a strong determination to succeed, he 
worked hard throughout his life and eventually was rewarded by be- 
coming the possessor of an excellent farm in Grantsburg township, 
where his death occurred in 1873, his widow surviving him a little over 
a year and dying December 4, 1874. They had five children, as follows : 
Mary, the widow of D. C. Chapman ; J. E. ; Sydney A., the wife of J. W. 
Damron; Maria; and Pleasant W., the father of Dr. Rose. 

Pleasant W. Rose was born and reared on the farm on which he 
now resides in Grantsburg township, and was married there October 29, 
1868, to Mary Elizabeth Farris, a native of Tennessee, eight children 
being born to this union, as follows: Arista A., who married W. C. 
Graves,- formerly a merchant of Vienna, Illinois, but now the owner of 
a valuable ranch in the State of Colorado ; Ida, who is deceased ; Mary, 
the wife of Dr. H. W. Walker, a well-known physician of Grantsburg; 
Lillie, the wife of Isaac L. Morgan, deputy state fish warden and real 
estate and insurance agent at Vienna ; William ; Dr. Pleasant W. ; Sid- 
ney; and James W., who is deceased. Pleasant W. Rose, Sr., who now 
lives on a finely-cultivated farm of two hundred and seventeen acres, is 
enjoying the fruits of his many years of industrious labor. He is 
known as a practical, sensible man of affairs, a public-spirited citizen 
and leader of the Republican party in his community, and a man who is 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 777 

devoted to his home and family. He has the entire confidence of the citi- 
zens of his community, who recognize in him the type of citizen who has 
the best interests of his locality at heart. 

Dr. Pleasant W. Rose received his early education in the common 
schools of Grantsburg township, later attended the Vienna High School, 
and in 1896 entered Barnes Medical College, at St. Louis, Missouri, from 
which he was graduated April 12, 1899, with the degree of M. D. He 
began the practice of medicine at Grantsburg, but in 1900 went to Simp- 
son, where he remained for five years, then going to Granite City, where 
he remained two years. He came to Cypress in 1907, and here has built 
up an extensive practice, traveling through the rural sections in a 
radius bounded by four miles north, three miles west, seven miles south 
and three miles east of Cypress, finding his high-power automobile very 
convenient in taking him to the home of his patients. In his profession 
he has steadily arisen until he now occupies a foremost place in its ranks, 
and as a business man he has been equally successful. On coming to 
Cypress he erected a fine corner business block, where he has established 
a drug business, handling all goods to be found in a first-class establish- 
ment of its kind, valued at more than six thousand dollars. The Doctor 
belongs to New Columbia Lodge, No. 336, A. F. & A. M., and holds mem- 
bership in the Johnson County Medical Association, the American Medi- 
cal Association and the Association of Railway Surgeons, and was for- 
merly local surgeon for the Illinois Central Railroad at Simpson. 

On May 16, 1901, Dr. Rose was married to Nancy E. (Ellis) Mount, 
widow of John L. Mount, of Pope county, and a daughter of John and 
Mary Ellis. She has two sons by her former marriage: J. Leo, who is 
twenty years old ; and William Ellis, who is fifteen years of age. 

FRANK A. SABIN, M. D. Fifty years of devotion to his profession 
is the record of Dr. Frank A. Sabin, a veteran physician of Anna, Illi- 
nois ; fifty years of his life given to the calling which he chose as his 
work in young manhood; a half century of time spent in the allevia- 
tion of the ills of mankind. Such indeed is a faithful service, a 
record of which no man could be ashamed. Beginning his career as 
a follower of his profession in the East, cheerfully following its call 
to the West, always giving of his best in its service, never sparing 
himself that the task to which he had devoted himself might be com- 
pleted, Dr. Sabin 's life has surely been a useful one, and he may now 
look back over the years that have passed with a sense of duty well 
done and take a pardonable pride in the accomplishment of a great 
work. Dr. Sabin was born in 1835, in Berkshire county, Massa- 
chusetts, and is a son of Dr. Milieu and Millescent Sabin, the former 
born in 1860 and the latter in 1804, both in Berkshire county, the 
father dying in Madison county Illinois in 1879, and the mother pass- 
ing away in 1899, at Anna. 

The Sabin family first came to Illinois in 1856, locating in Bond 
county, where Dr. Sabin was engaged in surveying for three years, 
and at the end of that time returned to the East, where he studied 
medicine with his father. Entering the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, New York, he was graduated therefrom in 1860, and in 1861 
finished his studies in the Berkshire Medical College. After spending 
a short time in New York, in February, 1862, he came to Troy Madi- 
son county, Illinois, and began practice with Dr. John S. Dewey 
Thinking, like many others, that the South would soon be defeated 
and that the Civil war could not last more than a year, Dr. Dewey 
enlisted in the Union army, leaving his practice in charge of Dr. 
Sabin but he was compelled to spend three years in the service. After 



778 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Dr. Dewey's return, Dr. Sabin continued in practice in Madison 
county for twenty-four years, then going to Vermilion, South Dakota, 
where he was for four years engaged in his profession. He spent the 
following two years in Fort Scott, Kansas, and in 1892 came to Anna, 
where he has since resided. A deep thinker and constant student, Dr. 
Sabin has ever devoted himself to research and study. His sympa- 
thetic nature and kind and gentle personality have aided him greatly 
in his labors, and have made the aged physician one of the best be- 
loved of his profession. 

In 1865 Dr. Sabin was married to Miss Anna E. Lytle, who was 
born in Tennessee in 1846 and died at Anna in 1901, and they had two 
children : Edward and Mary. Edward, who was born in 1875, at- 
tended the college at Maryville, Tennessee, for two years but was com- 
pelled to give up his studies on account of ill health. For five years 
he was engaged in teaching but since that time has been engaged in 
the work of the Young Men's Christian Association. He is a member 
of Masonic Blue Lodge No. 520, Anna. Miss Mary Sabin was born 
in 1880, attended Beloit (Wisconsin) College, and during 1903, 1904 
and 1905 taught in Union Academy, Anna. She is unmarried and re- 
sides with her father. Dr. Sabin 's brother, Dr. "Wallace F. Sabin, 
who also makes his home with him, is a retired lieutenant of the Regu- 
lar United States Army, which he joined in 1869 and from which he 
retired in 1909, having served many years as a surgeon. 

Dr. Sabin is a Mason and has been through the chairs, belongs to 
R. A. Chapter No. 45, and was made a mason in 1863. In 1858 he 
joined the Odd Fellows, went through the chairs and took the En- 
campment degree. He is a member of the county, State and Southern 
Illinois medical associations, and is secretary of the county board of 
pension examiners. A consistent member of the Presbyterian church, 
he has been an elder therein for nearly fifty years, and has been a 
member of the Sunday school since 1841, of which he was superintend- 
ent for a quarter of a century. His political beliefs are those of the 
Republican party, but he has never sought public preferment. 

MRS. MINNIE J. DONAGHT. One of the oldest families whose name 
figures in the history of Southern Illinois is that of Donaghy, the first 
representative of that house having come to this section from France in 
the first year of the nineteenth century. This Donaghy married a Miss 
Chapman after his arrival here and they became the parents of one 
son, William B. Donaghy, Sr., father of William B. Donaghy, the late 
resident of Vienna of whom we are writing and- whose demise occurred 
in 1898. The first Donaghy did not remain long in this country, but 
returned to France, leaving the son, William B., Sr., to be reared by 
his uncle, Daniel C. Chapman. After his return to his native land 
nothing further was ever heard of Mr. Donaghy and it is supposed that 
he met his death in some manner unknown to his relatives at the time. 
The first William B. Donaghy was three times married, his first wife 
having been a Miss Jones, the second a Miss Kennedy, and the third a 
Miss Vandervent, and she became the mother of William B. Donaghy, 
whose life this sketch briefly outlines, and who was born January 30, 
1849, on a farm near Vienna. As the death of the elder Donaghy which 
occurred seven days before the birth of W. B., Jr., and, his mother having 
died when he was six years old, he was raised by step parents. He in- 
herited his portion of the estate and subsequently bought out the in- 
terests of the other heirs in the old homestead. Beginning with a farm 
of eighty acres, he cultivated it with skill and success. He combined 
farming operations with teaching school, and was able to accumulate a 



TEfc IWRMW 

35- m 
IfflWERSITY OF ILLIWHS 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 779 

large amount of property during his life. Among his properties was 
one fine farm containing one hundred and sixty acres, located near 
Vienna, and another of equal size situated near Bethlehem in John- 
son county. Mr. Donaghy was a public spirited citizen who took an 
active interest in all matters pertaining to the public weal. He filled 
various township offices during his lifetime and was clerk of Vienna 
township for several terms. His death on July 24, 1898, removed 
from the community one of its most valuable citizens and his death 
was sincerely mourned by a host of friends by whom he was held in 
universal high esteem. 

Mr. Donaghy was, on October 9, 1873, united in the holy bonds of 
wedlock with Miss Miranda J. Scott, who still survives her late hus- 
band. Mrs. Donaghy, who was born in 1851, is the daughter of James 
and Theresa (Fort) Scott, both Kentuckians. James Scott, who 
settled in Kentucky in 1850, was a son of William Scott, born in Scot- 
land, and he married Mary Conrad, who was born in Ireland. Theresa 
Fort was the daughter of William Fort, a native of Kentucky. 

Mrs. Donaghy is the mother of six children, as follows: William 
B., a resident of Spokane, Washington, and father of two children, 
William B., Jr., and Dorothy Elizabeth; Mrs. Annie Maud Miller, of 
Fresno, California, mother of one child, William Glenn; Mrs. Minnie 
D. Weirick, also of Fresno, California, mother of two children, Dorothy 
Margaret and Joseph Roy; Mrs. Flora Myrtle Smith, of Fresno, Cali- 
fornia, mother of one child, Myra; John M., of Spokane, Washington; 
and Nellie M., a graduate of the Vienna High School, and who lives 
with her mother. 

CHARLES E. "McCLiNTOCK. One of the most substantial representa- 
tives of the financial interests of Cypress, Illinois, is Mr. Charles E. 
McClintock, president and owner of the Bank of Cypress, a financial 
institution of high standing and assured stability second to none in 
Johnson county. Mr. McClintock resided upon the Franklin county 
farm on which he was born, January 27, 1870, during the first twenty- 
two years of his life. The McClintocks were among the early pioneers 
of this section of the state, and the grandfather of our subject, Samuel 
McClintock, who was a native of Ireland, first resided in North Caro- 
lina, but later settled in Southern Illinois, coming here in the early 
forties. Mr. McClintock 's father, Andrew Jackson McClintock, was 
born in North Carolina, and came from that state with his father, who 
settled here as above mentioned. His mother, who was before her mar- 
riage Louisa J. demons, was born in Tennessee. The father spent his 
life in agricultural pursuits, and died on the farm in 1893, while the 
mother is still living. 

Charles E. McClintock was a member of a family of ten children and 
had six brothers and three sisters, whose names were as follows: Samuel 
C., Emma Ellen, Andrew J., John W., Robert L., Moses C., Edward E., 
Martha J. and Mary L. His first entrance into the mercantile world 
took place when he was in his twenty-second year, when he engaged in 
business in Old Frankfort. Illinois. In August, 1899, Mr. McClintock 
disposed of his store at that point and removed to Johnston City, 
Williamson county, purchasing there a stock similar to that which he 
carried at Frankfort, and now conducts a business there of sufficient 
proportions to make it profitable to carry fourteen thousand dollars 
worth of goods on the shelves. Mr. McClintock has been very successful 
in this as in other lines of commercial activity in which he has a part, 
and is entitled to personal credit alone for what he has attained, for he 
has gained all through his own unaided efforts. 



780 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Ten years ago he became actively interested in banking operations 
through his connection as stockholder of large holdings in the First 
National Bank of Johnson City. He now owns an interest in several 
other financial organizations, possesses a large amount of real estate in 
this and other states and is rated as one of the weathiest men of this 
part of the state. He owns valuable real estate properties in Johnson 
City; St. Louis, Missouri; St. Elmo, West Frankfort, Marion, Grand 
Tower and Cypress, Illinois, and at other points in Missouri has one 
hundred and eighty acres of land, while at Austin, Texas, he owns one 
thousand one hundred acres the value of his entire acreages being esti- 
mated at in the neighborhood of thirty thousand dollars. 

On June 15, 1911, in company with William Orwan Hall, his son-in- 
law, Mr. McClintock purchased the Bank of Cypress, Mr. Hall assuming 
the position of cashier of the institution, which does a general banking 
and loan business. He is now engaged in making arrangements for the 
incorporation of the Cypress State Bank, with a capital of twenty-five 
thousand dollars, the stockholders to be among the citizens, business 
men and farmers of Cypress. 

In 1891 occurred the marriage of Mr. McClintock and Belle Jordan, 
of Franklin county, a daughter of Elijah W. and Nancy C. Jordan. 
Four children have blessed this union. One died in infancy and the 
three living are: Nola May, wife of William Orwan Hall, previously 
mentioned as cashier of the bank ; Ruby Fay and Lena Ruth. 

Mr. McClintock is a man of deep religious convictions and is a benev- 
olent contributor to all churches. In fraternal circles he is highly 
esteemed as a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows and of the Woodmen of the World. He is an influential factor in 
all movements looking to the highest development of this section of the 
state and is a gentleman of unimpeachable integrity as well as extensive 
experience and broad business ability. 

T. LEE AGNEW, A. B., M. D. One of the leading members of the 
Southern Illinois medical profession, who has held many positions of 
trust and has discharged the duties that have been delegated to him in 
a manner calculated to win and maintain the confidence and esteem of 
his entire community, is T. Lee Agnew, A. B., M. D., president of the 
Union County Medical Society, whose field of practice since 1900 has 
been the city of Anna. Dr. Agnew was born at Makanda, Jackson 
county, Illinois, in 1871, and is a son of Dr. Frank M. and Harriet E. 
(Elmore) Agnew. Dr. Agnew 's father, who is the oldest practicing 
physician in Jackson county, was born in Ohio, in 1840, and his mother 
in Tennessee in 1846, and both are now living in the town of Makanda, 
whence they came as young people. 

T. Lee Agnew attended the public schools of Jackson county, after 
leaving which he attended Ewing College for three years in Franklin 
county. In 1888 he went to Jackson, Tennessee, and entered the South- 
western Baptist University, from which he was graduated in 1892 with 
the degree of A. B., having been a member of the Alpha Theta Chapter 
of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. While at Ewing College he was phyto- 
gian, and at Jackson was a member of the Appolonian Literary Society, 
winning the gold medal for oratory. Although greatly interested in his 
studies, Dr. Agnew did not neglect his physical needs, and was one of the 
best shortstops and pitchers that the Jackson baseball team ever had. 
In 1892 he entered Marion Sims College of Medicine, at St. Louis, which 
is now connected with the St. Louis University, and he was graduated 
therefrom in 1895 with the degree of M. D., having taken a special 
course in internal medicines. During the next five years he was en- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 781 

gaged in practice with his father at Makanda, and he then came to 
Anna, which he has since made his home, and where he has built up an 
extensive practice. Dr. Agnew is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and 
the Modern Woodmen, of which he is medical examiner, as he is also 
of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, the Bankers Life Assurance Com- 
pany of Des Moines, Iowa ; the Northwestern Life Assurance Company, 
the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, the Travelers Life In- 
surance Company and the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. He 
is president of the Union County Medical Society, of which he was sec- 
retary for four years and one of the reorganizers after it had been dis- 
solved, and is connected with the state and national bodies. As a mem- 
ber of the board of health, Dr. Agnew successfully handled several small- 
pox epidemics, and his labors here in every way have been conducive 
to the public welfare. His politics are those of the Democratic party, 
but he has not found time from his professional duties to enter the 
public field as an active participant, although he is deeply interested in 
all that pertains to the progress and development of his section. 

January 18, 1899, Dr. Agnew was married to Miss Edna E. Elling- 
ton, who was born in Jackson, Tennessee, at which place he met her as 
a schoolmate. They are consistent members of the First Baptist Church, 
in which he has been a deacon for some years, and he was for a long 
period associated with Sunday school work, acting as teacher, secretary 
and superintendent. A man of scholarly tastes and able to throw light 
on almost any subject connected with his profession, yet drawing from a 
fund of rich experience and ripened knowledge, Dr. Agnew is also a man 
of rare sympathy, great kindness of heart and magnetic personality. 
Possessing a fine presence, a cheerful manner and an invigorating voice, 
he is destined for great things in the happy future that stretches before 
him, as a reward for his years of faithful, painstaking preparation for 
the noblest work in which a man can engage. 

CHARLES A. C. PARKER, M. D. In the country around Dongola, no 
figure is so welcome as is that of Dr. Charles A. C. Parker. Beginning 
his life as a young man in the service of the public as a school teacher, 
he saved his small monthly stipend in order that he might continue 
to give his services to his fellow men, as their physician. Dr. Parker 
has been a practicing physician for nineteen years, and in spite of hav- 
ing spent only four of these in Dongola, he is loved as loyally as 
though he had spent all of his life among the people of this section. 

Charles A. C. Parker was born on the 7th of September, 1863, 
in Pocahontas, Tennessee. He was the son of Rev. I. A. J. Parker and 
Jane J. (Clary) Parker. The father is one of the oldest ministers of 
the Christian church in the state of Illinois, his years of service being 
over two score. When Dr. Parker was a baby of two years the family 
left Tennessee, emigrating to Massac county, Illinois and settling in 
the little town of Metropolis. Soon afterward they again moved this 
time to Johnson county, near Buncombe. The parents now reside in 
Vienna, where they are revered for the beauty of character which is 
shown so clearly in their daily lives. They are the parents of eight 
children, Dr. C. A. C. ; Lucas, who is a printer and undertaker at 
Vienna; Gus, living in Larned, Kansas; Lillie, staying on the old home 
place ; Willis, or better, Rev. W. E. Parker, at present a student at 
Harvard University ; Rev. Beverly P. the well loved Christian minister 
at Roselle, Kansas; Ethel, now Mrs. Marbury of Leverett, Illinois: 
Myrtle, the wife of the Rev. Sears of Maroa, Illinois. 

Dr. Parker was educated in the common schools of Johnson county, 
and when he was no more than a school boy himself, at the age of 



782 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

seventeen, he began teaching. He taught eight terms in all ; five terms 
in Union county, three in Johnson and four in Moscow. His success 
as a school teacher was marked. He had the gift of sympathy and 
understanding, and children gravitated to him naturally, though in 
his schools everyone knew they dare not misbehave, for his rule 
though tender was firm. He now studied medicine under Dr. Dick 
of Union county for one year and then in 1890 his great desire was 
fulfilled and he entered the doors of the Marion Sims Medical College 
as a student. On the 25th of April, 1892 he was graduated and im- 
mediately began the practice of his profession. The first year he 
spent at Mt. Pleasant and then located near Cypress where he re- 
mained from 1893 to 1906. During this year he moved to Campbell 
Hill in Jackson county, Illinois, where he remained for the next two 
years. In the spring of 1908 he came to Dongola, and with these years 
of experience behind him he has been able to make himself indispen- 
sable to the people of this section. His practice is very large, and 
much scattered, so that sometimes this faithful practitioner is forced 
to drive sixteen miles or so to cure a cold. It is worth while, for no 
where is there a class of men who do a greater amount of good than 
the country doctor, and no where can one win a more true and loyal 
set of friends than in just such work. In accordance with his doc- 
trine of brotherly love, he is a firm believer in the good of fraternal- 
ism. He is a member of the Masonic order of Dongola, is a Modern 
Woodman of America, belongs to the Modern Brotherhood of America 
and to the Royal Neighbors. 

His affiliation in religious matters is with the Baptist church, where 
he is a regular attendant. In 1881 he was married to Mary A. Henard. 
the daughter of Francis M. and Lucretia A. (Bridges) Henard. They 
have five children, three of whom are married and have families of 
their own. Marie C. is Mrs. Hinkle and the mother of two children. 
Loren and Leland. Charles M. is a railroad conductor and lives at 
Salem, Illinois, with his two sons James and Jack, and his wife, who 
was Ina Bridges. Eva E., who married W. 0. Holshouser lives at 
Cypress, with her family of four children, Wanda, Hazel, Paul and 
Joseph. The two youngest, Mary Edith and Zillah are still at home. 

Dr. C. A. C. Parker is interested in things outside of his profes- 
sion, which is rather rare for scientific men. He is vice-president and 
stockholder of the new First National Bank of Dongola, which opened 
for business on the 30th of September, 1911. He is also the owner of 
a brick business block and a fine residence in Dongola. 

Dr. Parker must have received his tendency to battle with disease 
from his long line of fighting ancestors. His father was a soldier all 
through the Civil war, fighting under Colonel Moss on the Union side. 
The grandfather of the doctor, Aaron Parker also fought during the 
Civil war and died of chronic dysentery during this period, so the 
doctor comes naturally by his fighting propensities. 

JAMES C. STEWART, M. D. Many of the physicians and surgeons of 
today are devoting their energies to certain special lines, believing that 
in this way they accomplish much more good than if they spread their 
efforts over a wider field. One of the men who has achieved success in 
his chosen walks of life and has made his name a representative one in 
the profession of medicine, is Dr. James C. Stewart, who is engaged in 
practice at Anna, Illinois, and makes a specialty of diseases of the eye. 
Dr. Stewart was born at Buncombe, Johnson county, Illinois, in 1866, 
and is a son of Thomas B. and Sarah J. (Lovelace) Stewart, retired 
farming people of Illinois, who now make their home in St. Louis. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 783 

James C. Stewart received his early education in the common schools 
of Johnson county, after leaving which he entered the Southern Illinois 
Normal University, at Carbondale, which he was compelled to leave on 
account of ill health six months before graduating. During the next 
four years he was engaged in teaching in the public schools of Johnson 
county, in the meantime diligently pursuing his medical studies, and he 
then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at St. Louis, from 
which he was graduated in 1891. Subsequently he took a general post- 
graduate course at the Illinois Post-graduate Medical School, Chicago, 
from which he graduated in 1900, having given special study on diseases 
of the eye, and in 1891 he began practice at Goreville, Johnson county. 
After seven years of successful practice at that place, Dr. Stewart came 
to Anna, where he has since built up a large clientele. He has retained 
the confidence of a large body of patients through his success in a num- 
ber of complicated cases, is a close and careful student, a steady-handed 
surgeon and a sympathetic friend and advisor, and keeps himself well 
posted on the latest discoveries in his profession by subscription to 
numerous medical journals. He is a member of the Union County Medi- 
cal Society, the Illinois and Southern Illinois Medical Societies and the 
American Medical Association, has been connected with the American 
Association of Railway Surgeons for some years, and also belongs to the 
Joint Association of Surgeons of the Illinois Central, Yazoo and Missis- 
sippi Valley and Indiana Southern Railway Companies. Fraternally, 
the doctor is connected with the local lodge of Masons, No. 520. He and 
his wife are consistent members of the Presbyterian church, in which he 
now acts as a member of the board of trustees. Dr. Stewart is one of 
Anna's most public-spirited citizens, and can always be found in the 
front rank of any movement which will prove of benefit to his profession, 
to the cause of education, or to his adopted city. 

In 1892 Dr. Stewart was married to Miss Ada P. May, of Marion, 
Illinois, and four children have been born to this union, namely : Don 
B., who was born October 25, 1896, and is now attending the Union 
Academy, at Anna; Beryl J., who died at the age of ten years; Victor, 
who' died when ten years old ; and Fay, who passed away when an infant 
of eighteen months. Dr. Stewart has a well-appointed suite of offices 
in Anna, where he is also the owne~ of a modern residence property. 

WILLIAM T. LAUGHLIN. The history of this section of the state would 
not be complete did it not contain conspicuous mention of William T. 
Laughlin, a leading citizen of Johnson county, at present mayor of Cy- 
press, and also a well known merchant of that city. Mr. Laughlin is a 
man whom Johnson county claims particularly as its own, this having 
been the place of his nativity, his birth occurring on a farm near Tunnel 
Hill on August 12, 1865. Mr. Laughlin is the grandson of Dr. George 
Laughlin, of Scotch descent, a native of Kentucky, and a practicing phy- 
sician well known in early days here. It was Dr. Laughlin who erected 
a mill at Millstone Bluff about 1848. 

The parents of William T. Laughlin were Richard Harris and Eliza- 
beth Marilla (Simmons) Laughlin. The father was born and grew to 
young manhood near Princeton, Caldwell county, Kentucky, the year of 
his birth being 1827. When twenty years old he became a settler on a 
farm near Millstone Bluff in Pope county, but later purchased a farm 
near Tunnel Hill and resided there for a period. After a time he dis- 
posed of that land and returned to Pope County, and located near his 
first home there, on the line between two counties. At a subsequent date 
he secured the ownership of a farm just across the line in Johnson 
county, where he lived until the time of his death, in 1884. His wife 



784 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

preceded him to the other land, her demise having occurred on March 20, 
1882. They were the parents of nine children, but four of whom grew 
to maturity and but two of whom are now living, these being Samuel W. 
and William T., the latter the subject of this sketch. Richard H. Laugh- 
lin did valiant service in fighting for his country and was an active par- 
ticipant both in the Mexican war and the war of the rebellion, serving 
in the former conflict under General Scott. At the very outbreak of the 
Civil war he offered his service to the cause of freedom and enlisted as 
a member of Company I in the Thirty-first Regiment of Illinois Infan- 
try, under command of John A. Logan. He continued' to serve under 
Logan until that splendid soldier's promotion to a major-generalship. 
Mr. Laughlin was with his company in every engagement in which the 
Thirty-first Regiment fought, was severely wounded in battle before the 
close of the war, and was discharged on account of disability. 

William T. Laughlin worked on the farm and attended school when 
the district school of his community was in session until the death of his 
father in 1884. He then fitted himself to take up the profession of teach- 
ing and secured his first school in Williamson county when twenty-one 
years of age. He taught twelve terms in that county and four terms in 
Johnson county in the country schools, and then decided to equip him- 
self for higher work. In the furtherance of this purpose he entered the 
State Normal School at Carbondale in 1895, took a four years' course at 
that institution, and after completing his studies there continued the 
work of teaching until 1904. Two years previously, in 1902, he had set 
himself up in business in a modest way as a merchant in Cypress, and he 
now decided to give his whole attention to that interest. He has been 
very successful in this effort and does a large business, carrying regu- 
larly a stock of goods valued at three thousand dollars. 

Mr. Laughlin has always taken a leading interest in public affairs, 
being an energetic citizen of the best type, and was in 1911 honored with 
election to the presidency of the Town Board of Cypress. He is promi- 
nent as well in leading social and religious circles of the community, is 
a member of the Baptist church, and fraternally is affiliated with the 
A. F. & A. M., in which he has attained the Royal Arch degree, the In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. 

The first marriage of Mr. Laughlin was solemnized in 1887, when Ida 
C. Gill, daughter of Stephen T. and Mary (Hutchinson) Gill, became his 
wife. She was the mother of two children, Harry and Charles, and died 
in 1893. In 1904 Mr. Laughlin was married to Mrs. Stella M. Adams, a 
daughter of George and Cis Lynch, of Johnson county. This union has 
been blessed in the birth of four children, Herschel Lynch, aged six 
years; Virgil, aged four years; Byron Wadsworth, two years old; and 
Vernon Winifred, an infant. 

GEORGE W. COUGHANOWR. As postmaster of Dongola almost contin- 
uously since 1889, George W. Coughanowr is perhaps the best known 
man in this city. Certain it is that no man in Dongola has given better 
service to the city, or served more faithfully in any public office, than 
has he. He received his first appointment from Benjamin Harrison in 
1889, and with the exception of those years covered by the administra- 
tion of Grover Cleveland, has been the incumbent of the office continu- 
ously. He has seen the office grow in size and importance until it has 
been raised to a third class station, the advance taking place in 1906. On 
the whole, his services to the city, both in his official capacity and as an 
open-minded, straightforward citizen, have been of a character that 
would be difficult to estimate. 

George W. Coughanowr was born on February 1, 1849, at Lebanon, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 785 

Ohio. He is the son of Henry W. Coughanowr, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and - - (Powell) Coughanowr. Henry W. Coughanowr 
removed from Pennsylvania to Illinois in 1851. In 1853 he settled in 
Paris, Illinois, and engaged in the shoe business, being a shoe-maker by 
trade, in which business he prospered most agreeably, and where he 
remained until 1865, when at the close of the Civil war, he removed 
with his family to Carbondale. There the elder Coughanowr engaged 
again in the shoe business, adding also harness manufacturing. He re- 
mained there, occupied thus until his death came in 1886. They reared 
a family of seven children, namely: Louisa, now deceased; William, 
also deceased ; Isaac Newton, killed in battle at Stone River during the 
Civil war; Henrietta, died at Carbondale; Mary, who married Charles 
Curl and resides at Paris; Josephine, married E. Patton, and George W. 
of Dongola. 

George W. Coughanowr lived as other boys until he reached the age 
of fourteen, at which time he left home and enlisted in the Union army 
as a drummer boy. He was a member of Company H, Sixty-fourth 
Illinois Volunteers, and served his country with as much devotion, hero- 
ism and bravery as any veteran of the great Civil war. With his regi- 
ment, he saw service under General Sherman, and he took an active 
part on many a bloody field. His first battle was at Snake Creek Gap, 
and he was at Dallas and the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. He was in 
the siege of Atlanta and participated in Sherman's famous "march to 
the sea. ' ' Throughout the entire period of his service he saw continuous 
skirmishing and fighting, and whether on march or on the field of battle, 
the youthful drummer boy lent inspiration to his comrades, arousing 
their flagging energies to deeds of greater valor. From Savannah they 
went to Beaufort, South Carolina, marched through the Carolinas, was 
at Raleigh, North Carolina, when Lee surrendered, and later partici- 
pated in the Grand Review at Washington. He was mustered out with 
his company on July 15, 1865, and returned home to Illinois, passing 
through the hardships and vicissitudes of army life unscathed, and 
with a memory stored with the manifold incidents and adventures 
attendant upon a three years' service in the drum corps of the Union 
army while engaged in a great war. 

Settling down to quiet civil life again, he entered his father's estab- 
lishment in Carbondale and learned the shoemakers' trade. Later he 
clerked in a dry goods store at Grand Tower and following that he served 
in the same capacity in Carbondale and Carterville. He removed to 
Dongola in 1879, and was occupied as a clerk in that city until 1906. 
He was appointed postmaster of Dongola during President Harrison's 
administration, holding the office continuously, except for the interval 
of time covered by Grover Cleveland's administration, as previously 
mentioned. Up to 1906 he handled the post-office in conjunction with 
his other duties, but since it was raised to a third class post in 1906 he 
has given his full time and attention to the position. On December 20, 
1911, he was reappointed for an additional four years. 

In 1881 Mr. Coughanowr married Rosa Davis, daughter of Syran 
Davis, a one time sheriff of Union county. Mr. and Mrs. Coughanowr 
are the parents of one child, Bertha, who ably assists her father as 
Deputy postmaster. 

Mr. Coughanowr is a member of the Dongola lodge A. F. & A. M. 
and of the Anna post of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is also a 
director and stockholder of the First National Bank of Dongola. As a 
firm adherent of the Republican party, he has always taken an active 
interest in political affairs of his county, and his support and aid are 



786 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

always to be relied upon in any movement that may be calculated to 
add to the welfare of the community. 

ALFRED E. POWELL. When a man is desirous of obtaining any in- 
formation concerning mines and mining at Coulterville he is usually 
referred to Afred E. Powell, who is at present operating the leading 
coal mining property in the district. He has been identified with tho 
mineral belt of the St. Louis coal regions all of his life and has spent 
more than a third of a century in active mining, so he is amply able 
to speak with authority on the subject to which he has devoted so 
much of his life. 

He was born at Chiltenham in St. Louis county, Missouri, on the 
20th of July, 1865, and as a child came with his father into the region 
around Belleville, Illinois. Here he spent his youth, managing to pick 
up here and there scraps of learning and as a lad of ten becoming 
a wage earner. His father was John Powell, who had been connected 
with mines in various capacities from his youth, which had been spent 
in the mines of England. He was a native of Staffordshire, the year 
of his birth being 1816. He married Thirza Pierce, and hoping to 
find better conditions for labor in the United States, they migrated 
hither in 1848. About the time of their arrival the cholera plague 
was raging, but they passed safely through it and lived in this coun- 
try for a third of a century, dying in 1881. Only one other member 
of their family ever settled in America. This was a brother of John's, 
William Powell, and he died in Chiltenham, leaving two children. 

John and Thirza Powell were of the best type of English emigrant, 
modest and plain in manner, of great industry, with few matters of 
greater significance, than the regulation of their domestic affairs, 
capable of causing them either interest or concern. John, believing 
that the policies best suited to our form of governemnt were to be 
found in the platform of the Republican party, adopted the politics 
of this party and was always a loyal member. They had three chil- 
dren, the eldest of whom was Arthur, a mining man of New Baden, 
Illinois; Thomas H. who is identified with his brother's mine at Caul- 
terville, and Alfred E., the youngest. 

Alfred E. Powell seemed destined to become a miner from the 
very nature of his environment, and it is a significant fact that 
although he dropped the industry a number of times, sooner or later 
he was irresistably drawn back into it. He first took a job at "trap- 
ping" at Belleville and remained in that district till 1889, when the 
Consolidated Coal Company, having discovered his executive powers, 
sent him to Peoria, Illinois, as the manager of one of their mines. At 
the end of two years, finding that their confidence in him had not been 
misplaced, he was transferred to Gillespie in a like capacity. He re- 
mained here for eighteen months, and then, as a mechanical engineer, 
he went to St. Louis. He soon gave up this profession, and engaged 
in a merchandise, furniture, coal and feed business. In 1903 he came 
to Coulterville, Illinois, and leasing a mine that had just been opened 
up west of the town, he set to work and developed the property and 
operated it very successfully for two and a half years. 

Again abandoning mining, Mr. Powell now engaged in a general 
merchandise business in Coulterville. His interests were really in the 
mining business however, and when he saw an opportunity to secure 
the fine property of which he is at present lessee, he was willing 
enough to give up his mercantile business. He took possession of his 
new mine on the 19th of May, 1908, and has operated it ever since. 
The property is very valuable, being the most productive mine at 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 787 

\ 

Coulterville and giving employment to seventy-five men. The daily 
output is four hundred and fifty tons. 

His connections with the civic affairs of Coulterville has been 
rather that of a quiet citizen, with an inclination to vote his senti- 
ments and to perform such public functions as he is called upon to 
do. He has served on the town board and was a faithful and effi- 
cient member. In political matters he supports the Republican policies 
and in the world of the fraternal orders is a member of the Odd 
Fellows. 

He was married at Belleville, on the 20th of November, 1886, to 
Miss Bessie Marsh, a daughter of Daniel Marsh, who was a coal opera- 
tor of that district. The latter was a well known and popular man 
who claimed old England for his birthplace. His wife was Bessie 
Glover and his daughter Bessie was one of six children. The children 
of Mr. and Mrs. Powell are Leroy, who is the general sales agent of 
the Randolph Coal and Mining Company, which is the official name 
of the Powell property in Coulterville, and one daughter, Miss Elva 
Powell. 

HON. NOEL WHITEHEAD. Among men everywhere there must always 
be leaders. Persons not naturally demonstrative to too great a degree, 
with a high regard for the rights of others, and possessing proper ideas 
as to the best means of advancing the interests of their communities, are 
doubtless best fitted for leadership. They do not always attain to that 
position, but when they do their very character serves as a guarantee 
that the tasks intrusted to them will be well and faithfully performed, 
and that portion of the world which comes under their influence will be 
bettered in its condition because of their services. Noel Whitehead, 
whose admirable administration of affairs in discharging the duties of 
the office of mayor of Vienna has established the wisdom of the assertion 
that he would prove as able an official as he has a business man, 
although still a young man, has had a remarkably busy career and is 
connected with some of the leading industries of this section in an offi- 
cial capacity. Mayor Whitehead was born March 7, 1874, in Tunnel 
Hill, Johnson county, Illinois, and is a son of Sylvester and Mary 
(Brooks) Whitehead. 

Sylvester Whitehead was born in the state of Arkansas, in 1849, 
and came to Johnson county, Illinois, in 1854 with his father, James 
Whitehead, and his brother, John, who served in the Civil War four 
years under General John A. Logan, participating in the battles of 
Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and 
various other smaller engagements, and participated in Sherman's fam- 
ous "March to the Sea." He died in 1906. The grandfather of Mayor 
Whitehead was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Johnson county for 
the remainder of his life, and his son Sylvester was reared to the life of 
a farmer, but forsook the soil to engage in mercantile pursuits in the 
town of Tunnel Hill. He served as postmaster at that point for many 
years, was a successful business man, and became the owner of much 
valuable property, and at the time of his death, September 1, 1909, was 
one of his section's most highly esteemed citizens. Mr. Whitehead 
married Mary Brooks, who was born in 1849 and died in 1898, and they 
had a family of four children, of whom three died in infancy. 

Noel Whitehead attended the public schools of Tunnell Hill, the 
Cape Girardeau (Missouri) Normal School and the Southern Illinois 
Normal University, and in the spring of 1893 completed a business 
course at Quincy, Illinois. He then entered into partnership with his 
father in the mercantile business, where for two years he served as as- 



788 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

sistant postmaster, and in 1895 came to Vienna and became assistant 
cashier of the First National Bank, of which his father at that time was 
vice-president. In July, 1898, he returned to Tunnel Hill, where he 
took charge of the business, retaining his interest therein until 1906, in 
the meantime maintaining a residence at Vienna. Since April, 1910, Mr. 
Whitehead has been connected with the Egyptian Land and Loan Com- 
pany, of which he was one of the organizers, the present corporation 
consisting of D. Esco Walker, C. W. Mills and Mr. Whitehead. The 
company does a large general land and loan business, and has holdings 
throughout this part of the state. Mr. Whitehead is the owner of four- 
teen hundred acres of Johnson county farming land, is a stockholder in 
the First National Bank of Vienna, and has varied interests all over this 
section. He has all the essential qualities of a successful business man. 
Quick to perceive, ready to act, he meets minor business questions with 
quiet ease, while, careful to act rightly, larger matters are the subject of 
his full consideration. Honorable and honest in affairs, thoroughly in- 
formed on general business questions, logical in reasoning, considerate 
and broad in his judgment of general business conditions and ten- 
dencies, and a most certain and intuitive judge of the character of men, 
Mr. Whitehead proved his capability to successfully handle his own af- 
fairs, and the people of Vienna were quick to see that he would be 
equally successful in handling the affairs of the city. In April, 1911, he 
was elected to the mayoralty chair, and his administration has shown 
that his fellow citizens' confidence was not misplaced. Mayor White- 
head is very well known in fraternal circles, belonging to the Blue 
Lodge, Chapter and Consistory of the Masonic order; the Independent 
Order Odd Fellows, the Knight of Pythias, Marion Lodge No. 800, Bene- 
volent Protective Order Elks, and the Order of the Eastern Star, while 
his wife is a well known member of the Daughters of the American Rev- 
olution. 

On August 21, 1893, Mr. Whitehead was married to Estella Chap- 
man, daughter of Pleasant T. and Mary Chapman, and three children 
have been born to this union : Noel Paul, Clinton Sylvester and Mary 
Estella. Noel Paul is attending a private military academy at Staunton, 
Virginia, while the other children are students in the Vienna public 
schools. 

WILLIAM P. SEEBER. One of the leading young professional men of 
Franklin county, Illinois, is found in the person of William P. Seeber, of 
Benton, who, as a lover of his profession, that of law, has pursued it upon 
the same methods as the scholar in science quietly, enthusiastically and 
industriously, bringing to it the highest intellectual qualities and attrib- 
utes of character, which have given him an enviable reputation and 
earned for him conspicuous success. He is a native of Franklin county, 
and was born February 17, 1878, a son of William D. and Florence 
(Pope) Seeber. 

W. M. Seeber, the paternal grandfather of William P., and the pro- 
genitor of the Seeber family in America, was born in Germany, and 
came as a young man to America, settling in the state of New York, 
where he spent the remainder of his life. William D. Seeber, his son, 
was born in the Empire state in 1844, and was seventeen years of age 
when he came to Illinois and settled in the southwestern part of the 
county. He soon engaged in farming, winning himself a place among the 
substantial citizens of Franklin county, who, recognizing his ability in 
handling his own affairs and rightly surmising that he had the ability 
to handle matters of a public nature, elected him, in 1878. to the office of 
sheriff of the county, he being the first Republican to hold that position. 



(RRYERSITY OF ILUMR 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 789 

Mr. Seeber is now serving his third term as county clerk, his office being 
in Benton, and he is known and respected throughout this part of the 
county. His wife is a consistent member of the Christian church, and is 
active in movements of a religious or charitable nature. Her father, 
Benjamin Pope, was born in Illinois, and was a member of one of the 
old pioneer families of this state. 

William P. Seeber received his early educational training in the public 
schools of Benton, and graduated from the Benton High School in 1898, 
immediately after which he entered the law office of Plannigan & Can- 
trell, having decided to become a member of the legal profession. When 
only twenty-one years of age, and still a law clerk, he received the nomin- 
ation for the office of state 's attorney, but in the ensuing election, in 1900, 
he was defeated by a small majority. In 1904 he was again the recipient 
of the nomination for this office, and this time was elected, and while an 
incumbent thereof he completed his law studies and was admitted to he 
bar in 1908. A that time Mr. Seeber formed a partnership with Mr. J. P. 
Mooneyham, and they now practice in all the courts and have built up a 
large and lucrative practice. Mr. Seeber is considered one of the brightest 
young attorneys in Southern Illinois, and he is also possessed of keen busi- 
ness judgment, and honest in all of his dealings. He is enthusiastically in 
favor of those things that stand for the right and bitterly opposed to dis- 
honesty and underhandedness, and is ever interested in the welfare of his 
friends. He has the happy faculty of drawing men to him, and enjoys the 
utmost confidence of those with whom he has come in contact. He has 
been an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party and has 
served as a delegate to a number of county conventions and two state 
conventions. He is prominent fraternally as a member of the Court 
of Honor, and is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias at Ben- 
ton. A hard and industrious worker, Mr. Seeber has given all of his 
attention to his practice, with the result that he is able to enjoy the 
good things of life. 

In 1899 Mr. Seeber was united in marriage with Miss Elfie Harrison, 
daughter of Isom Harrison, who now lives at Mulkeytown, Franklin 
county and was one of the earliest settlers of this county, where he is 
universally respected. He now lives retired, being past eighty years of 
age, and is a popular comrade of the G. A. R., having served through the 
Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Seeber have been the parents of four children : 
Earl and Charles, who are attending school, and Dayton and William, 
who died in infancy. Mrs. Seeber is a member of the Christian church, 
and regularly attends its services in Benton. 

EBERHARD BUCHEE. Among the growing industries of Cairo that 
represented by Eberhard Bucher, the packing and provision business, 
is a positive factor in the force gradually driving the city forward. 
This industry was conceived in many years of application to the retail 
meat business by Mr. Bucher, and is the outgrowth of a demand for 
an establishment where fresh meats could be supplied to a retail trade 
that promised to sustain a considerable plant and thereby open a new 
market for hogs, cattle and sheep. Mr. Bucher 's experience as a 
butcher and his knowledge of the whole scheme of operating a success- 
ful packing house has been vast, and at his suggestion of the promo- 
tion of such an industry capital came forward and formed the E. 
Bucher Packing Company in 1904, erected substantial buildings of 
brick, capitalized the company at thirty thousand dollars, and opened 
the plant with a capacity of two hundred and fifty cattle a month, 
six hundred hogs and sheep. An ice plant in connection furnishes a 
cold storage department for the company and for the public use and 



790 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

the management has developed a healthy trade and achieved such re- 
sults as prove the wisdom of its promoters in making their investment. 
Mr. Bucher is president of the company, Joseph Bucher is the vice- 
president, and Wilbur B. Thistlewood is the secretary and treasurer. 

Eberhard Bucher first came to Cairo in 1881. He was then unable 
to speak our language without difficulty, and had been in the United 
States only one year. He was born in the town of Gravensburg, in the 
Grand Duchy of Wurtemberg, Germany, March 4, 1857. He was 
brought up on a small farm in the community where his ancestors had 
resided for many generations, and received the school training required 
under the German laws. His father was Alois Bucher and his mother 
Maria Miller, and Eberhard was the first child born in a family of 
eleven, among them being: Silas, a farmer at Mounds, Illinois; Joseph, 
of Cairo; Stephen, a farmer of Freeport, Illinois; Carl, who is one of 
the firm of wagonmakers of Cairo, Maloney & Bucher; Theresa, the 
wife of William Becker, of Freeport, Illinois; and Mary, the wife of 
J. P. Love, of Cairo. Four are deceased. 

When Eberhard Bucher had finished his education he was put to 
learning the trade of butcher and sausage-maker, and was in Switzer- 
land at this time, the scene of his labors being in Wintertur, Canton 
of Zurich. He remained there until his trade was completed, and 
came to the United States in 1880, sailing from 'Antwerp for Phila- 
delphia, and being thirteen days at sea. He was bound for Cincinnati, 
and when he had reached that city he had but ten dollars left, but se- 
cured work as a sausage-maker and after a year came on to Illinois 
and located at Cairo. Here he resumed his trade in the employ of 
Jacob Walter, but only a few months elapsed before he became a joint 
proprietor of a small meat business in Clinton, Illinois, but he shortly 
disposed of his interests at that point and returned to Cincinnati to 
resume his trade of sausage-making with his old employer. On again 
returning to Cairo Mr. Bucher took his old position with Mr. Walker, 
and for a few years thereafter changes were frequent, for he joined 
in the purchase of a saloon with John Johnson, and the two conducted 
it a year, when he disposed of his interest and resumed the meat busi- 
ness in partnership with John Hege. However, he soon became sole 
proprietor of the firm and conducted this place some nine years, count- 
ing the period one of the most successful eras of his life. At this junc- 
ture the packing idea took possession of him, and he engaged in the 
business as a member of the firm of Bucher Brothers & Company. At 
the end of six years he had purchased all the other interests and con- 
ducted the business alone until ill health caused him to seek a partner. 
He took in R. B. Woodford, and Bucher & Woodford were associated 
together for a year, when Mr. Bucher again came into full possession 
of it. It was about this time that he conceived the idea of enlarging 
the packing industry in Cairo and promoted the E. Bucher Packing 
Company, as above detailed. 

On April 14, 1883, Mr. Bucher was married in Cairo to Miss Dora 
Dunker, daughter of Henry Dunker, who came to this country from 
Hesse, Germany, was a carpenter and then a member of the Cairo po- 
lice force, and lost his life in the performance of duty. The children 
of Mr. and Mrs. Bucher are as follows: Carl E., who lives in Cairo 
and is connected with the E. Bucher Packing Company ; Maria Theresa, 
who married Carl Karcher, of Cairo ; Anna, who is bookkeeper for the 
E. Bucher Packing Company ; Eberhard, Jr., who is the salesman for 
the concern; and Doris. His politics Mr. Bucher exhibits only at 
election time, when he usually votes the Democratic ticket. He is a 
Knight of Columbus, and is a faithful member of the Catholic church. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 791 

Mr. Bucher's business is his monument. It is the result of quick fore- 
sight, practical energy and much ability, which have marked his whole 
career and are characteristic of the man. His success is but the logical 
result of ability turned along proper channels, and he is worthy of the 
respect and esteem which are generally tributes paid to the self-made 
man. 

JONATHAN C. WILLIS. "When in time to come the pioneer days of 
Southern Illinois are given thought with their roster of strong, sturdy 
men and brave hearted women, the name of the late Jonathan C. Willis, 
who died at Metropolis, February 26, 1911, will be among the first re- 
called. To have lived eighty-four useful, eventful years is not given to 
many, and to far fewer does the experience come to evolve from the 
chrysalis of an unlettered boy into the associate of generals, of gov- 
ernors and men who control the destinies of states and of nations. Such 
was the experience of Jonathan C. Willis, whose romantic life furnishes 
another illustration of the fact that the best efforts of the writer of fic- 
tion do not surpass the records of facts that are unveiled in every-day 
life. 

Jonathan C. Willis was born in Sumner county, Tennessee, June 27, 
1826. He was a son of Richard W. Willis, and a grandson of Captain 
Richard Willis, a North Carolina soldier of the Revolutionary war. The 
family is not only one of the original American families, but its con- 
nection with the Colonies runs back to the settlement of the two Caro- 
linas. About 1667 it is said that seven brothers of this name came over 
from England and scattered themselves through Virginia and the Colo- 
nies, and some of the subsequent generations gave parentage to the Cap- 
tain Willis mentioned as Revolutionary patriot in this sketch. Richard 
W. Willis settled in Gallatin county when he brought his family to Illi- 
nois. There he is believed to have passed away, and there his son, Jona- 
than C. grew to be a youth of eleven years. The mother was Catherine 
Brigham Willis. The boy did not get much education, as he took up the 
work of a man at the age of seventeen, engaging in commerce on the 
Ohio river. 

In 1843 Jonathan C. Willis located at Golconda, Illinois. He had 
been ten years a resident of the state at that time, and the next nine 
years he followed the river, operating flatboats, which constituted the 
principal means of conveyance for heavy freight transmission at that 
time. The extensive acquaintance that he cultivated during these years 
encouraged him to enter politics, and he became a candidate for sheriff 
of Pope county. He was elected in 1852 and again in 1856. In 1859 he 
removed to Massac county and resumed traffic on the river as wharfboat- 
man at Metropolis, continuing in this until his enlistment for service in 
the Union army. He volunteered in the Forty-eighth Infantry, under 
Colonel Duff Heney, and was made regimental quartermaster. His war 
record was characterized by brave and faithful service. In the cam- 
paign around Fort Donelson he was severely injured, being thrown 
from his horse, and on this account was furloughed home for recupera- 
tion. While recovering from his injuries he was appointed deputy pro- 
vost marshal and continued in the military service until the end of the 
war. 

Many of the lately returned veterans were proffered posts of public 
service by their grateful people, and soon after the war closed Mr. Willis 
was induced to re-enter politics. In 1868 he was elected a member of the 
lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The following year Gen- 
eral Grant, who was then president, appointed him collector of revenue 
for the Thirteenth Illinois District, and he remained in that important 



792 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

post for fourteen years. On leaving the federal service he was called 
upon to serve the people of his home county, who elected him county 
commissioner in 1883, and county judge in 1886. Governor Joseph Fifer 
in 1891 attached him to the state service by appointing him a member 
of the Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners. In 1900 he 
received the federal appointment of supervisor of the census for the 
sixteenth district of Illinois, his last official service. 

These activities abroad did not preclude Mr. Willis taking an active 
interest in affairs of his home town. He was elected mayor of Metro- 
polis in 1871. He was senior member of the firm known as the Empire 
Milling Company, located at Metropolis; he was a stockholder of the 
City National Bank ; and for ten years prior to his death was vice presi- 
dent of the Ohio River Improvement Association. He was a past master 
in Masonry, and a member of the Chapter and Commandery. 

His wife was Miss Fannie E. Ward, daughter of Jacob Ward, whose 
parents came from the neighborhood of Enniscorthy, Wexford county, 
Ireland. The marriage of Mr. Willis and Miss Ward took place on Feb- 
ruary 16, 1859, at Raleigh, Kentucky. Five children were born to them : 
Richard W. and Mrs. J. C. Courtney, of Metropolis; Thomas E., of East 
St. Louis; John G., of Chicago; and Jay C., who is carrying on the coal 
business, at Metropolis, of himself and his father, and which was estab- 
lished by the latter after his retirement from his prolonged public 
service. 

Jonathan C. Willis lived among and had an intimate acquaintance 
with Illinois men of a strenuous and eventful age, the formative period 
of the state. He became acquainted with General John A. Logan when 
they were young men at county fairs and race track meets. They rode 
races against each other, and their acquaintance and friendship contin- 
ued all through the notable later career of the general. He knew General 
Grant personally, and was a close associate of the first Richard Yates, 
Illinois' war-time governor. His friendly intimacy with General John 
M. Palmer and with other historic men of the state made famous by the 
incidents of the Civil war, is a matter of gratification to the home friends 
of Mr. Willis. His vigorous body and brain were exponents of the right 
living and right thinking of the early times, and he reaped his reward in 
the full measure of years that crowned his life, exceeding by sixteen the 
Biblical ' ' three score and ten. ' ' Jonathan C. Willis used well those tal- 
ents and attributes with which he was endowed. In his identification 
with the commerce, the business and the politics of Southern Illinois, he 
established a record of achievement that is worthy of the emulation of 
the ambitious youth of coming generations. A pioneer of pioneers, he 
lived to see the wonderful attainments of science and industry of our 
own day, and full of years and honors was summoned to the reward that 
awaits those who labor not in vain. 

WILLIAM WALTER THOMAS. Nearly a quarter of a century spent in 
breeding strawberries covers the business career of William Walter 
Thomas, of Anna, Illinois, who, from a small and humble beginning 
has built up one of the largest enterprises of its kind in the country, 
an industry to the development of which he has given some of the best 
years of his life and in which he has had remarkable success. Mr. 
Thomas has not confined himself to his breeding interests alone, for he 
has always identified himself with movements of a nature calculated 
to develop and enlarge the business activities of Anna, but he takes 
special pride in the work which he chose as the medium through which 
to gain a position among the leading men of his section, and it has 
been through individual ideas and original experiments that the 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 793 

Thomas Pure-bred plants have reached their perfection. Mr. Thomas 
is a product of Union county, and was born in 1871, a son of James 
Thomas, a native of England, one of the earliest fruit growers of South- 
ern Illinois. 

Mr. Thomas attended the district schools of Union county, and 
from earliest boyhood has made his own way in the world. At the age 
of eighteen years he established himself in a nursery and fruit-grow- 
ing business, but gave up the former when he became interested in the 
growing of strawberry plants, and year by year this industry has 
grown until now the Thomas Pure-bred plants have a reputation that 
extends all over the country. After long and extended study as to 
what was the most perfect soil in which to grow his plants, what con- 
ditions suited them best in climate and what were the hardiest and 
most productive varieties, he began to experiment with the different 
plants, and he has succeeded in developing a product that it would be 
hard to better, either in vigor, stamina, excellence of quality or amount 
of production. It is one of Mr. Thomas's chief sources of pride that 
the same customers purchase his goods year after year, and he also 
considers that a pleased customer is the best advertisement that he 
can secure for his goods. The growth of his business has been sure 
and steady, rather than phenomenally rapid, but the growth has been 
constanty increasing, and one of the most important features of it is 
that it has been caused as much by the honest and above-board deal- 
ings of the firm as by the excellence of the article Mr. Thomas has to 
sell. He is president of the Jonesboro Store Company, at Jonesboro, 
Union county, and with a business associate owns and operates 200 
acres of land at Makanda, which are devoted to apples, peaches and 
pears. This is in addition to his plant business. 

Mr. Thomas has been active in political matters, and at present is 
serving as chairman of the Republican County and Congressional Com- 
mittees. Fraternally, he is connected with Lodge No. 520, of Free and 
Accepted Masons, of which he has been master several times, is con- 
nected with the Royal Arch Chapter, and is also affiliated with the 
Eastern Star, of which Mrs. Thomas is also a member. They are as- 
sociated in the work of the Presbyterian church, and are well and 
favorably known in church and charitable work. 

In 1890 Mr. Thomas was married to Clola McGuire, who was born 
in Jackson county, Illinois, in 1871, and two children have been born 
to this union : Edna, a student of Belmont College, Nashville, Tennes- 
see, who now resides at home and is twenty years of age ; and James 
William, sixteen years old, who is attending college at Lebanon, Ten- 
nessee. 

ROBERT "W. ALSBEOOK. The milling interests of Johnson county 
form one of this section's most important industries, and the cities of 
New Burnside and Vienna, lying in the center of a great grain district, 
have become leading shipping points. The firm of Alsbrook Brothers, 
proprietors of the Farmers Mill and Elevator Company, the leading 
milling concern of Johnson county, has been built up by Robert "W. and 
Arthur B. Alsbrook, who have become prominent factors in the business 
world of Johnson county, and the junior member of the company, 
Robert W. Alsbrook, of New Burnside, is the subject of this review. 
Mr. Alsbrook was born October 30, 1872, at Marion, Illinois, and is a 
son of Stephen Wesley and Sarah (Blankenship) Alsbrook, and a 
grandson of a native of Wales, who immigrated to the United States at 
the age of twenty-one years, settled first in Pennsylvania, and later 
moved to Tennessee, where he was engaged in farming until his death. 



794 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Stephen Wesley Alsbrook was born in Robertson county, Tennessee, 
and was reared to agricultural pursuits, coming to Southern Illinois in 
1859, when he was thirteen years of age. He located at Marion, Illinois, 
and was first engaged in farming, but later established himself in the 
drug business, in which he continued until his death, in 1872. He mar- 
ried Sarah Blankenship, daughter of Isom Blankenship, of Williamson 
county, and they had two sons, Arthur B. and Robert W. 

Robert W. Alsbrook was not born until about six months after the 
death of his father, and his education was secured in the schools of 
Marion and New Burnside, and in Creal Springs College, which he 
attended for two years. In 1888 he became railroad telegraph operator 
for the St. Louis and Paducah Railroad, which is now a part of the 
Illinois Central system, and in 1889 went to Paducah, where he was 
station agent and telegraph operator. In 1894 he entered the service of 
the N. C. & St. L. R. R., and until 1895 was city passenger agent at 
Memphis, but in that year took a trip to California and worked for the 
Southern Pacific Railroad for two years and as bookkeeper on the 
Leland Stanford ranch for one year. He returned to New Burnside in 
1898 and became a member of the Alsbrook Store Company, where he 
continued until 1909, and in 1910, with his brother, bought the flouring 
mill at New Burnside, establishing the firm of Alsbrook Brothers. In 
March, 1911, they purchased the elevator and mill at Vienna, and the 
capital invested in this enterprise exceeds sixteen thousand dollars. 
The capacity of the New Burnside mill is sixty barrels per day, and the 
elevator at Vienna has a storage capacity of thirty thousand bushels, 
and eight men are employed. In 1911 a new elevator was erected at 
New Burnside, with a capacity of ten thousand bushels, and the mill is 
doing such a thriving business that it is necessary to keep it running 
night and day. In the accomplishment of their work the brothers have 
very little time, and today even they are harder workers than any of 
their employes, and their success in business is largely attributed to the 
close personal attention they have always given every detail in their 
business, they never allowing goods to be misrepresented in any man- 
ner. As a business man Mr. Alsbrook is recognized as possessing the 
utmost ability, push and energy, and as a citizen none stand any better. 

Mr. Alsbrook is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and the Odd Fellows. 
He and his mother, with whom he resides at New Burnside, are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and have been prominent in its 
work. 

EZRA B. PELLETT. One of Murphysboro 's old and honored citizens, 
who has been connected with this city's business interests for nearly a 
half a century, during which time he has established an enviable repu- 
tation as a man of integrity and probity, is Ezra B. Pellett, a veteran of 
the Civil war and a man who well merits the esteem and confidence in 
which he is held by the citizens of his community. Mr. Pellett was born 
June 7, 1839, in Pike county, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Calvin and 
Eunice Pellett, the former of whom was for many years connected with 
the agricultural and lumber interests of the Keystone state. 

Mr. Pellett received a public school education, and was reared to the 
life of an agriculturist, following farming until he was twenty-two years 
of age. He then became a clerk in a general store in his native state, but 
in 1865 came to Murphysboro to assist in surveying land for the Mount 
Carbon Coal and Railway Company, helping in the whole survey to 
Grand Tower. On completing this enterprise he established himself in 
the merchandise business at Murphysboro, July 1, 1865, continuing in 
the same until 1882. In 1865 he was appointed postmaster, without 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 795 

solicitation upon his part, the salary connected with this office at that 
time being fourteen dollars per month. He served very efficiently in 
that capacity for eight years and five months, and then became part 
owner of a mine at DeSoto, but in 1900, after it had been partially de- 
stroyed by fire, he disposed of his interests and went to Thebes, Illinois, 
to assist his son, William S. Pellett, who was engaged in the drug busi- 
ness there. William S. Pellett was born in Murphysboro, August 19, 
1866, and received his education in the public schools, after leaving 
which he became a clerk in a drug store and later purchased an estab- 
lishment of his own. In 1892 he located at Thebes, where he accumu- 
lated quite a property, and served as trustee of the village of Thebes 
and as city clerk and assistant coroner of Alexander county, and he 
died in that village September 27, 1906. He was a member of the 
Knights of Pythias and was connected religiously with the Presbyterian 
church. His father is now engaged in settling up the affairs of his 
estate. 

On May 24, 1864, Ezra B. Pellett was united in marriage with Miss 
Mary A. Lord, who was born in Honesdale, Wayne county, Pennsyl- 
vania, daughter of Solomon Z. Lord, who was connected with the Dela- 
ware and Hudson Canal Company as collector for fifty-five years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Pellett now have two children living: Sarah, who married 
Henry Trobaugh, a farmer of Jackson county, and now lives at Pon- 
tiac, Illinois, and Albert Lord, a machinist with the M. & 0. Railroad, 
located at Murphysboro, who married Pearl Batson, of Carbondale, and 
has two children, Edwin and Russell. 

Mr. Pellett is a stanch Republican in political matters, and has 
served as alderman of Murphysboro for three terms. Fraternally he 
is connected with the Masonic order, being past high priest of Royal 
Arch Chapter, No. 164, and past master and secretary of his lodge. He 
is well known in religious circles, and serves as trustee and treasurer of 
the First Presbyterian church. In August, 1862, Mr. Pellett enlisted 
for service in the Union army, as a member of Company I, Twenty- 
fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was with that regi- 
ment until it was mustered out of the service, participating in numer- 
ous battles, among which were Antietam and South Mountain. He had 
an excellent war record, and his record as a citizen has been equally 
high. His long business career in this city is without a blemish, and 
his children may be proud of the good name he has established and 
handed down to them. 

EDWARD LEIGH GILBERT. The call of the business life is today widely 
irresistible, and we frequently find brainy and aggressive young men 
who by inheritance and native gifts might be thought to belong nat- 
urally to the "learned professions" departing from their family tradi- 
tions and entering the, perhaps, broader fields of "business." Thi; 
lure of these various enterprises draws alike the talented sons of phy- 
sicians, clergymen and lawyers. Mr. Edward Leigh Gilbert conspicu- 
ously illustrates this condition in this city. He is a scion of one of the 
early families of Cairo, is the only son of the Hon. Miles Frederick Gil- 
bert and grandson of Judge Miles A. Gilbert. His father is mentioned 
at length elsewhere in this work. Edward Leigh Gilbert was born in 
Cairo and in a special and honorable sense belongs to this his native 
city. The date of his birth was December 23, 1877, and he is therefore 
in the very prime of his active and successful life. He is not only a 
product of one of the eminent professional families of this city but also 
of the splendid system of public schools of which the city is justly 
proud, he having been graduated from the high school here in 1896. 



796 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Upon his graduation his inclination diverged him at once from the 
ancestral profession of the law and he embarked upon a business 
career. He started upon his training in this direction by accepting a 
clerkship in the office of H. H. Candee, one of the large writers of tire 
insurance in Cairo, and remained with this employer until January, 
1905. Having mastered the principles and details of this important 
and complex business, Mr. Gilbert launched forth for himself by pur- 
chasing the insurance agency of Thomas J. Kerth. Having found the 
field to which he is well suited by ability, he has since devoted his 
active mind and excellent capacities to the general insurance business, 
in which he has made a great success. The prominence he has achieved 
is indicated by the fact that in 1907 he was elected secretary of the 
Central Building and Loan Association, the largest one in Cairo. His 
interest in education and his efficiency in that field is shown by the 
fact that in 1897 he was elected secretary of the board of education 
and still occupies that position. 

Mr. Gilbert is associated prominently with several of the leading 
fraternal organizations, being an active member of Cairo lodge. No. 
237, A. P. and A. M., Cairo Chapter, No. 71, and Cairo Commandery, 
No. 13, and he is past exalted ruler of the Benevolent and Progressive 
Order of Elks. He is a member of the Alexander Club and of the 
Country Club. He aligns himself with Democracy upon straight poli- 
tics, but has done his whole duty with casting his ballot. 

Mr. Gilbert is happily married and his home is blessed with two 
children. His marriage took place in a distant city, but the bride was 
a native of Cairo. He was married at Coronado Beach, California, 
September 8, 1904, to Miss Emma Halliday, a daughter of Major Ed- 
win "W. Halliday, reference to whom is made in this work. Mrs. Gil- 
bert was born in Cairo and received her education in the city schools. 
Their children are Esther and Edward L., Jr. 

JEAN HARGRAVE. One of the successful business men of Jonesboro, 
Illinois, belonging to the younger generation, Jean Hargrave, has illus- 
trated in his career the opportunities that are presenting themselves to 
the youths of today who are possessed of enterprise, have the ability and 
are not afraid of hard, persistent labor. Mr. Hargrave is at present a 
member of the well-known mercantile firm of Hargrave & Linneman, 
whose operations cover the city of Jonesboro and the surrounding coun- 
try for a radius of some miles, yet but a few short years ago he began his 
business career on borrowed capital. He was born in Jonesboro, in 
1881, and is a son of E. P. and Julia (Hunsaker) Hargrave. 

E. P. Hargrave was born in Union county, near Jonesboro, in 1851, 
and during the greater part of his life was engaged in operating a saw- 
mill. In 1898 he came to Jonesboro and established himself in a mer- 
cantile business, which he successfully carried on until 1905, and in 
that year retired. His wife, who was born south of Jonesboro in 1854, 
died in July, 1906. Jean Hargrave attended the public schools in the 
vicinity of his home, and as a young man worked in his father's saw- 
mill, later becoming a clerk in the store at Jonesboro. In 1905, at the 
time of his father's retirement, he formed a partnership with Prank A. 
Linneman, and bought the stock and fixtures of his father's place, and 
they now have a stock of merchandise worth twenty thousand dollars. 
Mr. Hargrave has been successful because he possessed the courage of his 
convictions, and when his opportunity came he was quick to recognize it 
and not hesitant about grasping it. His confidence in the future of Jones- 
boro and its commercial interests was pronounced, and this confidence 
has been justified by the development of the prosperous and rapidly- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 797 

growing business of which he is the head. His success, however, has 
not been a matter of chance, as he is possessed of abilities that would 
no doubt have enabled him to succeed in whatever line or in whatever 
locality he found himself. 

On January 1, 1905, Mr. Hargrave was united in marriage with Miss 
Mamie C. Spence, of Anna, Illinois, daughter of J. L. Spence, a brick 
mason who died in 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Hargrave are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Hargrave 's father is at pres- 
ent acting as deacon. He is a member of the Jonesboro Blue Lodge, No. 
Ill, A. P. & A. M. In political matters he is an adherent of Democratic 
principles, but he has been too busily engaged with his business interests 
to enter the political field as an active participant. Mr. Hargrave is 
known as one of the rising young business men of his locality, and in 
very popular with all who know him. 

THOMAS JAMES COWAN. One of the old and honored citizens of 
Vienna, Illinois, now living retired in his comfortable home and enjoy- 
ing the fruits of his long period of labor, is Thomas James Cowan, who 
for fifty-four years lived on the same farm in Johnson county. He has 
been a witness to various wonderful changes that have taken place in 
Southern Illinois, and as the developer of a large tract of land can 
justly lay claim to having done his share in advancing the interests of 
this section. Mr. Cowan was born July 13, 1833, on a farm in western 
Tennessee, and is a son of David Cowan and a grandson of Stephen 
Cowan, who was born in Virginia. 

David Cowan, who was a native of North Carolina, migrated at an 
early day to Tennessee, and there died in 1833. He married Lucinda 
Gray, also a native of the Tar Heel state, and they had a family of six 
children: Mrs. Sarah Venable, John, Martha, Mrs. Caroline Moore, 
David and Thomas James, of whom the last-named is the only survivor. 
After the death of her first husband Mrs. Cowan married a Mr. 
McDougal, and they had two children : Jackson, who is deceased ; and 
Rhoda Ann Gill, who resides in California. Mrs. McDougal passed 
away in 1846. 

Thomas James Cowan was but twelve years of age when his mother 
died, and he went to live with his brother-in4aw, L. B. Venable, in Ten- 
nessee, and worked on his farm. In 1850, when Mr. Venable migrated 
to Johnson county, Illinois, young Cowan continued to reside with him. 
The year of his marriage, in 1856, he purchased forty acres of land in 
township 12, range 3. He was successful in his operations from the 
start, being industrious and enterprising, and gradually added to his 
farm from time to time until he had increased it to one hundred and 
forty acres, and had continued to live on the same farm .for fifty-four 
years. In addition he had owned other land, but had disposed of it. 
On September 16, 1910, feeling that he had earned a rest, Mr. Cowan 
sold his farm at a good price, came to Vienna and purchased a resi- 
dence and four building lots, and settled down to a life of ease and 
quiet. He belongs to the A. P. & A. M. at Vienna, in which he is pop- 
ular, and his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church, in the work 
of which she is well known. 

In 1853 Mr. Cowan was married (first) to Mary Clinton, who died in 
1859, leaving one child, Lucinda, who married a Mr. Walters and has 
four children, namely : John, who has three children ; Clarence, also the 
father of three children ; Mary Estella, who has two children ; and 
Edna. Mr. Cowan's second marriage occurred in 1860, to Mary Jane 
Worley, who was born March 9, 1842, on a farm in township 12, range 
3, and lived there all of her life until moving to Vienna. She is a 



798 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

daughter of Hiram F. and Venils (Graves) Worley, natives of John- 
son county, Illinois, and Missouri, respectively. Hiram Worley was 
born in 1814, a son of Isaac Worley, one of the very earliest pioneers of 
Johnson county, who migrated from North Carolina and settled in 
Elvira township. Hiram Worley died January 21, 1882, and his wife, 
March 25, 1866. To Mr. and Mrs. Cowan there have been born ten chil- 
dren, namely : Martha M., who married William Nobles, has one child, 
Dr. Charles Nobles, who has a son, William Arthur; David J., an at- 
torney of Peoria, Illinois; Thomas J., a farmer in Johnson county, three 
and one-half miles east of Vienna, has two children, Mary and Ruth ; 
Mary V., deceased, who was the wife of Dr. Hale ; Adolphus, who died 
at the age of four years ; three children who died in infancy ; Gertrude, 
who married a Mr. Gore and has two children, Mary and Maud; and 
John, an attorney of Vienna. The last named was born May 6, 1880, 
and was reared on his father's farm and educated in the district 
schools, the Vienna High school, from which he was graduated in 1901, 
and, after he had taught school for two terms, the Southern Illinois 
Normal School at Carbondale. He began the study of law in the of- 
fices of his brother, David J. Cowan, of Peoria, and was admitted to the 
bar in June, 1910, since which time he has built up a successful practice. 
Many are the changes and improvements that have been made since 
Mr. Cowan first engaged in farming in this part of the country, and 
many are the anecdotes and incidents of early days that he can call to 
mind. He has had some decidedly interesting experiences, and bears 
the distinction of having lived through an incident that but few men 
can lay claim to. In the spring of 1866, March 20th, this section of the 
country was visited by a terrific cyclone, which swept the Cowan and 
Worley farms. It played the usual eccentric and unexplainable tricks, 
unroofing and wrecking the log cabins, laying low the fences and de- 
stroying the forests, and carrying the safe, which held the papers of 
the Worley family, from their farm to Shawneetown, a distance of sixty 
miles. The Cowan place was badly damaged, but the farm of Hiram 
Worley was literally devastated, every building being wrecked. Mrs. 
Worley was mortally injured and died in five days as a result of her 
injuries ; a son, Thomas Jackson Worley, aged six years, suffered a 
broken hip and was crippled for life ; a little son, Isaac Worley, was 
killed outright, while every member of the family and all the hands 
employed on the place were injured to a greater or less degree, but the 
Cowan family was fortunate enough to escape with its members un- 
injured except for a few minor bruises and scratches. The memory o'f 
that terrible day is still fresh in the mind of the venerable citizen who 
has seen so many important events take place during his long and hon- 
orable residence here, and who in spite of his advanced years is still 
possessed of all of his faculties. He has taken a lively interest in all 
that has pertained to the welfare of his community, and as a citizen who 
has borne a part in developing his section is held in high esteem and 
respect by all who know him. 

ROBERT D. MATHIS, cashier of the First National Bank of Mound 
City, Illinois, is a young man who has by his industry and sturdy ap- 
plication succeeded in establishing himself firmly in the ranks of the 
more conservative business men of his city. Mr. Mathis was born at 
America, Illinois, on March 14, 1877, and is the son of Dr. J. B. Mathis, 
a practicing physician of Mound City, and who has been a resident of 
Pulaski county for many years. 

Dr. Mathis was born in Trigg county, Kentucky. January 5, 1840, 
he being a son of W. Mathis, who came to Illinois in 1849, settling two 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 799 

miles north of Vienna, where he resided until his death, in 1860, at the 
early age of forty-seven years. He also was a native of Trigg county, 
Kentucky, and a son of John Mathis, who came to Kentucky from Vir- 
ginia as a young man. The latter named was born in Virginia, in 
1790, and passed the best years of his life as a planter in his native 
state. He came to Illinois during the war of 1861-5 and died in Ran- 
dolph county. His wife was one Margaret Brown, of Virginia, and 
they were the parents of nine children, as follows : William, James, 
Leonard, Thomas, Preston, Elizabeth, who became the wife of James 
Hester ; Matilda, who died unmarried ; Eleanor, the wife of William 
Izell at the time of her demise ; and Malinda, who married an Izell, a 
brother of her sister's husband. 

Mr. Mathis pursued the vocation of his father, in which he had 
been wisely trained. He married Miss Cynthia Scott, a resident of 
his county and a daughter of William Scott. Mrs. Mathis died in 
1888, leaving children to mourn her loss. They were the parents of 
Robert D., who died in Johnson county, Illinois; Elizabeth E., who 
became the wife of James Pippins and resides in Dallas, Texas ; Dr. 
J. B., of Pulaski county, Illinois; Margaret A., who married Jacob 
Rebman and died in Johnson county, Illinois ; and James Preston 
Mathis, who left a family in the same county when he died in 1903. 

The early training of Dr. Mathis was received in the rural schools 
of the district in which he was reared. He later was graduated from 
the Eclectic School of Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio, after which he 
established himself as a physician in America, Illinois, now more 
than forty years ago. In 1899 he removed to Mound City, where he 
has lived a quiet, industrious life, absorbed in the manifold duties of 
his chosen profession, and content to end his days in the unpreten- 
tious manner peculiar to his whole life. He was married in Johnson 
county, Illinois, to Mary S. Mason, a daughter of James Mason, who, 
like Dr. Mathis, was a native of Trigg county, Kentucky, where Mrs. 
Mathis was born in 1846. The issue of this union are J. W. Mathis, 
of America, Illinois ; Dr. John B. Mathis, of Ullin, Illinois ; Maurice 
P. Mathis, an attorney of Konowa, Oklahoma ; Robert D. Mathis. 
the subject of this sketch ; Archie M. Mathis, of Tamaroa, Illinois ; 
and Mrs. H. P. Neadstine, of Mound City. 

Robert D. Mathis was educated in the public schools of his home 
town and in the Dixon Business College at Dixon, Illinois. After 
his graduation he taught school for two terms in the district schools 
of Pulaski county, but abandoned the work early in search of em- 
ployment more lucrative and more suited to his inclinations. He 
went from there to Texas, where he became a bookkeeper for the 
Texas Coal & Fuel Company, at Rock Creek. Texas, a coal town in 
the vicinity of Mineral Wells. He occupied that berth for five years 
and in 1904 returned to Illinois and took employment with the Wis- 
consin Chair Company, of Mound City, as a bookkeeper. Following 
that he engaged in the drug business for a year, when he sold out and 
went into the railroad service as agent, serving principally at Mounds, 
Illinois, until the year 1910, in which year he was appointed cashier 
of the First National Bank of Mound City, his present position. 

On May 27, 1906, Mr. Mathis was married in Fort Worth, Texas, 
to Miss May Roberson, a daughter of J. A. Roberson of Ardmore, 
Oklahoma. They are the parents of three promising young sons: 
Robert D., Jr., Curtis Reagan and John B. Mr. Mathis is a member 
of several fraternal societies, among them being the Knights of 
Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Improved Order 
of Red Men. 



800 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

EDWARD KININGER POKTER. A resident of Carbondale during the 
last thirty years, and for twenty-eight years of that period one of the 
city's active, enterprising and progressive merchants, Edward K. Por- 
ter, a leading druggist in this section, has secured a firm footing in the 
regard and good opinion of the business world of Southern Illinois. 
And, as he has also taken an earnest interest and a serviceable part in 
the public affairs of the city and county, he has risen to corresponding 
esteem among the people generally as a wide-awake, progressive and 
public-spirited citizen. 

Mr. Porter was born at Salem, Illinois, on January 2, 1860, and is a 
son of Alfred and Lucy (Kininger) Porter. The father was an indus- 
trious, skillful and prosperous shoemaker for a number of years, then 
turned his attention to farming with good results. He had adaptabil- 
ity to circumstances and resourcefulness in meeting requirements, how- 
ever unexpected they were, and so made all his efforts in whatever oc- 
cupied his intention tell to his advantage and steady advancement. 

The son secured a common and high school education, which he 
extended by private study and reading. He attended the pharmacy 
department of the State University at Champaign, from which he was 
graduated in 1885, legally qualified to practice pharmacy in all its 
departments. Prior to this time, however, he had served as clerk in a 
drug store in Moberly, Missouri, during the year 1879. He was also 
in the same capacity in Carbondale from 1881 to 1893, except while 
attending the University. In this way he obtained both practical and 
theoretical knowledge of the business, and was well qualified to con- 
duct it in the most acceptable and capable manner when he became 
possessed of a drug store of his own in 1893. 

In that year he bought an interest in the store of P. A. Prickett, 
and the name of the firm conducting the establishment became Prickett 
& Porter. The partnership lasted until 1902, when Mr. Porter pur- 
chased Mr. Prickett 's interest in the business and became its sole pro- 
prietor. Since then he has carried it on alone, keeping pace with the 
progress of events and the course of trade, meeting all the require- 
ments of the community in his line, and winning a steadily increasing 
volume of patronage. He handles drugs, paints, oil, wallpapers, and 
all kindred commodities, and keeps his stock in each up to the utmost 
demand and filled with the latest productions of the factories. The 
prescription department is a specialty to which he gives his personal 
attention, and in this he uses only the best and purest drugs, and com- 
pounds them with the greatest care and highest skill exhaustive study 
and long practice can give him. 

Mr. Porter has given close attention to the public affairs of the 
city, county and state of his residence, and rendered the people valuable 
service in the performance of public duties, especially in connection 
with the cause of public education. He has for years been a member 
of the city school board, and under the administration of Governor 
Tanner was treasurer of the Southern Illinois Normal University. 
When Governor Deneen first became the state executive, Mr. Porter was 
again appointed to this important position, and he still retains it. His 
second accession to it was in 1905, and his incumbency has been un- 
broken since that year. 

It is an easy inference from his' repeated appointment to this office 
that Mr. Porter is a loyal Republican. But while he is always active 
and effective in the service of his party, he does not let his partnership 
interfere with his business or overbear his sense of duty to his com- 
munity. In reference to these interests he is non-partisan, but none 
the less energetic, enterprising and progressive. No move for the de- 



TRt IIBRMW 

'Jf- IHt 

HWERSITY OF ILUN6IS 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 801 

velopment or improvement of Carbondale or Jackson county goes with- 
out his effective aid, and in contributing his help he is found to be 
both wise in counsel and intelligent, practical and zealous in action. 

On the 26th of May, 1886, Mr. Porter was united in marriage with 
Miss Nellie Davis, of Carbondale, a daughter of John and Martha Davis, 
esteemed residents of this city, from which the father covered an ex- 
tensive territory as a traveling salesman. Mr. and Mrs. Porter had 
two children : Margaret, who is the wife of Harlan P. Curd, of Amarillo, 
Texas, auditor of the Santa Fe Railroad; and Evelyn, who is living at 
home with her father and is a student in the Southern Illinois Normal 
University. Mrs. Porter ended a very useful and appreciated life on 
April 28, 1899. For years she had been an ardent and faithful worker 
in her church, the Methodist Episcopal, and in the activities of the 
Women's Club, of which she was a charter member. Her hand was 
ready and open, too, in connection with all worthy charitable work in 
the community. Mr. Porter is a member of the official Board of Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and fraternally he is a Freemason. In this 
order he gave his lodge valued service for years as secretary. 

JOHN E. CARE. As a leading member of the Williamson county 
bar, with a field of practice at Johnston City, John E. Carr has varied 
his professional career with sallies into real estate and with financial 
transactions as a promoter of banking enterprises at various points in 
the state, and has otherwise identified himself with the material and 
substantial side of life. Born near Parrish, Franklin county, Illinois, 
in October, 1867, Mr. Carr is a son of John S. and Eliza (Estes) Carr. 

John S. Carr, a farmer-mechanic, settled in Franklin county, Illi- 
nois, during the 'forties, and died there in November, 1875. He was 
born in Wilson county, Tennessee, developed a genius for mechanics, 
became a gunsmith and combined it with farming after coming to 
Illinois. His father was Dr. Richard Carr, who was born and reared 
in North Carolina, came out to Tennessee with his six brothers, and was 
married (first) to Jemima Sawyer, who died after the birth of the 
following children: Wilson ("Dock") Carr, who never married, came 
over to Illinois and later went to Missouri, where he invented the now 
famous "Missouri Meerschaum," and died in Macedonia, Illinois, when 
about ninety years of age ; Allen, who left a family at his death at 
Duquoin, Illinois; Thomas R., a tailor, followed a desire to go to Europe 
shortly after the Civil war, spent several years in France, where he was 
married, and returned to the United States a childless widower, his 
death occurring at St. Charles, Illinois ; John S. ; Mrs. Thomas Trovil- 
lion, who spent her life in Pope county, where she died, leaving a 
family; and Sarah, who married Elisha Compton and died near Mace- 
donia, Illinois, having a family. Dr. Richard Carr was married a sec- 
ond time, and three children were born to this union; Eliza, the wife 
of Thomas Austin, of Creal Springs, Illinois; Betty, who married a 
Mr. Wrenshaw, of Pope county, where she died ; and ' ' Peter, ' ' who 
became the wife of James Ferguson and passed away in the same 
county. 

John S. Carr married Eliza Estes, a daughter of Laban Estes, a 
pioneer of Franklin county from Tennessee, and she died from the 
kick of a horse in December, 1894, having been the mother of the fol- 
lowing children : James and Charles, who are living in Franklin 
county; John E., Ernetta, the wife of Charles Rains, of Frankfort, 
Illinois, for many years a teacher in this section; and several children 
who died in infancy. 

John E. Carr attended the Hayes school, as his home district was 



802 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

called, then the graded schools of Crawford's Prairie, and finally the 
Lebanon, Illinois, institutions. Having come up under country en- 
vironment, he was unable to free himself from the farm until past 
his thirtieth year. Mr. Carr prepared himself for the law by three 
years of reading in the office of Judge W. H. Williams, of Benton, and 
was admitted to the bar on examination at Mount Vernon in 1896. He 
utilized every opportunity to adapt himself to his prospective profes- 
sion, in literary societies in the country and in "mock courts," and 
even in actual lawsuits before the country justice, his first case in court 
being one in which he volunteered to defend a country youth who was 
charged with disturbing the peace. Still an understudy at the bar, 
he faced two talented but unlicensed officials as prosecutors, and a 
court that was less wise than he looked. Replying to the proposition 
of the prosecution to separate the witnesses, Mr. Carr quoted the law 
holding that witnesses should not be separated save in capital offense. 
This court sustained this position as being the law and in the jury 
trial which followed the boy was cleared. 

In the spring of 1897 Mr. Carr came to Johnston City and opened 
an office for practice and has maintained one here since. Much of his 
civil business has arisen from relations of employed and employer in 
this industrial community and his legal work covers a multitude of 
causes of no interest save to the litigants themselves. He has taken 
advantage of the growth of Johnston City to deal in real estate and 
early in the history of the city he joined Mr. Ed Duncan in platting 
and exploiting an addition called Duncan's First Addition. Follow- 
ing the success of this, the gentlemen began dealing in coal lands and 
in handling many large deals for the time earned a reasonable profit 
for themselves. He subsequently dissolved with Mr. Duncan and has 
continued buying and selling, building business houses and residences 
and taking generally an active part in the material growth of the town. 
The rather sudden acquirement of capital led Mr. Carr to enter the 
banking business. He promoted, with others, the first financial institu- 
tion in the city in August, 1894, the Johnston City State Bank. He 
is attorney for the Citizens State Bank here, and helped to organize it; 
organized and operated for a time the West Frankfort State Bank, the 
First National Bank of Westfield, of which he was the first president ; 
was the first president of the Dahlgren State Bank, Dahlgren, Hamil- 
ton county, and its organizer ; and this was the first state bank of that 
county ; a private bank at Joppa, Illinois, the first bank of the place ; 
a private bank at Cypress, Illinois; the Farmers Bank at Pulaski, Illi- 
nois ; the Bank of Brownstown ; the Peoples Bank of Loogootee, Illi- 
nois ; the Bank of Simpson, Johnson county ; the Farmers Bank of 
Oakdale ; the Citizens Bank of Hagerstown ; and the Farmers Com- 
mercial Bank of Fordyce, Illinois. He is still interested in a few of 
these institutions. 

Mr. Carr is a Republican. His relation to party matters in Wil- 
liamson county has been merely that of an interested spectator, while 
in his native county he was for many years chairman of his township 
committee, for a long time a member of the county committee, and was 
chairman of the county convention which first endorsed the candidacy 
of Senator Hopkins and declared for Mr. Roosevelt, the first county 
to do so in Illinois. He served Johnston City as its attorney for several 
years, and fought its legal battles of various descriptions through the 
early years of its municipal history. 

On December 24, 1902, Mr. Carr was married in Mount Vernon, 
Illinois, to Miss Flore A. Burton, a daughter of W. R. and Margareitte 
(Tolly) Burton, of Dahlgren, Illinois. Mrs. Carr is the oldest of three 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 803 

children, the others being : Mrs. Ada Lockett, wife of ex-County Clerk 
Lockett, of Hamilton county; and J. Otowell Burton, for many years 
postmaster at Dahlgren. Mrs. Carr studied music in Bwing College 
and later took further instruction in Missouri, and is an accomplished 
player and vocalist. 

WILLIAM F. SPILLER. As business man and lawyer, as citizen and 
head of a family, William P. Spiller has shown himself worthy of a 
prominent place in this record of those who may justly be called the 
makers of Southern Illinois. His success has been achieved not only 
through native ability of a high order but through constant persistance 
and untiring industry, qualities which others have marked in him 
through his long career in the county. Most of what he has gotten since 
his father's death, while a member of the Union army in the second year 
of the Civil war, has been acquired through his own efforts, so that all 
honor is due to him who has won alone so honorable a place in the gen- 
eral esteem. He was born in Franklin county, Illinois, on the 27th of 
February, 1858, the son of Perian B. and Nancy Catherine (Osteen) 
Spiller. His mother was born in Franklin county, in the year 1839, 
and his father was born in Wilson county, Illinois, in 1834. His father 
was a farmer, who responded to President Lincoln's call for troops and, 
enlisting in Company A, One Hundred and Tenth Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, was stricken with fever in 1862 and died of the illness. John 
Spiller, the paternal grandfather of William P., was either born or 
came to Williamson county, Illinois, when a mere boy, there settling 
upon a farm and spending his entire life in the pursuit of agriculture. 

The maternal grandfather of William F. Spiller, William Osteen, 
came to Franklin county, Illinois, in 1819, one of the very first men to 
choose this vicinity as a permanent place for settlement. He became 
widely known throughout the region as a farmer, a circuit Christian 
preacher and as a doctor, in all three of which callings he achieved a high 
name throughout Franklin county. It is interesting to note that at the 
time Mr. Osteen first settled in the county his nearest neighbor lived in 
a house five miles distant from his own; the forests were dense and un- 
cleared ; roads were old creek beds or rather narrow trails ; Indians were 
more frequently to be met with than white men ; and he was obliged to 
make the journey hither to the far west, as it then seemed, in an awk- 
ward ox-cart, drawn by a single oxen. A far cry, indeed, those times 
from our present era of coast to coast limited trains, seventy millions of 
population and high specialization. Mr. Osteen passed to his eternal 
reward in 1880, one of the most mourned men of his day. 

William F. Spiller, the immediate subject of this brief personal 
record, received his early education in the common schools of the 
county, later taking two terms of instruction at the old Frankfort 
Academy, later finishing his education at the normal college in Val- 
paraiso, Indiana, where he was a student for five terms. Before going 
to Valparaiso Mr. Spiller taught two terms of public school in order 
to save expenses and enable him to get further normal training, and 
upon his graduation he went to Columbus, Kansas, for one year and 
there studied law, later returning to his native state and for six terms 
continued to teach in the public schools. At the end of that time he 
moved to Benton, Illinois, and was made deputy county clerk, an of- 
fice which he continued to hold with honor to himself and satisfaction 
to the community until 1884, when he left that office to become circuit 
clerk. In 1888 he began the practice of his profession and made a 
start of what has since proved to be a worthy and successful career 



804 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

at the bar. In 1892 he was elected to the office of state's attorney, 
served one term, and then returned to private practice. 

Politically Mr. Spiller has always accorded his allegiance to the 
party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland, and has stood high in the 
local councils of the Democratic party. 

On the 25th of February, 1883, was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Spiller to Miss Ella Harrison, daughter of Captain Isham Har- 
rison, one of the pioneer settlers of Franklin county. Mr. Harrison 
was a captain in the Union army during the Civil war, achieving dur- 
ing his four years' service a name that was known from one end of the 
country to the other. To the union of William and Ella Spiller were 
born two children. Laura Pearl Spiller has graduated from the Car- 
bondale Normal College and has since become a stenographer in her 
father's office. Her sister Clara remains at home. The whole family 
are members of the Christian church, and leaders in the good works 
that it has fostered. 

Fraternally Mr. Spiller is a Chapter Mason. He has a large and 
nourishing practice that carries him into all the courts, and he has 
acquired more than a local reputation for the conduct of difficult cases. 
His business of recent years has grown to such proportions that he has 
been obliged to take in a partner, and since 1910 C. H. Miller has been 
associated with him in his undertakings. 

CYRUS P. TREAT. Fertile Massac county, Illinois, has been the 
Mecca of many business men from states to the east. Among their 
number is Cyrus P. Treat, president of the City National Bank of 
Metropolis, who is also treasurer and manager of the Central Fence and 
Machine Company. Nearly a score of years have passed since he num- 
bered himself among its citizenship, and concentrated his efforts on 
the enterprises which have carried his name to such high place among 
its people. Mr. Treat was born on a farm in Summit county, Ohio, 
November 24, 1842. He comes of New England stock, his father, Richard 
B. Treat, having come out from Litchfield, Connecticut, and established 
himself on a Summit county farm in the Buckeye state. The senior 
Mr. Treat, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Connecti- 
cut, about 1805, and married Miss Amorette Hutchins, who died at 
about the same age as her husband. She was a sister of Hon. John 
Hutchins, who represented an Ohio district in the lower house of 
Congress. Richard B. Treat was the father of eight children, of which 
number those surviving are: Harriet, who became the wife of Lemuel 
P. Wolcott and resides in Tallmadge, Ohio ; R. B. of San Francisco, Cal- 
ifornia ; Orange S., of Tallmadge, Ohio ; Amorette, who is the wife 
of Rev. J. S. Upton, of Oberlin, Ohio ; Cyrus P., of Metropolis, Illinois ; 
and Flora, wife of Charles H. Sackett, of Tallmadge, Ohio. 

Cyrus P. Treat started life with only the knowledge that could be 
imparted by the country schools of that time and place. Just before 
coming of age he left the old home and struck out for himself. He 
first found work around "Warren, Ohio, and there met and fell in 
love with the young lady who later became his wife. Having acquired 
confidence in his own efforts and abilities, the big city became his next 
ambition. He went to Cleveland, Ohio, studied bookkeeping and gen- 
eral office work and for eighteen years was associated with firms of 
high standing in that community, among them the Roberts Manufac- 
turing Company. He worked his way into the esteem of his employers 
and was regarded as one of their confidential and most trustworthy 
men. From Cleveland Mr. Treat went to Fostoria, Ohio, where he 
recognized a good business opening. For four years he was engaged 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 805 

there in the manufacture of barrel hoops. Then he came to Jllinois, 
locating in the community which has since been his home. 

In Metropolis his business abilities speedily secured for him the 
confidence of the citizens and it was not long before they asked his 
services in a public way. He served eight years as president of the 
Board of Education, and remembering the drawbacks that had en- 
compassed his youth through the paucity of the country school curri- 
culum, he took especial pleasure in developing the Metropolis schools 
and in co-operating with the efforts of all who had that end in view. 
He was mayor of the city from 1908 to 1910, during which time the 
city sewer system was installed, an event that marked an epoch in the 
history of the city. All departments of the civic scheme of affairs 
were systematized and brought to a high standard under Mr. Treat's 
administration. 

Mr. Treat was married, July 11, 1866, to Miss Emma Purington, a 
daughter of Rev. N. B. Purington, a Presbyterian minister, of Warren, 
Ohio. Mrs. Treat's death occurred at Metropolis, July 23, 1911. Helen, 
wife of S. C. Miller, is the only child of their household. A little 
granddaughter, Emma Louise, graces the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mil- 
ler. Mr. Treat is a man of commanding presence, in appearance and 
in actuality a leader among men. Austerity is not, however, one of 
his characteristics, but he is courteous and affable in all his relations 
with those about him. He has been a deep student of symbolic, capit- 
ular, cryptic and chivalric Masonry, and has been honored by his 
fraters far beyond the usual lot of man. He is past master of Metropo- 
lis Lodge No. 91 ; past high priest of Metropolitan Chapter No. 101 ; 
past commander of Gethsemane Commandery No. 41, at Metropolis; 
and has been a member of the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter and Grand 
Commandery of Illinois. His religious faith is Presbyterian. 

L. JASPER HESS, president of the Anna National Bank, and of the 
W. "W. Stokes Company, at Anna, Illinois, is an excellent example of 
the successful business citizens of Southern Illinois whose early train- 
ing has been secured in the agricultural line, and whose education 
along the lines of the strict discipline of the farm has formed the foun- 
dation upon which their subsequent success has been built. Mr. Hess 
is a native of Union county, Illinois, and was born on a farm four miles 
southeast of Anna, in 1849. His education was secured in the common 
district schools of his neighborhood, and he held membership in the 
first free school in this locality. Combined with the farming opera- 
tions to which he devoted himself, Mr. Hess spent the winter months 
as a teacher for eight or ten years, thus augmenting his income, and 
when he was twenty-eight years of age he was able to leave the Missis- 
sippi Bottoms and purchase a tract of 160 acres of good land one and 
one-half miles east of Anna. There he settled down to cultivate a prop- 
erty, engaging in both farming and stock raising, and developed a 
property that compared favorably with any of its size in this part of 
the county. He was elected sheriff of Union county in 1902, and in 
1904 he came to Anna, sold his farm, and continued to act as sheriff 
until 1906, when his term expired. He spent fifteen months in Cali- 
fornia, and on his return became president of the W. W. Stokes Com- 
pany, a large agricultural implement business, the affairs of which 
he has handled very successfully to the present time, also acting as 
president of the Anna National Bank, one of the solid and substantial 
financial institutions of this section. 

Mr. Hess has been a prominent Mason for some years and now 
holds membership in Lodge No. 520 and R. A. Chapter No. 45. He is 



806 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

a trustee of the Presbyterian church, in the work of which he has been 
very active, and is also a member of the board of trustees of the Union 
Academy. A Democrat in politics, he served as a member of the county 
board from 1889 to 1895, and for twelve years prior to coming to Anna 
acted as township treasurer. To his official positions Mr. Hess has 
brought the same conscientious regard as to duty, and the same princi- 
ples of honesty and integrity that have characterized and made suc- 
cessful his business activities. He is strong in his ideas of right and 
wrong and fearless in defending his opinions and principles, although 
he is not bigoted and is ever ready to recognize and respect the rights 
of others. Those whose affairs have been placed in his charge have the 
utmost faith and confidence in his ability to handle them satisfactorily, 
and any enterprises with which his name is connected it is safe to feel 
will be conducted along legitimate lines. Mr. Hess has been a member 
of the official board of the District Fair of Anna for some years, and 
identifies himself with all movements calculated to make for progress. 
Very fond of travel, Mr. Hess has proved an exceptionally interesting 
writer for the papers on the customs of the various countries to which 
he has gone, and this was especially demonstrated in 1900, when he 
attended the Paris Exposition, and during his trip visited all the prom- 
inent points in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, France, England 
and Ireland. 

In 1907, Mr. Hess was married to Mrs. Eliza (Hess) LeRoy. She 
has a son, Dr. Emory LeRoy, born to her first marriage. Dr. LeRoy 
was born June 4, 1885, and first attended Union Academy for six 
years, graduating therefrom in 1903. He then spent two years in 
McKendree College, Lebanon. Illinois, at the end of which time he en- 
tered Northwestern University, Chicago, from which he was graduated 
with the degree of M. D., in 1909. He spent one year in St. Vincent's 
Hospital, Toledo, Ohio, and on August 18, 1910, sailed for Vienna, and 
studied also in Berlin, Germany. He is now in Chicago, engaged in 
research work 

ROBERT H. WING. In considering those among New Burnside's citi- 
zens whose activities have been directed toward developing that city's 
industries, and whose foresight has been rewarded in a most substantial 
manner, prominent mention should be given Robert H. Wing, of the firm 
of R. H. Wing & Company, who after a career that has been remarkable 
in the rapidity with which he has attained success finds himself the head 
of the largest general merchandise business in Johnson county, with the 
exception of Vienna. His industry and hard and faithful labor have 
advanced him from a poor but ambitious youth to a place among the fore- 
most business citizens of his community, and he may certainly lay claim 
to being a self-made man in all that the term implies. Robert H. Wing 
was born November 4, 1878. on a farm near Golconda, in Pope county, 
Illinois, and is a son of William H. and Mary A. (Tune) Wing. 

William H. Wing was born November 12, 1844. in Robinson county, 
Tennessee, and is a son of Allen H. and Nancy F. (Shaw) Wing, natives 
respectively of Alabama and Tennessee, who moved to Kentucky in 
1847. William H. Wing enlisted, August 15, 1862. in Company D, 
Eighth Kentucky Cavalry, and saw service in Tennessee and Kentucky, 
being principally engaged in skirmish and police duty during this 
service of twelve months. He re-enlisted August 6, 1864, in Company 
C, Seventeenth Kentucky Cavalry, under Colonel Samuel F. Johnson, 
but for the greater part of this service was sick, being ill in the hospital 
for four months. He was honorably discharged September 20, 1865, 
and on December 18th of the same year migrated to Southern Illinois, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 807 

first locating on a farm near Golconda, Pope county, where he resided 
until 1880. In that year he moved to Stonefort, but a few months later 
removed to a farm about ten miles from New Burnside, and after living 
there for two years settled in the village, where until his retirement he 
was engaged in timber work and as a manufacturer of staves. He is 
a member of William Lawrence Post, No. 794?, Grand Army of the Re- 
public. In 1869 Mr. Wing was married to Miss Mary A. Tune, daugh- 
ter of Robert B. and Jane (Knott) Tune, of Tennessee, who later moved 
to Pope county, Illinois, and four children were born to this union, 
namely: Robert H., Charles Edward and Cora Nell, one dying in in- 
fancy. 

When Robert H. Wing was four years of age his parents moved to 
New Burnside, where he received his education in the common schools. 
As a youth he showed his industry and enterprise by accepting odd jobs 
during vacations, while other youths of his neighborhood were at play, 
and when he was eighteen years old he began to work during vacations 
as a clerk in the post office. His first regular employment was as a sec- 
tion man on the Big Four Railroad, when he was twenty-one years of 
age, but after four years decided he could better himself in the mercan- 
tile field, and subsequently secured a position with P. W. Riddon, the 
New Burnside merchant. Later he was employed by Alsbrook Brothers 
& Company, with which firm he continued for five years, and in the fall 
of 1909 entered the employ of Dennison & Gholson Dry Goods Company, 
wholesalers of Cairo, Illinois, where he gained six months of very valu- 
able experience. In March, 1910, feeling that he had sufficiently learned 
the details of the business, Mr. Wing formed a partnership with E. F. 
Throgmorton, of Vienna, and purchased the business of P. W. Riddon, 
Mr. Wing's former employer. It is now housed in a handsome brick 
building sixty by fifty feet, two stories and basement, which has a stock 
worth fifteen thousand dollars, including an excellent line of groceries, 
general .merchandise, dry goods, hardware and harness, an undertaking 
business being carried on in connection. He also owns two warehouses, 
several building lots and other real estate, and the total investment of the 
business aggregates a sum of about twenty-one thousand dollars. This 
business, which is the largest in the county outside of Vienna, requires 
the constant service of five salesmen. It is due to the business ability and 
progressive ideas of Mr. Wing that this large enterprise has been built 
to its present proportions. He has always possessed the happy faculty 
of being able to recognize an opportunity and the ability to carry and 
venture through to a successful conclusion, and has associated himself 
only with those movements which have promised a profit through legiti- 
mate dealings. He belongs to the Odd Fellows and the Mystic Workers 
of New Burnside, and with his family attends the Methodist Episcopal 
church, in the work of which he has been active. He is popular with 
business associates and all who know him, and has numerous warm, per- 
sonal friends through the city, who are always sure of a sincere welcome 
at his home, one of the hospitable residences of New Burnside. 

On January 23, 1902, Mr. Wing was married to Miss Marietta Goings, 
daughter of Pinckney and Serilda (Dills) Goings, of New Burnside, 
both of whom are now deceased. 

HENRY H. JENKINS, secretary and treasurer of the Murphysboro 
Paving Brick Company, one of the largest industries of Jackson county, 
has been connected with the business interests of Murphysboro for a 
number of years, and has become a recognized power in the commercial 
world. Possessing business ability of more than ordinary capacity, he 
has assisted materially in developing the resources of Murphysboro, and 



808 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

as a public-spirited citizen of much civic pride has lent his influence to 
movements calculated to be of benefit to his community. Mr. Jenkins 
was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1874, and is a son 
of Thomas C. and Ann (Williams) Jenkins. 

Thomas C. Jenkins, who for more than twenty years was closely as- 
sociated with the coal mining industry in this section, acted as a general 
foreman and contractor, and developed properties all over the state, 
among which were the Big Muddy Coal and Iron Company, the Garkite 
Coal Company, and other large coal mines in Jackson and Williamson 
counties. Henry H. Jenkins received a public school education, and 
under his father was initiated into the developing of coal mines as a 
youth. At the age of nineteen years he entered the company stores as 
a clerk, and also spent some time in the West, but in 1896 returned to 
Murphysboro, and with Peter Schneider opened a plumbing establish- 
ment under the firm name of Schneider & Jenkins. Associating him- 
self with William H. Hill, a well-known contractor of East St. Louis, 
Mr. Jenkins next laid the first street paving and a part of the first 
sewerage system in Murphysboro, Carbondale and Johnson City, and 
the water works in the first-named city, and for some time was also 
identified with the diamond drilling business. He and Mr. Hill then 
formed a partnership under the firm style of Jenkins & Hill Company, 
street paving contractors, and in January, 1909, the Murphysboro Pav- 
ing Brick Company was organized, with Mr. Hill president, and Mr. 
Jenkins secretary and treasurer. This firm has grown rapidly and now 
gives employment to one hundred and twenty-five persons, the plant 
covering twenty-five acres of ground. Approximately eleven million 
finest-grade paving bricks, of all sizes and weights, are manufactured 
yearly and are shipped to the various large cities for distribution, al- 
though the bulk of the business is done in the towns of southern Illinois, 
where the Murphysboro product is used almost exclusively. 

Mr. Jenkins was married September 9, 1895, to Miss Minnie Schnei- 
der, and they have had two children : Lillian Maurice and Anna May. 
Fraternally Mr. Jenkins is connected with the Knights of Pythias and 
the Elks. In all that pertains to the welfare of Murphysboro in any 
way Mr. Jenkins has shown an active interest, whether it be in the 
direction of education, religion or social improvement, and he has 
proven that the confidence and esteem in which he is held in this city 
have not been misplaced. 

HENRY HASENJAEGER. A man whose preseverance, industry and 
business sagacity has been largely instrumental in the establishment of 
one of the most, important industries of Alexander county, Henry 
Hasenjaeger deserves more than passing mention in this work. He has 
lived here since 1863, was for years a prominent soda water manufac- 
turer, and is now in retirement, with his sole business connection as 
vice-president of the Cairo Brewing Company. To recount the muni- 
cipal vicissitudes of Cairo since Henry Hasenjaeger has lived in the 
city would be to narrate the story of its development from almost its 
day of swaddling-clothes to its status as the metropolis of Southern Illi- 
nois, and his relation to it has been as a silent witness, contributing 
only so much as his modest enterprise, spoke its importance in the in- 
dustrial acclaim. By nature modest, and with the timidity becoming 
a young foreigner schooled to the quiet of home life, Mr. Hasenjaeger 
has played no part in the official life of Cairo. He brought here little 
besides his mother tongue and a being filled with industry, and upon 
the latter he sat his dependence for an honorable and successful career. 
Mr. Hasenjaeger was born in the village of Werther, Province of West- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 809 

phalia, Germany, and is the only surviving child of the eleven born to 
his parents. The others who grew to maturity were : William, who 
died in Vincennes, Indiana, leaving a family ; Carolina and Charlotte, 
who passed their lives in the Fatherland ; Adolph, who joined the Dutch 
navy and died while serving in the West Indies; Louisa, who spent her 
life in the vicinity of her birthplace. 

According to the laws of his native land, Henry Hasen jaeger spent 
eight years in school. His father, who was a blacksmith, and around 
whose shop he picked up many useful lessons before he thought seriously 
about life, put him to work in the coal mines as the close of his school- 
days, and he followed that trade while he remained in the old country. 
In 1863 he sailed on an old converted whaler, the "Ostedius," from 
Bremen to New York, and after a voyage of several weeks landed at 
Castle Garden, the once-famous gateway to American opportunities. 
Coming directly to Cairo, he initiated himself into American ways as 
a helper in a blacksmith shop, and after he had accumulated sufficient 
capital established himself in the soda water business on Commercial 
street, in which he continued until 1903. This business, although 
modest in its inception, attained immense proportions, and when Mr. 
Hasenjaeger sold out there were employed a small army of employes 
and the plant covered eight lots. The Cairo Brewery now occupies the 
site of his old enterprise, and for two years after he sold out Mr. Hasen- 
jaeger was actively identified with this concern, but overwork caused 
a physical breakdown and he was compelled to become only an onlooker. 
He was made vice-president of the brewing company upon its organiza- 
tion and the directorate has selected him continuously since. In a 
modest way he has been a builder of Cairo, having improved his real 
estate opposite the brewery, and for the past quarter of a century has 
lived there. 

Mr. Hasenjaeger was married to Miss Carolina Helfrich in Cairo, 
daughter of Charles Helfrich, and she passed away November 2, 1911, 
the children of this union being : Rudolph, of Cairo ; Emma, the wife 
of Morris Fitzgerald, of this city; Katie, who lives with her father; 
Lillie, the wife of Fred Hoffman, of Mound City, Illinois; and Henry, 
who also resides at the parental home. When he has exercised his 
elective franchise, Mr. Hasenjaeger has done so as a Democrat, and his 
fraternal affiliations have been with the Odd Fellows. 

CHARLES A. JACKSON. The business men of the city of Benton, Illi- 
nois, are an up-to-date, progressive class of people, and one of the 
most influential and best known of them is Mr. Charles A. Jackson, har- 
ness manufacturer. The extensive saddlery factory, known as the A. D. 
Jackson Saddlery Company, and now conducted by Mr. Jackson, was 
established many years ago in a small way by his father and has grown 
to its present important proportions through the exercise of energetic 
modern methods and the sagacious management of the Jackson's father 
and son. 

Charles A. Jackson is of English-Irish descent and was born in Ben- 
ton, Illinois, June 12, 1866. His mother was before her marriage Jennie 
R. Dudley, a daughter of Charles Dudley, a native of Virginia, whose 
parents were in turn of English birth. She was born in Kentucky, on 
July 20, in the year 1834, and died in Benton, Illinois, February 5, 1904. 
His father was A. D. Jackson, who was born in Chester, county, Penn- 
sylvania, on February 9, 1829, to which state his grandfather, David 
Jackson, migrated from Ireland in 1828, becoming a farmer and living 
in that locality until his death, in 1880, at the advanced age of eighty- 
four years. 



810 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

A. D. Jackson first became a resident of Illinois in 1855, when he 
settled at Shawneetown and occupied his time in a commercial way as 
a traveling harness journeyman, working by the day. He was careful 
of his earnings and worked industriously and, being of an ambitious 
temperament, soon managed to establish a small shop in Shawneetown, 
which he conducted for six months. Benton was then a small town just 
starting to grow, and Mr. Jackson, encouraged to establish his business 
there by his friend, Sam K. Casey, opened up a small harness store in 
August, 1855. This was the beginning of the present Jackson harness 
and saddlery manufactory. The trade at the little shop grew gradually 
but steadily and the capacity of the store and factory was increased year 
by year. His death occurred on May 11, 1906. He was throughout his 
lifetime president and treasurer of the business, was known as -a man 
upon whose word complete reliance could always be placed and his in- 
tegrity in every particular was of the most unquestionable character. 
He was one of the few men of his time in this section that voted for Lin- 
coln for president in 1860 and 1864, as Franklin county was inclined 
strongly toward Democracy. 

The firm conducting the harness business was incorporated in 1897, 
in which year a bad fire destroyed the store, entailing a loss of forty 
thousand dollars, as no insurance was carried on the building and stock. 
The place was rebuilt, however, and is now of sufficient size and capacity, 
covering practically a city block, to adequately handle the large business 
transacted not only with customers in Illinois but many clients in the 
surrounding states of Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri. 
Three traveling representatives are employed to visit the trade and take 
orders in these states. 

Charles A. Jackson, upon whose able shoulders has devolved the man- 
agement of this business since the death of his father, was educated with 
the idea in view of his assuming these responsibilities in time. He was 
sent to the high school of Benton and later, in 1884, went to Bryant & 
Stratton's Business College in St. Louis, Missouri. After completing 
his studies at these schools he went into the store and learned the busi- 
ness thoroughly by practical training in every department, and is com- 
plete master of every phase of harness and saddlery manufacturing. He 
represented the company on the road for fifteen years and has accord- 
ingly a personal acquaintance with a large number of his customers. 
After the death of his father he was elected president and treasurer of 
the corporation and also general manager of the business, which is cap- 
italized at forty thousand dollars. 

Mr. Jackson was first married in 1893, to Miss Daisy Webster, a 
daughter of Byron Webster, a leading druggist of Benton and a veteran 
of the Civil war. She died in 1894, and in 1901 Mr. Jackson again 
entered the bonds of matrimony, this time espousing Miss Carrie Lay- 
man, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Lemen) Layman, natives 
respectively of Franklin and Monroe counties, this state. Mr. Layman 
was a lawyer of distinction, and after a long and honorable career died 
in 1892, leaving behind him an enviable reputation and a considerable 
fortune. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson are the parents of two children, Eliza- 
beth and Charles A. Jr., both of whom are attending school. Mrs. Jack- 
son is an active member of the church of the Baptist denomination. Mr. 
Jackson belongs to the Masonic fraternal order and is also a Chapter 
Mason. While he is interested in all matters touching public weal, he 
has never engaged actively in political affairs. His private business in- 
terests occupy his time fully, as in addition to his manufacturing and 
merchandising of harness he has extensive real estate holdings to look 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 811 

after. He is a man of unimpeachable character and is highly esteemed 
throughout the community for his many admirable qualities. 

ARTHUR B. ALSBROOK, senior member of the well-known milling firm 
of Alsbrook Brothers, of Vienna and New Burnside, and a man who has 
for many years been prominently identified with large business ventures 
in Johnson county, is one of those citizens who have conducted their own 
affairs in such a manner as to help to develop the resources of their com- 
munity and to stimulate the healthy growth of trade. He was born 
October 30, 1870, at Marion, Illinois, and is a son of Stephen Wesley and 
Sarah J. (Blankenship) Alsbrook, natives of Tennessee. Stephen Wes- 
ley Alsbrook, who was the youngest of a family of fourteen children, 
migrated to Southern Illinois at an early day, settling in Marion, where 
at the time of his death, in 1872, he was the proprietor of a drug store. 
He and his wife, who was a daughter of Ispm Blankenship, of Tennessee, 
had two sons : Arthur B. and Robert W. the latter of New Burnside. 

Arthur B. Alsbrook was educated in the schools of Marion and New 
Burnside, to which latter place he was brought by his mother in 1877, 
and when nineteen years of age became station agent for the Big Four 
Railroad at Tunnel Hill, and also acted as telegraph operator. In 1890 
he was sent to Paducah, Kentucky, as agent of the Cairo Short Line, 
which is now merged with the Illinois Central, but in 1893 gave up his 
position to engage in the mercantile business with a Mr. Clymer, under 
the firm name of Alsbrook, Clymer & Company. Buying out Mr. Cly- 
mer 's interest in the business, Mr. Alsbrook continued to carry on the 
business under the name of the Alsbrook Store Company, which became 
the largest of its kind in the county, handling implements, threshing 
machinery, sewing machines, etc., the annual business exceeding forty 
thousand dollars, and covering the counties of Pope, Johnson and Wil- 
liamson. Mr. Alsbrook managed this business at New Burnside for six- 
teen years, or until 1909, in December of which year he sold out. In the 
meanwhile he had also engaged to some extent in the fire insurance busi- 
ness, and had superintended the operation of a farm of six hundred and 
ninety-two acres, which had started as a tract of eighty acres, and to 
which Mr. Alsbrook added from year to year, specializing in apple grow- 
ing and at one time having fifty acres of apple-bearing orchard. In 
October, 1910, with his brother, he engaged in the milling business at New 
Burnside, purchasing the flouring mills and elevator at New Burnside, 
and in March, 1911, .the brothers purchased the J. B. Kuykendall Mill- 
ing Company's interests at Vienna. "Mr. Alsbrook has a total invest- 
ment in realty at New Burnside and Vienna in excess of fifteen thousand 
dollars, while his interest in property, grain, etc., exceeds thirty-five 
thousand dollars. The mills, which work night and day, employ four- 
teen men, and the daily capacity is flour, sixty barrels ; meal, forty bar- 
els, and feed, three tons, while the elevator capacity is sixty-five thousand 
bushels. Mr. Alsbrook owns a handsome residence at Vienna, and all of 
his activities have been directed toward assisting in forwarding move- 
ments for the betterment of his community. He belongs to New Burnside 
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Vienna Chapter, R. A. M., as well as to the 
Odd Fellows at New Burnside. He and his family are members of the 
Methodist church and have been active in its work. 

In 1898 Mr. Alsbrook was married to Miss Victoria Boulden, of 
Carbondale, Illinois, daughter of Henry N. and Harriet Josephine (Tise) 
Boulden, natives of France who now. live at Dermott, Arkansas, Mr. 
Boulden being the proprietor of a successful lumber business. Mr. and 
Mrs. Alsbrook have had one child: Sarah Josephine, who is thirteen 
years old and a student in the Vienna schools. 



812 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

SIMON- WILLAED, M. D., is one of the comparatively few Americans 
who can trace his ancestry back as far as the days of the coming of the 
"goode ship Mayflower," but the line of descent is well connected and 
his claim authenticated by completes! details. He is a descendant of 
Major Simon Willard, of English birth, who crossed to the New World 
in the early years of the seventeenth century and settled in New Eng- 
land in 1640. There he took active part in the life of the young colony 
and passed the remainder of his life. His descendant, Jonothan Willard, 
spent his life in the then newly born "Green Mountain State," and it 
developed upon Jonothan Willard, second, to fare forth to unexplored 
sections of the country, he eventually established a new branch of the 
Willard family in the valley of the Mississippi and Ohio. 

Jonothan Willard, second, starting out on his journey into strange 
lands, took the then popular means of locomotion and came down the 
Ohio river by flatboat, and up -the Mississippi as far as Cape Girardeau, 
where he died and was buried. His widow and four children then 
settled in that portion of the country now known as Union county, Illi- 
nois, where she passed away in the year 1872, at the venerable age of 
ninety-nine years, ten months and five days, all but reaching the centen- 
ary mark. She was Miss Nancy Atkins before her marriage, and the 
children born of her union with Jonothan Willard were: Elijah, born 
November 25, 1803, and who died April 30, 1848 ; Willis, born March 
20, 1805, and died May 12, 1881 ; Anna, born November 28, 1809, married 
Winstead Davie and passed her life in Union county, Illinois, and it is 
she for whom the little city of Anna, Illinois, was named. She died in 
Jonesboro, Union county. William was the youngest child of the Jono- 
than Willard family, he having been born August 24, 1811, and died June 
1, 1843. 

Willis Willard was a youth just entering his teens when the family 
lot was cast in with the fortunes of the 'new country at the junction of 
the great waterways of the west, and he was at the age of about twenty- 
five years when he began the business of trading in and about the old 
town of Jonesboro, Illinois. His entire life was spent in a commercial 
way, and after his retirement in 1873 he lived but a few years. He was 
of Democratic persuasion, although not deeply interested in the politics 
of his section, and he lived apart from the influences of the church or 
other society. He was married to Frances C. Webb, who was born at 
Cooperstown, New York, June 17, in 1817, and died at Chicago, Illinois, 
January 25, 1883. 

The father of Frances (Webb) Willard was the widely known pioneer 
Henry L. Webb, who came into this part of Illinois from New York in 
the year 1818, and in company with a Mr. Alexander settled at America, 
Illinois. Subsequently Mr. Webb and Mr. Alexander were partners in 
the work of exploiting the townsites of Trinity, situated at the mouth 
of Cache Creek; America, some fourteen miles above the mouth of the 
Ohio river; and Caledonia, a river point near to Grand Chain. Mr. 
Webb had been in Illinois only about two years when the Black Hawk 
war broke out, in which he took an active part, and when the war with 
Mexico was declared he enlisted promptly and was commissioned lieu- 
tenant colonel of an Illinois regiment, and served throughout the cam- 
paign under General Taylor. During the fifties he went to Texas, where 
he became interested in business ventures, and was there when the Civil 
war opened. The sympathies of Colonel Webb remained firm with the 
state of his adoption, and he joined the Confederate forces. Later he 
was made inspector general of the Confederacy for Texas, an official 
position of considerable note. After the close of the war he remained 
in Texas at his home until the last years of his life, when he began to feel 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 813 

the ties of kin and earlier associations drawing him, and he returned 
to Illinois, where he peacefully spent his remaining days, finally passing 
away at Makanda, Illinois, October 5, 1876, at the age of eighty-one 
years. The life of Colonel Webb was full of activity from first to last. 
Wherever he found himself, he was a man of affairs. Possessed of an 
unusually high order of intelligence and of a markedly progressive spirit, 
he was always a man of power and note, and was a splendid type of early 
American manhood and citizenship. 

Colonel Webb was the son of General Samuel B. Webb, aide de camp 
to General Washington during the Revolutionary war. He was com- 
missioned a brigadier general for valiant service, and among the many 
engagements in which he actively participated were Bunker Hill, White 
Plains and Trenton. Among the children of Colonel Henry L. Webb 
were : James Watson Webb, father of Dr. Seward Webb, of New York 
city, and a Mrs. Morrell. Colonel Webb was married at Hudson, New 
York, to Mary Ann Edmonds, a sister of former chief justice Edmonds 
of New York state. This marriage was productive of several children, 
and among those who reached years of maturity were : Frances C. Webb, 
Lydia Edmonds, Henry Watson Webb and Catherine Louisa. 

The children of Willis and Frances (Webb) were: Henry, who died 
in 1865, leaving one child ; Elijah, a resident of Durango, Mexico ; Willis 
J., who passed away December 22, 1884, leaving two children ; Mary 
Ann, the widow of Dr. M. M. Goodman, now a resident of Riverside, 
California; and Dr. Simon, the youngest of the family, a resident of 
Mound City and of whom we write. 

The boyhood days of Dr. Willard were passed in the town of Jones- 
boro, where his father had passed the best years of his life and where 
he carried on a commercial business. It was after he had reached his 
sixteenth year that he made up his mind to equip himself for the duties 
of life by acquiring a wider education than was possible to attain in 
Jonesboro, and he became a student in the Pennsylvania State College. 
After completing his sophomore year there he did the preparatory work 
for the medical course. He took his senior year in that study in the 
medical department of the Northwestern University at Chicago, and 
was graduated from that institution in 1884. Upon his graduation he 
returned to the old home in Jonesboro, Illinois, where he began the prac- 
tice of his profession, but after some little time decided to take a course 
in dentistry, which he did, completing a course in that study in the Chi- 
cago College of Dentistry in 1889. Following his studies in that de- 
partment he came to Mound City and practiced dentistry for two years, 
after which time he resumed his original profession, that of medicine, 
to which he has given his attention from that time to the present day. 

Dr. Willard has passed his life in the quiet companionship of his 
books, his friends and his antiquities. His nature is one which finds 
unalloyed pleasure in the pursuit of old and historic relics and mementos, 
and" his collection of family heirlooms and treasures is one to delight the 
soul of the connoisseur. His home and office are veritable treasure-troves, 
rich as they are in rare antiques and mementos of every variety, some 
invaluable as family heirlooms, and others of great intrinsic value be- 
cause of their very rare and antique qualities. Among the many unique 
and delightful articles to be seen in his collection are odd and beautiful 
pieces of china which graced the banquet table of his English ancestor, 
and of his later ancestor of Revolutionary times ; a wine glass from the 
the table at which General Washington was dined and wined ; shooting 
irons of ancient pattern and peculiar to the early civilization period ; 
and many other relics dear to the heart of the collector, although the 



814 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

interest of Dr. Willard in his collection is chiefly on account of the bear- 
ing it has upon his ancestry. 

Dr. WiHard has lived unpretentiously and happily serene in the 
performance of his professional duties, and unhampered by the cares of 
public life, for which he has never evinced any interest or inclination. 
Save for a few years of service on the Mound City Board of Education, 
a duty which he performed because he regarded it as such, the singular 
freedom of his life has never been broken in upon. His interest in 
fraternities caused him to become an Odd Fellow, and he has also taken 
the Scottish Rite degree of Masonry and the Commandery degree of the 
York Rite. His political convictions, in accordance with the ancestral 
faith, are purely Democratic. 

HON. WILLIAM NICHOLAS BUTLER. One of those who both as public 
official and prominent citizen have been important factors in the mould- 
ing of Cairo's municipal history, Hon. William Nicholas Butler is 
presiding judge of the First Judicial Circuit of Illinois, with which 
section he has been identified since childhood, and his participation in 
the public affairs of this portion of Illinois and of Alexander county, 
his home, has been varied and important. He was born at Berlin, 
Green Lake county, Wisconsin, August 16, 1856, in which state his 
father had spent considerable time in the Government Indian service, 
and upon the conclusion of which he took his family to Columbia 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1859. His father was Comfort Edgar But- 
ler, whose native place was Ithaca, New York, being born there October 
23, 1824, the family having been founded at that locality by Daniel 
Bayard Butler, the father of Comfort E., and the community of Strat- 
ford, Connecticut, furnished this bit of human migration. In this part 
of the Nutmeg state the first Butler settled as an English immigrant 
in 1839. 

Daniel Bayard Butler married Elsie Edgar, who was born in Orange 
county, New York, a daughter of the Rev. Edgar, and she died at 
Canton, Pennsylvania, in 1880, the mother of Comfort Edgar and 
Helen. The latter married William H. Nichols and now resides with 
her daughter, Mrs. George E. Man, whose husband has been in the 
United States consular service in European cities for many years. 
Daniel Bayard Butler passed his life as a journalist and was in the 
newspaper business at Geneseo and Rochester, New York, and was as- 
sociated as a publisher with old Dr. John Harper, the father of Harper 
Brothers, the famed New York publishers. Early in the 'forties he 
started for the Pacific coast by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, 
and while crossing the isthmus dropped out of sight completely, and 
is believed to have perished there. 

Comfort Edgar Butler grew up under a pure and intellectual in- 
fluence, among associates whose hojnes abounded in culture and where 
the Puritan air still echoed the music of Colonial days, and his educa- 
tion came rather from contact with the public effort and from absorption 
from his fellows than from doing a course in an institution of learning. 
Clerical work seemed to be his forte, and his life was devoted to it 
wherever he was permanently located. He exercised his suffrage first 
as a Whig, then as a Republican, but took no part as a partisan poli- 
tician. He was a man of extreme modesty, held aloof from any appear- 
ance of forwardness, and while he was reared under strict church dis- 
cipline, he took no part in church work himself. Upon the issues of 
the Civil war he lost little time in offering himself as a volunteer sol- 
dier. He enlisted in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, first in Com- 
pany I, Thirty-first Infantry, and subsequently in Company A, Seven- 



THt UBRMW 
& \it 
OF 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 815 

ty-fourth Infantry, in the Army of the Potomac. He was acting quar- 
termaster and later chief clerk at headquarters of the Department of 
Virginia, and passed thrpugh the service without untoward incident, 
being discharged in September, 1865, after a faithful service. He then 
joined his family at Canandaigua, New York, and was a clerical man 
until he .went South on an experiment in 1869. He was induced to be- 
lieve that the state of Texas offered the chief elements desifed by the 
home-seeker, but after spending a few months at Columbus, that state, 
became convinced of its unadaptability to the Northern ex-soldier at 
that time. 

Returning North with his family the same year, Mr. Butler settled 
at Anna, Illinois, and followed his favorite vocation there until his 
death, June 25, 1888. He married Miss Celesta A. Carter, a daughter 
of Cyrus Carter, who was sixth in descent from Rev. Thomas Carter, 
the pioneer minister of Woburn, Massachusetts, and a graduate of the 
theological department of Oxford University, England. Cyrus Carter 
was born at Rutland, Vermont, and was a son of David Carter, whose 
forefathers were active participants in the Colonial wars and the war 
for American independence, and who shed lustre upon their family as 
civilian gentlemen as well. Cyrus Carter was born March 6, 1798, was 
a tanner, pump-maker and farmer, and at different times lived at 
Darien and Canandaigua, New York, at Janesville, Berlin and Oshkosh, 
Wisconsin, and at Anna and Cairo, Illinois, and died in the last-named 
city October 6, 1891. His wife was Esther Saunders, and their chil- 
dren were: Marietta, who became the wife of Dr. Waldo Allen and 
died in Wisconsin; Celesta Ann, born August 19, 1833; Olive Fidelia, 
who married Owen Townsend, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Four chil- 
dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Butler, namely : Cyrus Waldo, who 
is unmarried and resides at Seattle, Washington; Judge William 
Nicholas; Genevieve, the wife of Charles Lyons, of Silver City, New 
Mexico ; and Olive Dacy, who is the widow of Edward H. Myers, of 
Washington, D. C. 

After the public schools of Anna, Illinois, William Nicholas Butler 
entered the University of Illinois, and graduated therefrom June 7, 
1879. His tuition was largely earned by his own industry as a car- 
penter, at the printer's case, clerking in a store and teaching school. 
He first read law with Judge Monroe C. Crawford, his first recollec- 
tions of whom were as a barefoot boy peeping into the door of the 
courtroom at Jonesboro, where the Judge was presiding over the scales 
of justice, and thirty-four years after which event the former barefoot 
boy defeated the dignified and scholarly Judge for the same position 
on the Bench. In the autumn of 1881 Judge Butler entered the Union 
College of Law at Chicago, where he was a classmate and seatmate of 
William Jennings Bryan. In 1882 he entered the senior class of the 
Albany (New York) Law School and graduated in 1883, with the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Laws. In August of that year he located in Cairo 
and took a Government position in the internal revenue service, under 
General C. W. Pavey, collector. 

In the fall of 1884 Judge Butler entered politics actively as a can- 
didate for state's attorney, was nominated by the Republicans of Alex- 
ander county and elected for a term of four years, and was three times 
re-elected to the office. From 1895 to 1897 he was corporation counsel 
for the city of Cairo. He has served the public schools here as a mem- 
ber of tne board of education six years, being chosen upon the issue of 
the building of the high school, and was elected a judge of the First 
Circuit to fill a vacancy, December 12, 1903, and after serving almost 
six years was chosen his own successor at the November election of 



816 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

1910, for a six-year term. His activity as a Republican can be estim- 
ated by a reference to his party service. He was chairman of the Cen- 
tral Committee of his county six years, was chairman of the Republican 
committee of the Supreme Court District and of the Republican 
judicial committee of the First Circuit for the year 1889 ; was an alter- 
nate to the Republican National Convention of 1888 and was seated 
with the delegates from Illinois and aided in nominating General Har- 
rison for the presidency. He was captain and adjutant of the old 
Ninth Regiment of the Third Brigade, Illinois National Guard, from 
its organization. He served for a long period as president of the 
Alumni Association of the University of Illinois, and is now a member 
of the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias. 
His religious connection is with the Presbyterian church. 

Judge Butler was married, October 28, 1885, at Fairbury, Illinois, 
to Miss Mary Mattoon, daughter of Franklin and Caroline A. (Straight) 
Mattoon. Mrs. Butler's father died in early life, leaving two children: 
Mary and Franklin G. The latter entered the Indian service as a 
young man, became agent at Fort Berthold, North Dakota, held the 
same position at the Crow agency, and was later appointed head of the 
consolidated agencies in Idaho, resigning from the service to engage in 
banking at Forsyth, Montana. Mrs. Mattoon subsequently married 
Samuel Rogers, and is now one of the household of Judge and Mrs. 
Butler. The latter 's children are : Comfort Straight, who graduated 
from, the University of Illinois in 1909, and from the law department of 
the George Washington University at Washington, D. C., in 1912, and 
is now a practicing attorney in St. Louis, Missouri ; William Glenn, a 
student in the agricultural department of the University of Illinois; 
Franklin Mattoon, who is attending the Cairo High School; Mary, who 
has completed her course in the same institution ; Helen, who died in 
1906 in childhood ; and John Bruce, who is a student in the graded 
public schools of Cairo. 

CHARLES EDWARD FEIRICH. A new but valued addition to the legal 
fraternity in Carbondale, having been a resident of the city less than 
three years at the time of this writing (1911), Charles Edward 
Feirich has already made his mark in large and enduring phrase in 
professional circles in this part of Illinois, and won the regard of the 
people as a man and a citizen. He has been unostentatious in his 
course, and whatever he has achieved in the way of reputation in gen- 
eral and standing at the bar is based on demonstrated merit, substan- 
tial attainments, creditable work and genuine worth. 

Mr. Feirich is a native of Buffalo, New York, where his life began 
on November 1, 1886. In that city his father, Charles A. Feirich, is a 
prosperous carpenter, and during the minority of the son maintained 
his wife, whose maiden name was Anna Kreinbring, and their offspring 
in modest but real comfort, and gave his children all the educational 
advantages he was able to provide for them, doing all in his power to 
open to them the way to a better condition in life than he enjoyed 
himself. 

One of the children at least, Charles Edward, the only one of whom 
we have knowledge, responded to the parental solicitude with every 
power at his command, determined that no lack of effort on his part 
should defeat his father's designs and ardent desires. He received a 
high school education in Buffalo, which he supplemented with more 
advanced instruction at the Metropolitan Select School, and through- 
out his course from the beginning strained every nerve to make the 
best use of his opportunities. After completing his academic train- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 817 

ing he studied law in the law department of Lake Forest University, 
and was admitted to the bar in December, 1904. With the world 
open to him for choice of a place in which to begin his practice and 
build his professional career, he deemed the great metropolis and 
commercial center of the Middle West the most attractive, and lo- 
cated "in among its throngs of men." He soon afterward became 
connected with the legal department of the Illinois Central Railroad 
as secretary to the road's chief counsel, Judge J. M. Dickinson. 

In this excellent field of operation and school of broad practical 
development Mr. Feirich remained five years, gathering light from 
the great luminaries of the legal firmament with whom he came in 
contact from day to day, all the while extending his knowledge of 
the law and of human nature, and improving his opportunities for 
making acquaintances among men of large mold, superior endowments 
and comprehensive attainments. His advantages were exceptional, 
it is true, but they would have been of no benefit to him if he had 
not been of the caliber to fully appreciate and properly use them, and 
assimilate the mental and professional pabulum they furnished in 
such abundance and high quality. 

In 1909 he moved to Carbondale, eager to stand on his own foot- 
ing and work his own way forward without the assistance of adven- 
titious circumstances, and in July of the following year formed a 
partnership with W. W. Barr, under the firm name of Barr & Feirich. 
Mr. Feirich is the local attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad 
Company, in Jackson county, and the firm represents a number of 
banks, corporations and other fiscal, commercial and industrial insti- 
tutions. It stands in the front rank at the bar in Southern Illinois, 
and its members have amply shown that it belongs there. 

On June 11, 1907, Mr. Feirich was united in marriage with Miss 
Jennie Cottrill, of Buffalo, New York, a daughter of John J. Cottrill, 
one of the leading teaming contractors in that great and striding 
city on the lakes. Two children have been born in the Feirich house- 
hold, both sons, Charles Cottrill and John Kenneth. The parents 
belong to the Methodist Episcopal church, and the father is a mem- 
ber of the board of stewards of the congregation in which they hold 
membership. In fraternal circles he is allied with the Masonic order 
and the Order of Odd Fellows. He is as zealous in his attention to 
the interests of these fraternities as his professional duties will allow 
him to be, fully appreciating their value as moral and social agencies 
in the community, and his membership is highly appreciated in each. 

JUDGE WILLIAM WILLS BARE. The bench and bar of Illinois have in 
several generations been adorned with names enjoying world-wide 
distinction, and a worthy representative of the profession is Judge 
William Wills Barr, of Carbondale, whose native ability and experi- 
ence have fitted him for the various positions he has filled, in which 
he has met grave questions with good judgment and general satisfac- 
tion. Judge Barr is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having oc- 
curred in Center county May 8, 1845. His parents were James S. 
and Charlotte B. (Stage) Barr, also natives of Center county, Penn- 
sylvania. The father was a man of ability and culture, and his useful 
life was devoted to teaching, the subject benefitting greatly from his 
enlightened tutelage. Judge Barr passed the usual number of terms 
behind a desk in the village school room, and having come to a con- 
clusion as to the profession he meant to follow he matriculated in the 
Bloomington (Indiana) Law School, from which institution he was 
graduated in 1867, at the age of about twenty-two years. He had 



818 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

first begun his legal studies the year previous in the office and under 
the direction of Hon. F. M. Youngblood, of Benton, Franklin county, 
Illinois. In April, 1867, he was admitted to the bar and opened an 
office in Benton, where he met the usual fortunes of ambitious young 
barristers, the dull days being followed by the acquirement of pres- 
tige and practice. He continued to reside in Benton for almost a 
decade and in 1876 removed to Carbondale, where he has ever since 
made his home. His success has been the logical outcome of his 
excellent equipment, which gained him early recogniton as 1 one of 
the ablest of Jackson county lawyers. He has a good legal mind and 
a strong power in marshalling and presenting significant facts so as 
to bring conviction. His good standing as a lawyer has been stamped 
with approval by his elevation to the bench, his eight years' service 
as judge of the county court of Jackson county, being bounded by 
the years 1886 and 1894. In the meantime he administered the law 
with a fair and impartial hand and won highest commendation of 
the bar, regardless of political affiliation. 

Judge Barr is one of the local standard bearers of the Demo- 
cratic party and from his earliest years he has been loyal to its arti- 
cles of faith, having pored over the pages of its history and found 
inspirations in its high traditons. A man of public spirit of the type 
which has ever found expression in deeds rather than words, it is 
small wonder that he should have been selected for several positons 
of public trust. In 1866 he was appointed master of chancery of 
Franklin county, for a term of two years, and in 1870 was elected to., 
represent his district in the twenty-seventh general assembly of 
Illinois. In 1872 he was elected state's attorney of Franklin county, 
filling that positon for four years, and in 1886 he was elected county 
judge of Jackson county, in which office he was continued by re- 
election until 1894. 

Almost since the attainment of his majority Judge Barr has been 
a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he has ever exemplified in 
his own living those ideals of moral and social justice and brotherly 
love for which the order stands. He is also associated with the An- 
cient Order of United "Workmen and has been grand dictator of the 
Knights of Honor for the state of Illinois. 

On October 15, 1870, he was married at Tamaroa, Perry county, to 
Miss Alice G. Breinzer, a native of Philadelphia, and their idealty 
happy union has been blessed by the birth of two daughters, Jessie 
G. and Bertha A. Their home is a hospitable one and the members 
of their household enjoy an enviable position in social circles where 
true worth and intelligence are received as the passports into good 
society. The judge is a very popular citizen, his honorable life and 
commendable characteristics, combined with a genial, kindly manner, 
having won him a host of warm friends. 

R. A. CARLILE. One of the progressive and enterprising business 
men of Anna, Illinois, who has built up a flourishing business through 
the force of his own efforts, and the excellence of whose work insures 
him a steady income in his field, is R. A. Carlile, who since 1906 has 
been the proprietor of a paint store in this city. Mr. Carlile is a 
Southerner, having been born at Crystal Springs, Mississippi, in 1866, 
a son of R. W. and S. A. (Ballard) Carlile, the former a native of 
South Carolina, and the latter of Mississippi. R. W. Carlile, who was 
a laborer by occupation, came to Anna in 1873, and here his death 
occurred, while his widow, who survives him, makes her home in this 
city. 



HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 819 

B. A. Carlile was seven years of age when he accompanied his 
parents to Anna, and his education was secured in the public schools. 
After completing his studies he decided to enter the painting trade, 
which he learned in Anna, and until 1906 was engaged as a painter 
and decorator for others. In the year mentioned, Mr. Carlile estab- 
lished himself in business, and he has since built up a large trade in 
a general line of paints, wall paper, glass and picture moulding, hav- 
ing a complete and up-to-date stock in his line. He also does contract 
work in painting, paper-hanging and decorating, and hires a number 
of skilled assistants. He has become known as a skilled workman 
and one who can be relied upon to do first-class work, which has been 
the cause of his handling some large contracts, many of the large 
buildings and modern residences of the city bearing evidence of his 
handicraft. 

In 1891 Mr. Carlile was united in marriage with Miss Mable Sloan, 
who is a native of Illinois. They are consistent members of the Anna 
Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mrs. Carlile has been a Sunday 
school teacher for twelve years. Fraternally Mr. Carlile is con- 
nected with Anna Blue Lodge, No. 520, in which he is master, and 
Anna Chapter No. 45, R. A. M., and he is popular with the members 
of both bodies. 

S. J. HARRY WILSON has been superintendent of the public schools 
of Pinckneyville for the past five years. At the age of twenty he 
entered the profession of teaching, and his interest in and enthusiasm 
for the work would not permit him to stand still. 

Pinckneyville is his native town, and here he was born December 
6, 1877. His first school experience was at the "Brick School," two 
miles south of the town. Later he attended the city schools, and was 
always a close student and a wide reader, and possessed of a remark- 
ably retentive memory. The home of his boyhood was well supplied 
with the best books. His father was the late William Gill Wilson, who 
was prominently identified with the building up of Pinckneyville in 
the capacity of carpenter and builder. He was born three miles south 
of Pinckneyville. October 17, 1841. His father was James Steele 
Wilson, who, with his father, Alexander Wilson, migrated about 
1830 from Dickson county, Tennessee, to this state, and passed his 
life here as a farmer dying in 1880 at the age of sixty-five. This 
James S. Wilson was a pillar in society. His wife was Anna Lucinda 
Chambers, who died in 1879. They were the parents of seven chil- 
dren, of whom William G. was the eldest. The others were Samuel 
B., who served in the Union army during the Civil war as a sergeant 
of Company D, Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry Volunteers, and died in 
Perry county in 188], at that time being a school teacher and farmer. 
Emma married W. C. Milligan. and passed away in Perry county in 
1901, Mary became the wife of William Johnson, and died in 1887. 
Tirza, Mrs. John A. Kimzey. and they removed to Evans, Colorado. 
Lucinda is Mrs. John N. Hughey, of Kearney, Nebraska. James died 
just as he had reached maturity. 

William G. Wilson in his youth was ambitous and determined to 
succeed in his chosen occupation, and would have enjoyed nothing 
better than a technical education had circumstances permitted, but 
hard times and the outbreak of the war between the states put an 
end to all such dreams. He did, however, receive a very good com- 
mon-school education, but. at the age of nineteen he cast aside all 
thoughts of work (for he was just beginning to learn the carpenter's 
trade) and enlisted in Company A, of the Thirty-first Illinois Infan- 



820 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

try, commanded by Colonel John A. Logan. The young soldier took 
part in many battles, the first among them being those of Fort Henry, 
the attack on Fort Donelson, and the battles of Champion Hills. He 
was in the Vicksburg campaign, and was wounded at the above named 
battle of Champion Hills. However, he was not long out of his place 
in the ranks, but was discharged from the hospital in time to join 
the army and take his share in the fighting at Big Shanty and Kene- 
saw Mountain, and to march with the boys in blue towards Atlanta. 
After he had participated in the battle of Atlanta his term of enlist- 
ment expired and he was discharged and returned to Pinckneyville. 
He soon became an active builder, and received many large contracts, 
among which were the old Murphy-Wall & Company Bank building, 
the Court House, the public school building and the United Presby- 
terian church (of which organization he was a staunch member). 
Many of the best residences in the city and in the surrounding coun- 
try are also monuments of his skill and fidelity to his business. As 
a veteran, he took a great interest in the affairs of the Grand Army 
of the Republic, and was one of the most active members of the organ- 
ization. In politics he was a Republican. His death occurred Jan- 
uary 9, 1905. In this he left as his widow Sarah J., a daughter of a 
prominent citzen, Samuel M. Woodside, M. D. Their wedded life had 
extended from March 8, 1866. 

This Dr. Woodside came to Pinckneyville from Princeton, Ken- 
tucky, in 1832. He served as major in the State Militia, practiced 
medicine for many years, and was a pioneer in fruit culture and one 
of the founders of the old Perry County Agricultural Society, whose 
first county fair was held in the Court House in 1857. He died in 
1885, aged seventy-one years. Mrs. Woodside was formerly Miss 
Eliza Pyle, and Mrs. Wilson was one of a family of seven children, 
of whose ancestry some were patriots of the American Revolution. 
Mrs. Wilson survived her husband half a dozen years, dying June 17, 
1911. Three children survive. Of these Gilbert A. is a mechanic, 
following in the path of his father, and lives in Pinckneyville ; Belle 
R., who is the wife of James F. Richmond, of Cutler, Illinois, and the 
subject of this sketch. 

A desire to know it did not matter upon what subject, filled the 
mind of this youngest of the Wilson children from his earliest days, 
and when he was graduated from the high school in his home town 
in 1896 he was bent on pursuing his studies still further. He there- 
fore went to the Southern Illinois Normal University at Carbondalc, 
where he remained for two years. On his return home he began at 
once to teach in the grades of the school in which his boyhood lessons 
had been learned. He continued in this work two years and then re- 
turned to Carbondale, where he graduated in 1902. During 1902 and 
1903 he was principal of the schools of Tamaroa, and the next year 
he returned to Pinckneyville and served as principal of the High 
School three years. He was not an applicant for another term, and 
through the fickleness of politics was compelled to teach away from 
home one year. He was elected principal of the Safford School of 
Cairo, Illinois, and taught there during the school year 1906-1907, 
when he again came back to his present positon as Superintendent 
of his home school. The course of study here is graded, covering a 
period of four years, a year of advanced work having been added by 
Mr. Wilson. The school has grown in numbers since Mr. Wilson 
took charge, the enrollment in 1912 being six hundred and fifty-three. 
To take care of these pupils a corps of fourteen teachers is required. 

As an educator, Mr. Wilson is greatly interested in the work of 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 821 

the various professional associations of which he is a member, believ- 
ing in the advantages of organization. He is a member of the State 
Teachers' Association, and also of the Southern Illinois Teachers' 
Association. He is also very active in religious matters, a member 
and a deacon of the First Baptist church of Pinckneyville, also the 
treasurer of the church and a teacher in the Sunday-school. 

On the 28th of March, 1907, he was married in Pinckneyville to 
Elsie Smith, a daughter of Rev. W. S. D. Smith, a prominent citizen, 
whose family is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. One daughter, 
Lorraine, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson on the 14th day of Feb- 
ruary, 1909. 

EDGAR B. DICK, M. D. Starting out in life with his sole capital the 
heritage of a good name, supplemented with courage to endure, 
strength to labor and patience to wait, Dr. Edgar B. Dick, of Christo- 
pher, Illinois, has fought his way to a place among the eminent med- 
ical men of his part of the state, and as a representative of the self- 
made man presents in his career an example to the younger genera- 
tion which it would do well to emulate. Dr. Dick, who was born 
September 12, 1874, had the good fortune to be born of worthy parents, 
his father, James F. Dick, being an early physician of Union county, 
Illinois, and a native of Galloway county, Kentucky, and his mother 
a member of an honorable Southern family. James Dick, his pater- 
nal grandfather, was a son of Irish parents, and was born in Penn- 
sylvania, from whence he removed to Ohio and later to Kentucky, en- 
gaging there in agricultural pursuits until his death, at the age of 
eighty-five years. On the maternal side, Dr. Dick's grandfather was 
David Furchase, also of Irish parentage, who was born in Kentucky 
and spent his life in that state, dying at the age of ninety years. Dr. 
James F. Dick was born in 1837, in Galloway county, Kentucky, and 
there early took up the practice of medicine, which he followed from 
the time he came to Union county, Illinois, in 1875, until his death, 
December 5, 1910. A well-known physician, he became influential in 
the ranks of the Democratic party, and at one time was a candidate 
for the office of coroner of Franklin county. His religious belief was 
that of the Episcopal church, while his wife, a native of Graves county, 
Kentucky, died in the faith of the Presbyterian church in 1881. 

Edgar B. Dick secured his early educational training in the com- 
mon schools of Union county, which he left at the age of seventeen 
years to work as a telegrapher. After spending seven years in the 
employ of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, in the meantime 
saving his wages carefully, he started studying medicine, and when 
he had been under his father's preceptorship for one year, entered 
Marion Sims Medical College, St. Louis, and was graduated therefrom 
in 1896. lie began the practice of his profession in the northeastern 
part of Union county, where he continued for seven years, and then 
came to Christopher, which has since been his field. He has been 
remarkably successful in his practice, which is now conceded to be 
the largest in Christopher, is ranked among the most skillful and 
efficient surgeons of his county, and has earned the respect and grati- 
tude of his patients. A thoughtful, studious man, whose absorption 
in his profession is remarkable, he is also a man of broad outlook on 
life, and is thoroughly versed not only in his profession, but also 
upon all matters of general interest to his community. He is a val- 
ued member of the Franklin County and Illinois State Medical Socie- 
ties and of Goode Lodge, No. 704, A. F. & A. M. Dr. Dick has mani- 



822 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

fested his belief in the future prosperity of Christopher by investing 
in valuable real estate here, and is the owner of a fine home. 

In 1892 he was married to Blanche Maude Rowan, daughter of 
Samuel and Catherine Rowan, early settlers of Jackson county. Mr. 
Rowan, who was an agriculturist and a veteran of the Civil war, was 
for some years prominent in Republican politics, and died in 1891. 
Five children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Dick, namely : Han- 
nau, Ohmann and Gaston, all of whom are attending school ; and 
Aired and Neoma Marcella, at home. The family is conected with the 
Christian church. 

WILLIAM H. GRANT. Southern Illinois boasts a goodly number of 
charming and wide-awake cities, but of the many which he "tried out" 
Sparta offered more attractions to William H. Grant in the way of a 
suitable location for a home and profitable business than any of the 
others. For more than a quarter of a century he has carried on a 
constantly growing business in that thriving city, and there he has 
builded a home and there reared to years of young womanhood a family 
of seven girls who are now variously occupying the positions in life 
for which they are best fitted. 

William H. Grant was born at Richview, Illinois, April 8, 1854, and 
his childhood was passed at numerous points in the state, frequent 
change of residence being necessitated by the occupation of the father, 
Robert H. Grant, widely known throughout Southern Illinois as one of 
the most capable millwrights in the state. He was born in Scotland 
in 1822, where he grew up and learned his trade. When a young man 
he came to America, finding in the rapidly developing country an 
abundance of work in his particular line. Southern Illinois offered a 
splendid field for his labors and his life for the major part was spent in 
that state, although his early residence in America was spent in the 
East, and he erected mills in Buffalo, New York city and other large 
cities in the east, while he operated in Chicago, St. Louis and other 
western cities after locating in Illinois. The career of Robert Grant 
was a particularly active one, but the constant changing about pre- 
vented him from forming any but home ties. He married in early 
life, his bride being Sarah J. Allen, a native of Vermont. They were 
the parents of a son and two daughters, viz: William H., of Sparta; 
Ada, now of Ava, Illinois; and Fannie, who married W. G. Wagner, 
and is now deceased. In 1870 Mr. Grant died while operating a mill 
at Ava, Illinois. His wife had died ten years before, and both are now 
resting in a Sparta cemetery. 

William H. Grant's schooling was confined to the public schools of 
the various towns in which his family resided and a course of study at 
the Indiana Normal University at Valparaiso. His first position was in 
the store of George W. Walters, a well known merchant of Rockwood, 
Illinois, where he served in the capacity of a clerk ; later he engaged 
with P. N. Holm at Evansville in a similar position. He lived quietly 
and frugally, ambitious to become sufficiently endowed with this world's 
goods that he might venture into the business world on his own respon- 
sibility, and it was but a few years until he was able to invest in a 
small stock of drugs in Evansville as a result of his savings. That vil- 
lage first saw him as a business man of Randolph county, and from 
then to the present day he has forged steadily ahead, enlarging, reach- 
ing out, upbuilding and generally carrying out the policies of a pro- 
gressive, ambitious and capable man of business. In the spring of 1884 
Mr. Grant moved to Sparta, where he was known well and favorably 
from his early youth, and entered into business there, for a time rent- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 823 

ing a store building. The demands of the business soon made it the 
part of wisdom to build for himself, and he erected a store near the 
Broadway Hotel, in which place he carried on the business for a num- 
ber of years. Then, following the trend of the business activities of 
Sparta, he purchased what is known as the old Stamm property and 
moved into it, improving and enlarging to meet his requirements. It 
was then that he decided on a building site for his home, and he pur- 
chased twenty acres adjacent to the city limits and there he erected a 
comfortable, commodious and modern residence. In addition to the 
two properties above mentioned, Mr. Grant is a holder of many fine 
and valuable titles in real estate. His business profits and revenues 
from other sources have been for the most part invested in and about 
Sparta, where he has an enviable standing as a property owner and 
successful business man. Mr. Grant is a Republican, and while he 
maintained a city residence he acted as a member of the council, 
where he gave praiseworthy service in assisting to regulate the affairs 
of the city. 

While Mr. Grant was yet a resident of Evansville, Illinois, in 
November, 1882, he married Miss Elizabeth Wehrheim, a daughter of 
John Wehrheim, prominent in Evansville as a merchant, miller and 
farmer, and a man of German birth. Mr. and Mrs. Grant became the 
parents of a beautiful family of seven daughters, named below in the 
respective order of their birth : Mary A. finished the Sparta schools, 
graduated from Knox College, Illinois, with the degree of B. S., was 
a student in the University of Chicago for a time, and is now a mem- 
ber of the teaching staff of the St. Louis public schools. Fannie E., also 
a graduate of the Sparta high school, was later graduated from the 
Syracuse (N. Y.) University with the degree of A. B. She is now the 
wife of Henry Russell, of New York city. Nellie A. is a graduate of 
the Northwestern University School of Oratory ; she spent one year as 
teacher of elocution and expression in the University of Alabama and 
another year in the Wausau, Wisconsin, high school in a like capacity. 
On March 9, 1912, she became the wife of Louis Withers Evans of Potts- 
town, Pennsylvania. Florence, after completing a full course in the 
Sparta schools, was duly graduated from the Washington University, 
St. Louis, taking the A. B. degree, and is now engaged in newspaper 
work as a special contributor to the society columns of a St. Louis 
paper. In December, 1911, she was elected head of the department of 
physical culture and hygiene for women at Washington University, hav- 
ing taken her degree at the latter institution in June previously. Dur- 
ing her four years at Washington University Miss Grant specialized in 
gymnasium work and hygiene, and took the highest honors in those 
branches ever granted to any student. She is the first student of the 
institution who ever received an appointment as head of a department, 
and the only instructor who had not taught elsewhere before coming 
to Washington University. The members of the faculty consider her 
appointment an especially high honor to her, as well as to her alma 
mater. Ethel is now a student at the University of Schwedt-on-the- 
Oder in Germany, pursuing the study of music and the languages. 
Wilma is at present a student in the Sparta high school and Louise is 
yet an attendant at the grade schools of that city. 

JUDGE BENJAMIN WINFIELD POPE is a representative of that numer- 
ous and brilliant family who have been identified with Franklin county 
since their ancestors established themselves there during the early part 
of the nineteenth century. Pope's Prairie, named in honor of them, 
marks the locality where they first settled. From this first family has 



824 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

sprung a long line of men who have made a place for themselves in 
the legal and medical professions, as well as in the business world. Of 
this number Judge Pope holds a prominent place. Judge Pope has 
been called upon to serve in many offices, both politically and in a 
judicial capacity. His contact with many men has thus given him a 
broad insight into the conditions and motives that influence the deeds 
of his fellow men, consequently with his broad knowledge of the law 
he is able to act with so true an understanding and with so clear a mind 
that justice is synonymous with his court, a rather unusual thing in 
these days of corrupt judges and packed juries. 

Benjamin Winfield Pope was born in Franklin county, on the 20th 
of October, 1853, his father being Dr. Benjamin F. Pope, Sr. His 
grandfather was Benjamin Pope, a distiller, who spent all of his days 
near Dresden, Tennessee, where Dr. Pope was born on the 24th of May, 
1825. The latter lived in Tennessee until 1849, when he migrated to 
Illinois and started on the medical career for which he had been pre- 
pared in his native state. The only other member of the family to 
come hither was a brother, Dr. H. B. Pope, who spent his life in Frank- 
lin county, and left on his death a large family who have become 
prominent in the life of the county. 

Dr. Benjamin F. Pope gave the vigorous strength of his early years 
to his medical work, and built up a large and flourishing practice He 
won a broader reputation, however, as a citizen filled with the "milk 
of human kindness," and when his practice came to be too large and 
heavy a burden he abandoned it and came to DuQuoin to engage in 
commercial pursuits. He came to DuQuoin on the 2nd of January, 
1865, and became a member of the firm of Pope and Company, dealing 
in General Merchandise. After a few years devoted to this business 
he went into the retail lumber business, which formed his occupation 
during the remainder of his life. He bought the beautiful property 
at the corner of Mulberry and Franklin streets in DuQuoin, and here 
he died on the 23rd of January, 1902. His most striking characteristic 
was his genuine sympathy and interest in the poor, afflicted and un- 
fortunate, and he never refused to help those who were suffering. He 
was especially kind to the negroes who came his way, feeling a great 
sympathy for his weaker brethren, who were unable to cope with the 
intellect and experience of the white race. 

On the 4th of February, 1849, Dr. Pope married Emeline Harrison, 
a daughter of Benjamin W. Pope. She was his second cousin, and was 
born in Bedford county, Middle Tennessee, on the 8th of June, 1828. 
She is now spending her declining years in the happy companionship 
of her son, the Judge. She and Dr. Pope became the parents of five 
children, three of whom are living : Byron J. died when a young man ; 
Pleasant V. is a merchant of DuQuoin ; Ida I. also died in youth ; Ben- 
jamin W. ; and Sarah E., who is the wife of G. F. M. Ward, of Mt. 
Vernon, Illinois. From the nature of his calling Dr. Pope was a man 
of wide acquaintance, and to know him was to be numbered among the 
ranks of his friends. He made no pretense to religion, but probably 
followed the Golden Rule much closer than some who attend services 
every Sunday. He was moderately interested in fraternal organiza- 
tions, being a Master Mason. 

Judge Pope was educated for a professional career, what shape this 
should take being left for him to decide. He was a student in the 
University of Illinois, in Washington University at St. Louis, and finally 
graduated from the law department of the Union College of Law in 
Chicago, in 1878. On his return home he expected to immediately begin 
to practice, but the spirit of altruism, which was so strong in his father, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 825 

cropped out in the son. The public schools had fallen into a bad con- 
dition and since no one seemed very anxious to straighten out affairs 
Judge Pope took the task upon himself. For two years he acted as 
superintendent and at the end of the time was thankful to doff the garb 
of a school master and don the cap and gown of the lawyer. 

He opened a law office in 1880 and went industriously to work to 
make up for lost time. His success attracted the attention of his party 
to him, and he was appointed to fill out an unexpired term as state's 
attorney. Following this he was elected county judge and served one 
term. When President Cleveland went into office he appointed Judge 
Pope postmaster, and he served as such for fifty-one months, taking 
office during the second term of President Cleveland's administration. 
He succeeded E. M. Harris and was succeeded by Harry B. Ward. In 
1899 the people showed their appreciation of the faithful services that 
he had rendered by electing him mayor, and it was while he was the 
incumbent of this office that the sewerage, water-works and electric light 
systems were installed. He served as mayor eight years at DuQuoin 
In 1909 he was elected city judge, a position with unlimited jurisdiction, 
and he is well known and popular in the circuit court districts of Chi- 
cago, East St. Louis and Southern Illinois as a trial judge. 

He is a Democrat without intense partizenship, and fraternally is 
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Eagles. He is unmarried, 
devoting his life to the comfort and well being of his mother. The long 
line of offices which he has held speak for themselves and show how high 
he stands in the regard of his fellow citizens. His highest ambition is to 
uphold the law and see that justice is done to rich and poor alike. 

WILSON GASKINS, a retired citizen of Harrisburg, Illinois, was born 
February 23, 1835, one mile and a half southwest of the present Harris- 
burg court house, a son of Southern Illinois pioneers. 

William Howard Gaskins, his father, was a native of Kentucky, 
born in 1808. His father, a native of North Carolina, had moved to 
Kentucky and subsequently to Illinois, he accompanying them. In 
frontier style they established their home in Saline county. Among 
the other early pioneers of this locality was Harry Pearson, whose farm 
was two miles south of the Gaskins home, Mr. Pearson having come 
here from Sumner county, Tennessee, where on March 18, 1815, his 
daughter, Juliet Jane, was born. On February 19, 1833, William 
Howard Gaskins and Juliet Jane Pearson were united in marriage, and 
as the years passed by their home was blessed in the birth of sons and 
daughters to the number of ten, of whom Wilson, whose name introduces 
this sketch, was the oldest. The others in order of birth are as follows : 
Louisa, deceased wife of William H. Dove ; Susan, deceased wife of 
Robert H. Davis ; Melvin, who married a Miss Vincent, is deceased ; Har- 
riet, widow of William Huddleston, of Harrisburg; Malbury, a veteran 
of the Civil war, is a retired resident of Harrisburg ; Bettie, wife of James 
Kane, died in early womanhood ; Jonathan, who had served as deputy 
sheriff of Saline county, died in young manhood; Amerine, wife of J. 
C. Connell, died in middle life ; and Elijah, a retired farmer, is now at 
the head of a meat market at Harrisburg. The father of this family 
had served in the Black Hawk war. While he was a farmer all his 
life, he was handy with tools and was recognized as the mechanic of the 
neighborhood. He was a fine base singer and a worker in the Baptist 
church, of which he was a consistent member for many years. His 
home was headquarters for the ministers who visited this locality, and 
not only the ministers but also many persons in other walks of life 
enjoyed his genial whole-heai-ted hospitality. While he had a strong 



826 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

constitution, he was a victim of pneumonia, and died May 26, 1869. His 
widow survived him eight years, and died October 20, 1877. 

Wilson Gaskins remained on the farm with his father until he was 
twenty-three years of age, when he began farming operations on his 
own account. As a boy he helped thrash the wheat by the old time 
method of having the horses tread it out, after which it was passed 
through a sieve. And he assisted, too, in the grinding of the grain. 
This in a horse power mill made by the father. Harrisburg, or rather 
where Harrisburg now stands, was then called Crusoe's Island, as the 
low land surrounding this site was not infrequently under water. Here 
young Gaskins spent many a day binding oats. He farmed and dealt 
in live stock for a number of years. Afterward he owned and operated 
a sawmill, and still later was engaged in the grocery business. His 
milling interests took him to various points along the Mississippi river, 
but for the most part his various operations have been conducted at 
Harrisburg, where he has from time to time made investments and 
erected buildings, including both business blocks and residences. 

Mr. Gaskins has always been more or less interested in politics, al- 
ways posted and always ready with a good argument. He has even 
been a staunch Republican and has often attended both the county and 
district conventions of his party, but he has never been an office seeker. 
For more than twenty-five years he has been a Mason in good standing, 
his identity with that order including the Royal Arch degrees. 

Mr. Gaskins has been twice married. On January 27, 1860, he wed- 
ded Elizabeth E. Largent, a native of Scioto county, Ohio, and a daugh- 
ter of John and Jane Largent. She died in March, 1882. The fruits 
of this union were three children: John Henry, who died in 1881, at 
the age of nineteen years; Mary Alice, wife of J. S. Ferguson, died 
October 26, 1908, and Moses B., of Harrisburg. The last named was 
born in 1865, and for some years has been interested in real estate and 
in the Harrisburg Fair Ground, also in a bakery in this city. Mr. 
Gaskins' second wife was Miss Jennie Johnson, of Tuscola, Illinois. 
They were married May 17, 1893, and her death occurred October 26, 
1901. 

All his life Mr. Gaskins has been an expert with the gun, and now, 
although past his seventy-fifth milestone, his aim is true and his love 
of the sport is as keen as ever. For some years he has been a member 
of the Hayti Hunting Club, of Hayti, Missouri, which place he visits 
annually in the hunting season. He has some fine trophies in the way 
of deer skins, one from a deer he shot after he was seventy-four and 
another after he was seventy-five. 

WILLIAM P. GEEANEY. The life story of William P. Greaney, of 
Cairo, Illinois, at the present time chief deputy sheriff of Alexander 
county and also actively identified with the fire insurance business of 
that city, furnishes another instance ,of the possibilities in store for any 
American youth who, with a stock of energy, push and ability, may 
raise himself from a humble position and become a factor in the business 
and public life of his community. 

Mr. Greaney is a native son of Illinois, but is a direct descendant 
on both the paternal and maternal sides of sturdy Irish stock. He was 
born at Cairo, on February 19, 1870, to James Greaney and his wife, 
who was Miss Hannah Queeney prior to her marriage. Both parents 
were born -in Ireland, the father in Ballaghar, county Galway, in 1845. 
He was married to Hannah Queeney at Queenstown, county Cork, of 
their native land, and brought his bride to the United States directly 
upon the close of the Civil war. He, however, had immigrated to this 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 827 

country prior to his marriage and had become a resident of Cairo as 
early as 1861, remaining a resident of that city for nearly thirty years, 
or until his death in 1890. He was a Democrat in politics and was 
well known as a staunch supporter of his party. His public service 
comprised work in the city council as a representative of the old Fifth 
ward. To James and Hannah (Queeney) Greaney, the latter of whom 
still survives, were born the following children: Celia, widow of 
Charles Hessian, of Cairo ; William P., the subject of this sketch ; Annie, 
now the wife of George Shaw, of Cairo ; John B., who is secretary and 
treasurer of the New York Store Mercantile Company, of Cairo ; Robert 
J., a traveling salesman for the same firm; Joseph E., of the mercantile 
firm of Ehs & Greaney, of Cairo ; and Miss Rose Greaney, who is the 
companion of her mother and resides with her in Cairo. 

William P. Greaney acquired his education in the parochial schools 
of Cairo, and took up the responsibilities of life at the early age of 
twelve, when he became a cashboy for the New York Store Mercantile 
Company. His ability and steadfastness soon won the attention and the 
confidence of the firm, and at different times he was advanced until he be- 
came a bookkeeper. He had been with this firm about fifteen years 
when he resigned to take up the duties of bookkeeper and teller for the 
Alexander County National Bank, a position he retained for a number 
of years, or until December, 1910, when Sheriff Frasier appointed him 
his chief deputy in his office. 

Meanwhile, in 1899, Mr. Greaney established a fire insurance agency 
in Cairo, which he conducted along with his other work in the bank, and 
has seen the business grow from its incipiency to the second agency in 
size in the city. Thus, from a modest beginning, Mr. Greaney has made 
his way to the front in the business life of Cairo by ability, honorable 
business methods and an unconquerable desire to succeed, and his suc- 
cess commands the more admiration because it is wholly the result of 
his own well-directed efforts. 

In his political affiliations he is a Republican. He was elected city 
treasurer in 1894, serving two years. He also served as deputy city 
treasurer under Treasurers John W. Gholson, Thomas Mehoney and 
August Schneider, and is now an alderman from the Seventh ward of 
the city. He is a progressive and public-spirited citizen, and all move- 
ments that tend toward the prosperity and advancement of Cairo and 
of his state receive his warm support. In this direction he served at 
different times as a delegate to the Illinois waterways meetings and was 
also commissioned to take part in the rivers and harbors convention at 
Chicago in 1911. He is a member of the Cairo Board of Trade, the 
Commercial Club and the Alexander Club. 

In Cairo, on November 14, 1894, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Greaney and Miss Loretta Carroll, a daughter of James Carroll. Mr. 
Carroll, who is a native of the Emerald Isle, has also served Cairo as an 
alderman and is now a dealer in real estate. Mr. and Mrs. Greaney 
have three children: Lynette, Marion and Carroll. 

Mr. Greaney inherits the sunny temperament and happy social qual- 
ities of the sons of Erin's Isle, is a devoted churchman and a man of the 
highest integrity. Fraternally he affiliates with the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks, and is a member of the Knights of Columbus, 
which order he represented as a delegate in their annual national con- 
vention at Chicago in 1911. 

The soldier instincts of Mr. Greaney find expression as a member 
of the Fourth Infantry of the Illinois National Guards. Upon the or- 
ganization of Company K, at Cairo in 1904, he was commissioned 
captain and has served so since. Though the company has seen no 



828 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

further service beyond having been called out twice to protect a prisoner 
about to be lynched, the Captain and his command evinced that coolness 
and promptness upon those occasions that left no doubt in the minds of 
any one as to what their conduct would be if called to the field of battle. 

JUDSON EUGENE STRONG, M. D. One of the leading members of 
the medical profession in Southern Illinois is Judson Eugene Strong, 
of Cairo, who for nearly thirty years has been engaged in practice in 
this city, and who is widely known among medical men of this section. 
He was born at Cleveland, Ohio, November 27, 1854, and is a son of 
Asaph C. and Harriet M. (Pelton) Strong. The great-grandfather of 
Dr. Strong, one Judge Strong, moved from Connecticut to Ohio in 
1812, acquired a large body of land about the city of Willoughby, and 
became a prominent character of this locality. His son, Thomas J., 
was born in 1803, passed his life on the Strong estate as a farmer and 
died in 1876, at Wycliffe, Ohio. Asaph C. Strong was born at Wil- 
loughby, Ohio, in 1826, and was reared on the old homestead place. As 
a young man he moved to Cleveland, where for a number of years he 
was employed as a postal clerk on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern 
Railway, his service ending at the time of the Ashtabula disaster of 
1876. He then engaged in other pursuits, farming occupying much of 
his time until his death in 1884. Mr. Strong married (first) Harriet 
M. Pelton, who was born February 11, 1828, and died July 18, 1861, 
and they had two sons: Edgar C. and Judson Eugene. For his second 
wife Asaph C. Strong married Lucy B. House, and a daughter, Harriet 
L., was the only child of their union. 

Judson Eugene Strong graduated from the high school in Cleve- 
land in 1873, attended Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio, for 
a time, and then took up the study of medicine, graduating from the 
Homeopathic Hospital College in 1880. He began his professional 
career in Clinton, Michigan, subsequently located in Hillsdale, that 
state, and from there came to Cairo within a few months, where he has 
continued in practice with steadily increasing success. Dr. Strong was 
married (first) at Hudson, Michigan, June 17, 1879, to Miss Emma 
Elnora Fauver, who died March 13, 1882, and left two daughters : May- 
bell, of Chicago; and Mrs. Florence Bayley, also of that city. Mrs. 
Bayley has twin sons: Stanley and Safford. On March 9, 1887, Dr. 
Strong was married at Olney, Illinois, to Miss Julia Ellen Nail, 
daughter of the Rev. Richard John and Harriet (Logan) Nail, and 
four children have been born to this union, namely: Judson Eugene, 
Jr., an electrical engineer in the employ of the Chicago Edison Com- 
pany, born April 6, 1888 ; Harriet Alice, born November 26, 1889 ; Mar- 
garet Logan, born November 28, 1892 ; and Julia Allen, born June 14, 
1898. 

Rev. Richard John Nail was a Methodist minister, and was born in 
Chatham county, North Carolina, in 1816, received a collegiate educa- 
tion, and after spending many years in the ministry of his church died 
at Lawrenceville, Illinois, in 1863. His grandfather was an English- 
man who established his first American home in Virginia, and later re- 
moved to Chatham county, North Carolina, where Rev. Nail's father 
was born in 1780. The old English founder of the family identified 
himself with the cause of American independence, and was commis- 
sioned a major in the Colonial army during the Revolutionary war, 
meeting his death in the battle of Guilford Court House. His wife 
was a Miss Glass, and seven sons and two daughters were born to them. 
The father of Rev. Richard J. Nail was the youngest child, and was 
first married to Mary Thompson, a lady of English descent. After 



OMht 
BBYERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 829 

his marriage he moved out to White county, Illinois, and there Richard 
J. and the three other children grew up. Rev. Richard Nail was mar- 
ried (third) to Mrs. Harriet (Logan) Hill. By her marriage to 
Thomas B. Hill Mrs. Nail had four children: J. Edgar, who resides 
in Wisconsin ; Randall, who was among the slain in the battle of Chick- 
amauga; Mary, who died at Olney, Illinois; and Thomas who died in 
infancy. Rev. Nail by his third marriage had two children: Harriet 
Alice and Julia Ellen, the latter of whom married Dr. Strong. The 
Logan family were from Dublin, Ireland. James Logan was a brother 
of Dr. John Logan, the father of General John A. Logan, a famous 
figure in the Civil war. James Logan was the father of four children: 
John and James, both physicians, the former of whom spent his life 
in Carlinville, Illinois, and the latter in Missouri ; and Elizabeth and 
Harriet, who both became wives of Rev. Richard J. Nail. 

WILLIAM 0. EDWARDS is an attorney of Pinckneyville who has been 
identified with the public life of that city for a number of years, and 
who has done his full share towards the advancement and upbuilding 
of that city in the years of his residence there. He was born in Perry 
county, Illinois, on February 28, 1869, and is a son of a pioneer family 
of that county. His father was Captain Mortimer C. Edwards, born 
in that county on March 14, 1838, and a son of William Edwards, who 
came to Illinois from Ohio and whose birthplace was in the state of 
Vermont. He died in Pinckneyville about 1850. He was a lawyer, 
and passed his life in the profession, being popular and prominent in 
the community in which he was located. He married Jeanette Brown 
on May 29, 1832, and she lived to reach the age of seventy-one years. 
The issue of their union were : Cordelia, who married Lewis Hammack 
and later died in Perry county ; Mortimer C., who became the father 
of William 0., of this sketch ; Gilbert, who passed away at an early 
age; and Reverend William W., who spent many useful years in the 
ministry of the Methodist church and is now dean of the Lincoln Law 
College in Springfield, Illinois. 

Mortimer C. Edwards attended a Masonic school in Lexington, Mis- 
souri, and was liberally equipped for a literary career. He studied 
law in the office of Lewis Hammack and was admitted to the bar in 
Pinckneyville. On August 26, 1862, Mr. Edwards enlisted in Company 
C, Eighty-first Illinois Infantry, as first lieutenant in Captain Arm- 
strong's company, Colonel James Dollins in command of the regiment. 
During Mr. Edwards' service he participated in sixteen engagements, 
among them being Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill and 
Vicksburg. He was in the thick of the fight at Guntown, Mississippi, 
and in the Red River expedition, and was promoted to the command 
of his company on June 30, 1864. He was in General Logan's Division 
of the Seventeenth Army Corps, commanded by General McPherson, 
and was mustered out August 5, 1865, lacking but a few days of having 
completed his term of enlistment. Once more taking up the life of the 
civilian, Captain Edwards entered upon the practice of law in Pickney- 
ville, continuing there throughout his life, save for three years when 
he was a resident of Haskell county, Kansas. While in the west he 
was active in his profession and was elected county attorney of his 
county. He returned to Illinois, owing to his dislike for the Kansas 
climate, and once more resumed his citizenship at his birthplace. He 
was states attorney of Perry county one term, and as a Republican and 
a worker for the cause of the party he had a wide acquaintance with 
leaders in Illinois Republican politics and with prominent men of the 
Civil war period, such as Grant, Logan and Palmer, and with a host 



830 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

of other men who did valiant service in putting down the rebellion. 
Captain Edwards was a man of worthy Christian character and prac- 
tices and at various times served the Methodist church as a steward and 
trustee. He married Miss Harriet M. Edwards, a daughter of Alonson 
Edwards, whose people were likewise natives of Vermont. She was 
born September 7, 1839, and is still living, although Captain Edwards 
passed away on January 21, 1905. Those of their children who reached 
years of maturity are Emma, the wife of Julius A. Biby, of Pinckney- 
ville, and William 0., of this brief review. 

William 0. Edwards, after completing his high school training, en- 
tered McKendree College, from which institution he was graduated in 
1893, with the degrees of A. B. and of LL. B. In 1893 the master's 
degree was conferred upon him. After finishing his studies there he 
engaged in school work for two years or more, following which he 
opened a law office in Pinckneyville, as his father, Captain Edwards, 
had done before him. He has since then been active in the practice of 
his profession there, being admitted to the bar upon his diploma be- 
fore Judge Burrough's court. In his political affiliation he has been a 
Republican always, and has been reasonably zealous in the furtherance 
of the interests of the party. 

On June 8, 1899, Mr. Edwards was married to Miss Etta L. Root, 
a daughter of Reverend Edmund and Mary A. Schamalia (Rhodes) 
Root, of Lebanon, St. Clair county, who came to Illinois from New 
York state in earlier years. Reverend Root was a Methodist minister 
in Illinois for many years, his connection being with the Southern Illi- 
nois Conference. He died in 1894. Mrs. Edwards is one of the fol- 
lowing children, namely: Lou, the wife of Scott French; Anna, who 
married Reverend M. Minor ; Littie, who became the wife of M. J. 
Goings; Etta, the wife of Mr. Edwards; and Mary, who became the 
wife of Reverend P. F. Blake, living in Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Ed- 
wards have two children: Margaret Corinne and Gilbert Harold. The 
family are members of the Methodist church, and Mr. Edwards has 
represented his congregation in the lay electoral conference and is a 
trustee of the local church. 

WILLIAM SCOTT CANTRELL. It is one of the most encouraging facts 
which can anywhere exist that in this country a large proportion of 
those individuals who, by their public service, have attained a greater 
or less degree of eminence, or mayhap, by their professional or busi- 
ness acquirements and talents, have risen by their own exertions. In 
this sketch there will be found something to encourage the exertions 
of those youths who, without fortune or influential friends, are strug- 
gling to overcome obstacles in the acquirement of wealth and position. 
They will see in the example before them how difficulties were sur- 
mounted and what was achieved by close application and perseverance. 
William Scott Cantrell was born in Benton, Franklin county, Illinois, 
February 6, 1851, and is a son of Tilman B. and Euphemia D. (New- 
man) Cantrell and a grandson of Richard Cantrell, a native of Tennes- 
see, who brought his family to Illinois at an early day and spent the re- 
mainder of his life in agricultural pursuits. 

Tilman B. Cantrell was born in Tennessee and accompanied his par- 
ents to Franklin county, Illinois, becoming the first merchant in the 
dry goods business in the village (now city) of Benton, in which he 
continued until his death, on the 14th day of May, 1873. He was a 
Democrat in politics, but never cared for public office. His wife, who 
was a native of Franklin county, Illinois, died in 1901, in the faith of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, of which her husband was also a con- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 831 

sistent member. They were the parents of eight children, three of 
whom died in their infancy and one after having reached his manhood, 
and four still survive, as follows : George C., who is cashier of the First 
National Bank of Benton ; Mrs. Mary A. Brownlee and Mrs. Kate C. 
St. Clair, who reside in St. Louis, Missouri; and William Scott, who 
still resides in the City of Benton, the place of his birth, and who has 
the distinction of being the second oldest inhabitant of Benton that 
was born in the town now living there. He received a common school 
education and attended the Indiana State University for two terms. 
Deciding upon the law as a profession, he began its study in the office 
of Youngblood and Barr at Benton, Illinois, in 1870, and during the 
winter of 1871 attended Judge Andrew D. Duff's Law School at Shaw- 
neetown, Illinois. He was admitted to the bar in June, 1873, and en- 
tered at once upon the practice at Benton, Illinois. His first law 
partner was the Hon. Francis M. Youngblood (now deceased), a very 
prominent lawyer in Southern Illinois. This partnership continued 
for several years, and until Mr. Youngblood moved to Carbondale, Illi- 
nois. His next partnership was with Judge R. H. Flannigan, which 
continued until 1892, when it was dissolved on account of Judge Flan- 
nigan 's election as state's attorney. He then formed a partnership 
with the Hon. .Daniel M. Browning (now deceased), with whom he was 
associated until 1893, when Judge Browning having been appointed 
by President Cleveland as commissioner of Indian affairs, moved to 
Washington, D. C. In January, 1893, Mr. Cantrell was appointed as 
chairman of the railroad and warehouse commission of the state of 
Illinois, by Governor Altgeld, in which position he served until the 
election of Governor John R. Tanner in 1896. In 1884 Mr. Cantrell 
was elected state's attorney of Franklin county as a Democrat, and 
served four years. He has always been a staunch Democrat and has 
been quite active in state and national politics. He has been a mem- 
ber of the Democratic State Committee from the twenty-fifth Con- 
gressional district since 1908. He has a large personal acquaintance 
with public men of both parties not only in Illinois but in many other 
states. For twenty-three consecutive years he was a member of the 
committee of appeals and grievances of the Grand Lodge of the An- 
cient Free and Accepted Masons of Illinois, and never failed to be 
present at every meeting during the entire period. 

On March 2, 1882, Mr. Cantrell was married to Miss Mary Jane 
Burnett, daughter of Charles Burnett, a prominent citizen and lead- 
ing attorney of Shawneetown. Four children have been born to this 
union : Charles A., who is engaged in the mercantile business ; Mary A., 
who is a graduate of the high school and the Perry School of Oratory 
at St. Louis; Ruth L., who will graduate from high school in 1912; 
and Tilman B., who is attending the public schools. Mr. Cantrell and 
his family are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
He is a past master of the local Blue Lodge of the Masonic order and 
belongs also to the Elks, Knights of Honor and the Knights of Pythias. 
He is pleasing in his manner, genial, generous and charitable, and very 
popular among his friends. He enjoys a lucrative law practice, and 'is 
the attorney for all the railroads in Franklin county, as well as other 
large financial institutions. He is always in the forefront for public 
improvements in his city and is a highly respected citizen. 

NORMAN W. CONNAWAY, M. D. Although practically a newcomer to 
the city of Christopher, Illinois. Dr. Norman W. Connaway has 
already established himself in the confidence and esteem of the 
people here, and has taken his rightful place among the leading med- 



832 HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

ical men of Southern Illinois. Like many other of our prominent phy- 
sicians, at the start of his career he decided that the human body was 
too great and too intricate a work, its possibilities for disease and im- 
perfection too vast, to make it possible for any one man to completely 
master the causes, symptoms and cures for weaknesses affecting every 
part of it, and early concluded that if he devoted his time to specializ- 
ing, and giving his time and talents to investigations having direct 
relation to certain diseases and their cures, he would accomplish a 
great life work, providing these investigations were successful and 
their results properly applied. His accomplishments in the years fol- 
lowing the completion of his education are the best proof of his entire 
success. Dr. Connaway was born in Jefferson county, Illinois, August 
21, 1870, and is a son of Oliver A. and Lavina (Mount) Connaway. 

The Connaway family is of Scotch-Irish descent, and William Con- 
naway, the grandfather of Dr. Norman W., was born in the state of 
Indiana and came to Illinois in 1854. He settled on a tract of land in 
Jefferson county, improved and cultivated it, and became one of the 
leading farmers of his district, dying about 1893, with a satisfactory 
competency. His son, Oliver A. Coimaway, was born at Montezuma, 
Parke county, Indiana, and was a lad of ten years when he accompa- 
nied the family to Illinois. Like other farmers' sons of his day, he 
obtained his education in the public schools when he could be spared 
from the duties of the home place, and for some time he attended the 
schools at Dix. Reared to agricultural pursuits, he has been engaged 
therein all of his life, and still makes his residence on the old home- 
stead in Jefferson county, where he is known as a competent farmer 
and sterling citizen. He is a stanch Democrat in his political views, 
and with his wife and children attends the Missionary Baptist church. 
He married Lavina Mount, whose father came to Jefferson county, 
Illinois, from Tennessee, dying soon thereafter, and they have had five 
children, all of whom survive. 

Norman W. Connaway received his education in the public schools 
of Dix, and in his youth purchased a farm, intending to give his life 
to the vocation of tilling the soil. Subsequently, however, he decided 
a career lay before him in the field of medicine, and after considerable 
preparatory study he entered the St. Louis College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, in 1902. Graduating from that well-known institution in 
1906, Dr. Connaway established himself in practice at Woodlawn, 
Jefferson county, but in 1908, deciding that he needed a larger field, 
he came to Christopher, where he has since remained. Dr. Connaway 
makes a specialty of women's diseases and abdominal surgery, and at 
present is probably performing more operations that any surgeon in 
the county. He has won his own eminent position in his profession 
through years of close application to his chosen work, and the success 
which has come to him stamps him as one of the leading surgeons of 
this section. He finds leisure to keep up his membership in the Odd 
Fellows and the Royal Neighbors, of which latter his wife is also a 
member, but his professional duties have kept him too occupied to act- 
ively enter the political field. 

On August 7, 1895, Dr. Connaway was married to Miss Ida Phillips, 
daughter of Joseph Phillips, who served with distinction in the For- 
tieth Illinois Volunteers, under General John A. Logan, in the Civil 
war. He was on one occasion badly wounded and captured by the 
enemy, but made a daring and thrilling escape before his captors could 
place him in prison. After the war he returned to his farm, and was 
successfully engaged in the peaceful pursuits of tilling the soil until 
His death in 1908. The three children of Dr. and Mrs. Connaway, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 833 

Glenn, Beatrice and Cleda, are all attending the public schools. The 
family is connected with the Missionary Baptist church. 

H. R. WALKER. Endowed with a natural aptitude for business, keen 
and alert to take advantage of offered opportunities, H. R. Walker, 
secretary and treasurer of the Gaskins-Walker Lumber Company at 
Harrisburg, is numbered among the more energetic and prosperous 
of the younger generation of the city's leading men, and has already 
won for himself a fine reputation in both the industrial and social 
affairs of his adopted home. He was born November 30, 1887, at 
West End, Saline county, Illinois, a son of Pinckney J. and Savilla 
(Johnson) Walker. 

Acquiring a substantial education when young, Mr. Walker spent 
many of the earlier years of his life in Galatia, where he gained both 
knowledge and experience as regards the details of business, becom- 
ing familiar with the general mercantile and lumber trade. In 1911, 
forming a copartnership with Messrs. Gregg and Gaskins, he helped 
establish the Gaskins-Walker Lumber Company, which was incor- 
porated in that year with a paid-up capital of ten thousand dollars, 
T. Y. Gregg being made president of the concern, while Mr. Walker 
was made secretary and treasurer, and Edward Gaskins was elected 
general manager of the concern. This enterprising firm retails lum- 
ber and coal, having an extensive patronage in that line, and makes 
a specialty of supplying building material by contract. Mr. Walker 
married Bessie White, a daughter of G. W. White, of Eldorado, Illi- 
nois, a woman of culture and many social attractions. 

Edward Gaskins, general manager of the Gaskins-Walker Lum- 
ber Company, was born in Saline county, Illinois, three miles south 
of Harrisburg, May 16, 1879, a son of the late Wiley A. and Nettie 
Gaskins, neither of whom are now living, his father having died in 
1902 and his mother two years earlier, in 1900. Mr. Gaskins has 
been identified with the lumber interests of Saline county for many 
years, for five years previous to accepting his present positon, in 
1911, having been secretary and manager of the Dorris Lumber Com- 
pany, at Dorrisville, Saline county. In that capacity Mr. Gaskins 
became thoroughly conversant with the lumber business, and so fa- 
miliar with its requirements, both as regards its conduct and advance- 
ment, that he is eminently qualified for the important position he 
now holds in the concern in which he is so largely interested. 

Mr. Gaskins married Mattie Hallock, a daughter of A. C. and 
Ellen Hallock, of Harrisburg, and they have one child, Thomas El- 
wood Gaskins. 

PINCKNEY J. WALKER. One of the most successful and enterprising 
citizens of Saline county, Pinckney J. Walker, of Galatia, began life 
a poor boy, with no other assets than a courageous heart, willing 
hands, an active brain and an unlimited supply of energy and ambi- 
tion, and through his perseverance of purpose has accumulated a fair 
share of this world's goods and built up an enviable reputation for 
honesty and integrity. A son of Dr. James Walker, he was born Jan- 
uary 4. 1862, in Pope county, Illinois, of pioneer ancestry. 

His paternal grandfather, Rev. James Walker, was born and reared 
in Wilson county, Tennessee. Coming to Southern Illinois in 1845. 
he entered a tract of land in Pope county, and from it improved a 
good farm, which remained in possession of the family until sold a 
very short time ago. He was a minister of the Missionary Baptist 
persuasion and founded the first church of that denomination in Pope 



834 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

county. He died at the age of sixty-nine years, and, after the cus- 
tom of those days, was buried on his home farm. He was for seven- 
teen years pastor of the Mill Creek church, which was located sixteen 
miles from his home, and to reach which he had to ride on horseback 
through an almost pathless wilderness. In addition to preachng and 
farming he was also engaged in mercantile pursuits during the Civil 
war. He accumulated considerable property, and owned, aside from 
his home farm, many acres of land at Bay City, on the Ohio river. He 
reared four children, as follows : Newton, who died in early man- 
hood, leaving five children; James; Harriet, wife of Rev. Janies 
Weeks, a Baptist minister; and Malcolm, who went to the front dur- 
ing the Civil war as colonel of an Illinois regiment. He died while 
marching with his men, and was buried in the family lot in Pope 
county, Illinois. Rev. Mr. Walker also had a step-daughter, Martha, 
who is now living in Kentucky. 

Dr. James Walker was reared to agricultural pursuits, and after 
his marriage took up a tract of wild land and was engaged in farm- 
ing until the death of his wife. He then began reading medicine 
under old Doctor Crosby, a neighbor, and when proficient in his 
studies began the practice of his profession. Locating at Dixon 
Springs, Illinois, he leased a large property, which he conducted as 
a health resort in additon to his practice as a regular physician, and 
also engaged in business as a general merchant. He continued thus 
actively employed until his death, when but fifty-four years of age. 
in 1887, he, Dr. Hodge, Dr. Agnew, and Dr. Frizzell, of Glendale, 
having been the leading physicians of that section of the state. 

Dr. Walker married first Mary Ann Glass, a sister of Colonel W. 
D. Glass, who commanded an Illinois regiment in the Civil war. 
She was one of a family of twenty-nine children, of whom Henry 
Glass, the eldest child, still lives in Golconda, Illinois, while Dr. M. 
M. Glass, of East Saint Louis, is the youngest child. She and two of 
her children, one a child of seven years and an infant, died within a 
few months of each other, and she left three living children, as fol- 
lows: Hon. A. W. Walker; Sarah E. : and Pinckney J., the subject 
of this sketch. Sarah E., wife of Henry Lewis, an attorney at New 
Liberty, Illinois, is herself the postmistress at that place and proprie- 
tor of a store. 

Hon. A. W. Walker was reared to habits of industry, and as a 
boy began to work out, receiving fifty cents a day in the summer 
season, and in the winter time clerking for his board and clothes in 
the store of Billy King at Rosebud, Illinois, and attending school. At 
the end of three years he entered the employ of McCoy & Son, at 
Golconda, and was afterwards a traveling salesman for a time. He 
subsequently clerked twelve years for J. C. Baker, and then, after 
being in partnership with Mr. Baker for a year, bought him out and 
was successfully employed in the hardware and agricultural imple- 
ment business at Golconda for several years, being one of the leading 
dealers in that line of goods. He met with severe losses when his 
warehouses, store and stock were destroyed by fire. He subsequently 
served as county treasurer of Pope county, after which he was elected 
sheriff of the county, and still later represented his district in the 
State Legislature. He made wise investments in real estate, buying 
large tracts of new land, which he opened up and sold at top prices. 
He died July 15, 1909, in Golconda. and was buried with honors by 
the Modern Woodmen of America, a fraternity of which he was a 
valued member, and which erected a fine monument to bis" memory 
in September, 1911. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 835 

Living at home until eighteen years old, Pinckney J. Walker re- 
ceived limited educational advantages, and subsequently began the 
battle of life on his own account as clerk in a general store and post 
office, his wages to be one hundred dollars a year, but at the end of 
six months the post office was abolished, and he was variously em- 
ployed the next few months, writing fire insurance a part of the time 
and clerking in Golconda for McCoy & Son, his brother's former em- 
ployers, while with that firm obtaining a good experience in handling 
farming implements and machinery. He married in the fall of 1884, 
and on January 1, 1885, began farming in Galatia, Illinois, on his 
father-in-law's farm and raised a fine crop of tobacco on the three 
acres that he planted to that shrub. Mr. Walker was so encouraged 
by his success as a crop-grower that in the following year he bought 
a tract of land on credit, and he still owns that very farm, which he 
paid for long ago. Fortune smiled on his every effort, and he has 
since bought many other pieces of property, having at one time title 
to one thousand acres, a part of which he has sold, although he now 
owns three valuable farming estates in the vicinity of Galatia. For 
four years Mr. Walker resided in Harrisburg, where he bought houses 
and land, and having laid out Walker's addition to that city made 
thousands of dollars in a few months in the rise of property. On 
returning to his old home in Galatia, Mr. Walker at first operated 
extensively in real estate for Weber Brothers, later having charge of 
the yards of the Galatia Lumber Company, which he subsequently 
bought. Selling his lumber interests, he again became a dealer in 
real estate and purchased all the land included in a block and erected 
a large building, including the Galatia Opera House. 

An active worker in the Republican ranks, Mr. Walker was elected 
justice of the peace in a Democratic stronghold, and filled the office 
with credit to himself and to the honor of his constituents. In 1S98 
he was elected county treasurer of Saline county, on the Republican 
ticket, the election being won by a close margin, and for four years 
resided in Harrisburg, as previously mentioned. 

Mr. Walker married, September 25, 1884, Savilla Johnson, who 
was born and reared in Saline county, being the only child of W. A. 
and Caroline (Cleveland) Johnson. Her father was born seventy-six 
years ago near his present home in Galatia. Mr. and Mrs. Walker 
have two children, namely : H. R. Walker, of Harrisburg, of whom a 
brief sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume ; and Maude, a 
graduate of Ewing College, and now a music teacher, lives with her 
parents. Fraternally Mr. Walker is a member of the Ancient Free 
and Accepted Order of Masons, belonging to the Blue Lodge, at 
Harrisburg, and to the Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, at Harrisburg ; 
and he also belongs to the lodge of Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks at Harrisburg. Religiously he is a member of the Missionary 
Baptist church. 

GEORGE W. FILLERS. In the great political upheaval that has swept 
the country from end to end a man may confess with pride that he is 
mayor of his town, or it may be that he is mayor to his shame, for 
during the last few years the forces that have been pitted one against 
the other have been those of "Good Government" and of the ma- 
chine. Therefore it is with pride that the citizens of Pinckneyville 
point to their executive head, George W. Fillers, for he was the leader 
of this modern progressive movement, and the triumph of his party 
came only after a hard fight. George W. Fillers is not a politician, 
he is a plain business man who has no patience with the wiles and 



836 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

tricks by which the professional politician wins his way into the con- 
fidence of the people. He stands for honesty and openness, and be- 
lieves in the practicality of that doctrine that is supposed to have 
died a natural death years ago from disuse, that is, a government of 
the people, by the people, and for the people. 

George W. Fillers was born on the llth of September, 1876, four 
miles south of Sparta, Illinois. He is a descendant of one of the 
earliest settlers of Randolph county, where his father and his father's 
father were born and lived. His grandfather was Peter W. Fillers, 
the son of James M., the founder of the Fillers family in Illinois. 
This old pioneer was from Kentucky and settled near old Kaskaskia 
about 1873. Here he passed the remainder of his life, as a farmer, 
and he now lies buried not far from the scene of his labors. His son 
Peter W. followed in his father's steps and devoted his life to farm- 
ing and the raising of stock in a small way. His death occurred in 
April, 1890, near Sparta. Peter W. Fillers was married to Jane M. 
Wilson, a daughter of another pioneer of Randolph county. She is 
still living, and resides with her children in Sparta, Illinois. The 
children of this couple were James M. ; Henry C., of Sparta, who, fol- 
lowing inherited instincts, is a farmer and stock-raiser; Charles E., of 
Denver, Colorado ; Ada and Albert, both living in Sparta ; Scenic, 
the wife of William Graham, of St. Louis ; and Aldo, a teacher in the 
Sparta public schools. 

James M. Fillers, the eldest of these children, is the father of 
George W. He was born on the 2nd of March, 1854, in Randolph 
county, and passed his youth near Sparta. His education was re- 
ceived mainly at the schools of Sparta, and he graduated from the 
high school of that city. He showed his independence by starting 
out as a merchant in Steeleville, soon after the completion of his 
school life. He also was in the hotel business there, but the greater 
part of his life has been spent in planting and harvesting his crops 
and in breeding the fine horses and cattle for which his farm is well 
known. He is actively identified with the community about Steele- 
ville, and is one of the leading men of his section. 

James M. Fillers married Emma M. Garven, who was a daughter 
of George Garven. The latter was a farmer near Sparta, and hailed 
from the land of the thistle. Perchance it is this Scotch strain in 
Mayor Fillers' blood that makes him so intolerant of oppression, and 
so insistent upon the rights that every man should possess for him- 
self. Mrs. Fillers died on the 1st of October, 1911, leaving two sons, 
George W., of Pinckneyville, and James M., Jr., a member of a drug 
firm in the same city, and one daughter Rose G., who also lives in 
Pinckneyville. 

George W. Fillers spent a childhood much like that of any other 
boy going reluctantly to school, doing chores on the farm, gazing 
with longing eyes after the circus wagons, when they left after their 
annual visits, and registering a vow that when he grew up he was 
going to be a clown. The ambition died, however, and by the time he 
was through school he was willing to become that much prosaic and 
perhaps more comfortable thing, a druggist. He entered Dr. Robin- 
son's drug store at Stillwell, Illinois, and remained here until 1898, by 
which time he had mastered the business and was fully prepared as 
a practical pharmacist. Returning to Pinckneyville, he became the 
moving spirit in the establishment of the drug business which bears 
the family name, father and sons being equally interested. The 
name of the firm is James M. Fillers and Sons, and they handle a 
large amount of business. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 837 

The manifestly sincere and earnest citizenship of George "W. 
Fillers won the confidence of the Piiickneyville populace and he was 
obviously the man for whom they were looking to head the ticket of 
the "Good Government" party in 1909. He accepted the candidacy 
and was elected mayor in April of that year, as the successor of "W. 
W. Sims. Two years later he was re-elected and his administration 
is everything that the people of Pinckneyville had hoped for. He 
and all of his family are Republicans, but they have never been poli- 
ticians. He is eager to modernize the facilities of Pinckneyville and 
make of it an up-to-date town, as was evidenced by the enthusiasm 
with which he entered into the project of a local telephone company. 
He was not only one of the promoters of the Pinckneyville Telephone 
Company, but is at present its secretary and treasurer. 

On the 15th of November, 1905, Mr. Fillers celebrated his mar- 
riage with Carrie Gilster, a daughter of the late Louis H. Gilster, one 
of the most prominent business men of Chester. He was a pioneer 
merchant, and held large interests in various financial concerns, being 
a well known banker of Chester at the time of his death. Mr. and 
Mrs. Fillers have one child, Marion C. 

PLEASANT N. POPE has had an active career in the commercial and 
financial world of DuQuoin. He was in the banking business as one 
of its pioneers, as a member of the banking house of Horn and Pope, 
and when the organization of the First National Bank was under con- 
sideration he was one of the leading spirits, afterwards acting as its 
first president and holding this office for nineteen years. He has 
added much to the prosperity of the city, for he is ever on guard to 
protect her interests and to stimulate her growth in size and wealth. 

Pleasant N. Pope is a member of one of the pioneer families of 
Illinois, his father haying settled on Pope's Prairie about 1817, and 
here the son was born, at Pope's Prairie, Franklin county, on the 26th 
of September, 1838. His father was Dr. Benjamin "W. Pope, and the 
spot on which he settled afterwards became the site of the town of 
Zeigler. Dr. Pope was reared in the humble home of a farmer, and 
devoted his life to his profession, caring little or nothing about poli- 
tics. He married Miss Sarah L. Read, whose father was a settler in 
Illinois from Tennessee. He and his wife were members of the Chris- 
tian church, and his family were brought up in this faith. Dr. Pope 
was born in 1806 and died in 1882, having lost his wife when she was 
a young woman, in 1846. Pleasant N. Pope was the 'sixth child of his 
parents. 

As a boy he received a liberal education from the country schools 
and from the public schools of Benton, Illinois. He grew up on the 
farm, and as usual with boys reared in the country the life of the 
town and particularly of its merchant class attracted him. Therefore 
he came to DuQuoin and engaged in merchandising, becoming a pros- 
perous young merchant. He started in this business at the age of 
twenty and remained in it for a dozen years, then, until 1871, he was 
engaged in the grain business. At this time his mind was turned to- 
ward the financial world and he concluded to go into partnership 
with Henry Horn, thus forming the firm of Horn and Pope, bankers. 
It flourished for ten years and then was dissolved, Mr. Pope going 
back into the grain business for a brief period before again entering 
the si)here of finance. This happened with the birth of the First Na- 
tional Bank in 1892, when he was made its chief officer, serving in 
this capacity until his retirement in 1911. The First National Bank 
of DuQuoin was chartered for twenty years with a capital stock of 



838 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

fifty thousand dollars, and so prosperous was it under the regime of 
Mr. Pope, that when a second charter was applied for its surplus was 
one and a half times as much as its capital stock. The present officers 
of the institution are H. C. Miller, president ; W. R. Kinzey, cashier ; 
and S. B. Eaton, vice-president. Mr. Pope is still a member of its 
official board. 

The patriotic spirit that was to be found everywhere in the coun 
try in the year of 1864 seized Pleasant Pope and he joined Company 
A of the One Hundred and Thirty -sixth Illinois Infantry, receiving a 
commission as second lieutenant. The company was under the com 
mand of Captain William Bowlsby and belonged to the regiment com- 
manded by Colonel F. A. Johns. It rendezvoused at Centralia, re- 
maining there until ordered to the front at Hickman, Kentucky. 
Here weary weeks of camp life passed until finally orders came to go 
to St. Louis to help check the advance of General Price's army into 
Missouri. Another delightful period of camp life ensued, and when 
autumn came the whole regiment was mustered out at Springfield, 
Illinois, without having seen so much as the tail of a gray coat. After 
this exciting experience with military life, Mr. Pope's enthusiasm 
for such a career is not overwhelming. 

Mr. Pope's interest in politics has been that of a wide-awake citi- 
zen, not of a politician. His father being a Democrat, he was reared 
under the influence of its tenets but believes, as most thinking men 
throughout the country today are coming to believe, that it is now a 
case of men, not parties. In 1896 he voted for McKinley instead of 
Bryan, and has held aloof from the wild-eyed and chimerical policies 
that have seemed to have his party in their embrace for a time. He 
has taken considerable pride in the building up of his home city and 
has contributed substantially to this progress in the erection of his 
own handsome residence and as one of the builders of the Saint 
Nicholas Hotel. Outside of the city his real estate interest in Illinois 
lands has grown to be considerable. Mr. Pope has been actively iden- 
tified with fraternalism for many years, being in Masonry a member 
of the lodge and of the local chapter, as well as belonging to the order 
of the Eastern Star, and he has held the treasuryship of all three of 
these for a very long time. In religious matters he and his family 
are identified with the Christian church. 

On the llth of February, 1866, Mr. Pope was married in DuQuoin 
to Miss Eliza Pierce, a daughter of Captain W. J. Pierce, who died in 
the service of his country. Mrs. Pope was born in Franklin county 
and died on the anniversary of her marriage in 1880. She was the 
mother of Ernest H., a locomotive engineer running on the Illinois 
Central out of East St. Louis; William E., ; Clarence E., who grad- 
uated from Eureka College and later from the law department of the 
University of Michigan, and is now a prominent member of the legal 
profession in East St. Louis ; and Kate, who is the wife of F. M. Dean, 
of East St. Louis. In August, 1882. Mr. Pope married for the second 
time, his wife being Miss Ellen J. McClure, a daughter of G. Y. Mc- 
Clure, of DuQuoin. They have three daughters. Lillian M.. who is 
the wife of Dr. W. H. Alvis, of Benton, Illinois, and Edith and Emily. 

Successful as a business man and as a financier, Mr. Pope is like- 
wise successful in the art of winning and keeping friends. The same 
sincerity which won him the confidence of his business associates has 
made him a valued friend, and the cool head and clear brain that 
could manipulate the finances of a banking institution so successfully 
are often called into requisition to assist a friend, or perhaps utter 
stranger, in some perplexity. The pleasant, tactful manner with which 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 839 

Mr. Pope greets all alike is not the veneer of a scheming nature 
working for its own ends, but is a symbol of the true and honorable 
character that has endeared Mr. Pope to all who know him. 

JOSEPH W. TOWLE. Prominent among the early and honored pio- 
neers of Harrisburg was the late Joseph W. Towle, who was an active 
factor in developing and advancing the material interests of this section 
of Saline county, having for a full quarter of a century carried on an 
extensive business as junior member of the firm of Mitchell & Towle, 
general merchants. A son of Israel D. Towle, he was born April 9, 
1838, in Equality, Gallatin county, Illinois. He was a lineal 
descendant in the sixth generation of Philip Towle, the immigrant an- 
cestor, who was born, it is supposed, in Ireland, the family name on 
the other side of the Atlantic having been O'Toole. Philip Towle was 
for many years a resident of what is now Hampton, New Hampshire, 
where he reared several sons, four of whom took part in King William 'a 
wars. The line of descent was continued through Benjamin Towle, 
born in 1669 ; Benjamin Towle, born in 1713 ; and Jacob Towle, born in 
1744, who spent a large part of his early life in Loudon, New Hamp- 
shire, but subsequently removed to Danville, Vermont, where he spent 
his remaining years. 

Born in Loudon, Merrimack county, New Hampshire, April 13, 1787, 
Israel D. Towle served as a soldier in the war of 1812. About 1831 or 
1832 he migrated with his family to Gallatin county, Illinois, locating 
at Equality, where he became a citizen of prominence and influence, 
remaining there until his death, April 3, 1875, at a ripe old age. Active 
in religious and fraternal circles, he was one of the petitioners for the 
organization of the Presbyterian church of Harrisburg, and a charter 
member of its Masonic Lodge. He married, in Greenboro, New York, 
in 1816, Eliza Pearce, who was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, in 
October, 1798, and died July 20, 1876. in Illinois. 

Brought up and educated in Gallatin county, Illinois, Joseph W. 
Towle began life for himself as a clerk, and while yet a young man ob- 
tained a practical insight in regard to the details of the mercantile trade. 
Locating in Harrisburg, Saline county, he embarked in business on his 
own account, and for twenty-five years was in partnership with Dr. 
Mitchell, under the firm name of Mitchell & Towle building up a large 
business as a general merchant. He was also one of the pioneers in the 
development of the coal interests of Southern Illinois, which his keen 
foresight told him would become one of the leading industries of this 
section of the state. A cripple throughout his life, Mr. Towle was un- 
able to serve his country during the Civil war, and was never an as- 
pirant for political honors, his business requiring his entire time and 
attention. 

Mr. Towle married. May 26, 1867, at McLeansboro, Illinois, Minerva 
J. Rathbone, who was born in that city April 7, 1839, a daughter of Dr. 
Lorenzo Rathbone, and niece of Dr. Valentine Rathbone, of whom a 
brief sketch may be found on another page of this work. Dr. Rathbone 
was for many years engaged in the practice of medicine at McLeansboro, 
living there until his death, November 25, 1885, at the venerable age of 
eighty-four years and nine months. He belonged to the Rathbone 
family of England that was prominent in the mercantile affairs of 
Liverpool for upwards of two hundred years, and was also active in 
military affairs. Captain John Rathbone, one of his ancestors, took 
an active part in the Revolutionary war, having had command of the 
sloop "Providence," while in the war of 1812 he was a large contributor 
towards the general fund raised for paying expenses. About 1820 Dr. 



840 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Lorenzo Rathbone began the practice of medicine in McLeansboro, and 
in addition to his work as a physician and surgeon was a preacher in 
the Presbyterian church. He married, in 1824, Pamelia Anderson, who 
outlived him a few years. 

Mrs. Towle is still living in Harrisburg. Of the four children born 
of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Towle one son and one daughter have 
passed to the life beyond, and two sons are living, namely : Ralph S., 
engaged in the real estate business at Louisville, Kentucky, and Her- 
man T. 

Herman T. Towle was for several years engaged in the mercantile 
business with his brother Ralph, to whom he subsequently sold his in- 
terests in the general store which they conducted in partnership. In 
1904 Mr. Herman T. Towle embarked in the clothing business in Harris- 
burg, and has since built up a thriving trade, carrying in his well- 
equipped store a large and varied stock of fine goods. He married, in 
1900, Loudene Karnes, of Galatia, Saline county, a daughter of J. W. 
Karnes, a retired agriculturist, and into their pleasant home three chil- 
dren have been born, Bernice, John Warren and Herman Edwin. 

VINCENT A. STOOKEY. English people often pity Americans because 
they have no traditions, that is from their point of view. They are in- 
clined to think that a man who does not live on land owned by his father 
and his father's father before him as rather a poor creature after all. 
Our sole defense is that it is much more interesting to be of the genera- 
tion who are making traditions than of those who are preserving them, 
but, nevertheless, we have some families who have lived in the same spot 
for generations. Just as the English regard the whole American race, 
so do the people of Massachusetts look upon the Middle West, but here 
is Vincent A. Stookey, now past his three score and ten, who was born 
near the old log cabin that his pioneer grandfather erected when one 
could step from its door right into the forest primeval. He is one of 
the few men of his age whose parents were natives of the state of Illi- 
nois, and he has much the same feeling for the old log cabin, that is still 
standing half a mile east of Belleville, as the English cottager has for 
the rose covered cottage of his forebears. When the word "traditions'' 
is mentioned, one immediately thinks of sleepy villages where nothing 
ever happens, and where business is carried on just as it was in the 
past century. One would laugh could he associate this picture with 
Mr. Stookey, however, for no more wide-awake, energetic man ever ex- 
isted. That is the way Americans manage things, instead of allowing 
their family tree to enwrap them in its branches, they use it on which to 
climb upward. 

Vincent A. Stookey is the son of Aaron Stookey, who was born in 
the log cabin that was mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The 
father of Aaron Stookey was Daniel Stookey. He was born in Baltimore, 
Maryland, in 1769, thus being the same age as the first Napoleon. From 
Maryland he went to Virginia and thence came to Illinois, settling in 
Saint Glair county in 1802. He devoted all of his time to agriculture, 
though in those days agriculture included almost everything. A man not 
only had to cut down trees, build houses and manufacture tables and 
chairs, but he had to be his own doctor, miller and shoemaker. Daniel 
Stookey must have possessed great strength of character, for he was evi- 
dently a man of force among his neighbors. He was a Jackson Democrat 
and is supposed to have been one of the presidential electors who put "Old 
Hickory" in the White House in 1832. He married" Barbara Whetstone 
and died in 1835, while his wife survived him a number of years, dying 
in 1849. Their children numbered nine. Simon followed his father's 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 841 

vocation, living on the old homestead, where he died in 1850, leaving a 
son to prepetuate his name ; Moses spent his life in a similar manner 
and is now buried in the old Stookey cemetery at Belleville ; Sarah be- 
came the wife of Samuel Anderson and died near the old home in 1838 ; 
Daniel did not go far from the original rooftree and left a large family 
when he died ; Aaron ; Samuel was a farmer and stock buyer and left 
several children at his death ; Elijah was also a farmer ; Mary married 
Joseph Ocherman and died in northern Missouri ; and George W. reared 
his family in the old homestead, near which place he now lies buried. 

Aaron Stookey was born near Belleville in September, 1808. He 
grew up with only such an education as he could obtain from the scanty 
sources at his command. He was commissioned a lieutenant in a state 
regiment raised for service in the Black Hawk war and was in the same 
command as Jefferson Davis. Aaron Stookey lived the industrious life 
of the heroes of America who, with the passing of the frontier, are no 
more. One can but wish that they might see the result of the work they 
did so simply and so unconscious that they were doing a great work. 
He took considerable interest in the exciting political affrays of the 
ante-bellum days, and sided with the Democratic party. The issue 
which brought about the war between the states caused him to turn 
from his allegiance and enroll himself under the standard of the Re- 
publican party, holding to this political faith until his death. His wife 
was Margaret Miller, a daughter of William Miller, who came to Belle- 
ville from Virginia and settled here in company with the elder Stookey. 
Mrs. Stookey was a year the junior of her husband, thus being the age 
of Abraham Lincoln, while Mr. Stookey was the same age as Jefferson 
Davis. She died in 1892, and her children were Albert H., who died 
on the Pea Ridge battle ground of Arkansas, in March, 1862 ; Vincent 
A.; Caroline, who died unmarried; William W., of Lexington, Nebraska; 
Lewis C. and Edward D., of Belleville, Illinois. Albert H. was a mem- 
ber of the Fifty-ninth Illinois Regiment, but was first mustered into the 
Ninth Missouri. 

Vincent A. Stookey was born near the old homestead, near Belle- 
ville, Illinois, on the 7th of April, 1835, and his environment precluded 
his acquiring more than a fair education. His elementary education 
was acquired in the subscription schools and he later attended Shurt- 
leff College, at Alton, Illinois. During his early manhood he did what- 
ever came to hand. He was a farmer, dealt in stock, and put in his 
unoccupied time teaching school. He went into the livery stable busi- 
ness -at Belleville the period of the Civil war, at which he was quite suc- 
cessful. After the war he moved from that section of the state and 
came to Perry county. Here in the year 1867 he located on a farm and 
became identified with agriculture and the related industries. He re- 
mained here until 1893, when he moved to Pinckneyville. He had 
previously established his son here in business, and when he came to the 
city he went into the business world himself. His first venture was in 
the mercantile line as a dealer in Hardware, and still later he entered 
the manufacturing industry as a maker of breaking plows. This 
modern well equipped little plant is still putting forth an article that 
the farmers of the country have learned to depend upon, knowing its 
real value. Recently he has established a general mercantile business 
at Buffalo, Arkansas, in the vicinity of which place he has mineral in- 
terests. He has placed his second son in charge of this store, and a 
thriving business is being done. 

Mr. Stookey was married at Waterloo, Monroe county, Illinois, on 
the 13th of December, 1866, to Miss Maria N. Wiswell. She was a 
daughter of Jesse and Sarah (Miller) Wiswell. Mr. Wiswell was a 



842 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

native of Boston. Mrs. Stookey died in Pinckneyville on the 17th of 
May, 1894, at the age of fifty. Mr. and Mrs. Stookey were the parents 
of three children, William D., who is associated with his father in busi- 
ness ; Carrie B. ; and Menard G. ; in charge of the store in Arkansas. 
Mr. Stookey is a Republican, but is content to do his part in the casting 
of his ballot, believing that the honest voter is as important an asset to 
the party as an honest office-holder, for upon one depends the other. 

JOSEPH WILBERN DAVIS. A man who has had an opportunity to give 
"a taste of his quality" in several capacities and who has made a 
satisfactory record in all of them in Joseph W. Davis, county clerk of 
Saline county. Elected to his present office in the fall of 1910, he 
assumed its duties at the beginning of the year 1911, and his services 
have proved a credit to himself and an honor to his constituents. 

Mr. Davis, who belongs to the younger generation ot citizenship, was 
born in Saline county, on the 30th day of April, 1882. He is the son 
of T. J. and Mary A. (Martin) Davis, natives of Tennessee. They 
came from east Tennessee in 1867 and became identified with the agri- 
cultural life of this part of the state of Illinois, the father being now 
retired from the more strenuous labors of his honored calling. The 
immediate subject of this brief review was reared on a farm in the 
vicinity of Harrisburg and taught in the public schools for the five 
years included between 1902 and 1907, his pedagogical services giving 
satisfaction to all concerned. In the year last mentioned Mr. Davis and 
his brother B. F. entered upon an entirely new line of endeavor by 
embarking in the merchantile business at Harrisburg. In a few 
months thereafter the business was transferred to Wasson, Illinois, and 
these two gentlemen conducted it in partnership until the subject was 
elected to his present office in the fall of 1910. Their mercantile busi- 
ness was of a thriving character and of the sort which contributes to 
the general welfare of the community. Mr. Davis has previously 
served the people in the capacity of assessor and justice of the peace, 
and gave efficient and faithful service as postmaster at Wasson from 
the time of the establishment of the office until his removal to Harris- 
burg. 

He married, July 6, 1904, Miss Sarah A. Hawkins, a daughter of 
Dr. Leroy Hawkins, a native of Saline county. Their three children 
are: Nina L., Kinneth L. and Champ W. Mr. Davis is a member of 
the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Ben Hur fraternities. Both he 
and his wife are members of the Baptist church at Wasson, and he is 
one of the deacons of the church. 

HON. REED GREEN. The legal fraternity of Cairo, Illinois, has 
among its members Hon. Reed Green, who has been conspicuously 
identified with the bar of that city and who stands prominently among 
the foremost citizens of this community. He is a son of the late Judge 
William H. Green, a distinguished lawyer of Southern Illinois, whose 
identity with the commonwealth began at an early period in his life, 
and whose citizenship marked him as a strong character and an able 
man. Palmer's Bench and Bar of Illinois says of him in part as fol- 
lows: 

"Judge William H. Green, of Cairo, in the most exacting of all pro- 
fessions has won distinguished honors, and as jurist, statesman or writer 
stands among the eminent men of Southern Illinois who have shaped the 
destiny of this section of the state and left the impress of their individ- 
uality for good upon the annals of the commonwealth. 

"A man's reputation is the property of the world. The laws of 



m LIBRARY 

OF THE 
ttWVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 843 

nature have forbidden isolation. Every human being submits to the 
controlling influence of others, or as a master yields a power for good or 
evil on the masses of mankind. There can be no impropriety in justly 
scanning the acts of any man as they affect his public, social and busi- 
ness relations. If he be honest and successful in his chosen field of en- 
deavor, investigation will brighten his fame and point the path along 
which others may follow with like success. 

"William H. Green was born in Danville, Boyle county, Kentucky, 
December 8, 1830, and is a worthy representative of a family whose an- 
cestral history is one of close connection with the development of Vir- 
ginia and Kentucky. His parents were Dr. Duff and Lucy (Kenton) 
Green, the former a most capable physician and scientist. His grand- 
father, Willis Green, was one of the pioneers of Kentucky and was the 
first delegate from the district of Kentucky to the Virginia legislature. 
He was also a soldier in the Continental army during the Revolutionary 
war and afterwards one of the pioneers of Kentucky and a delegate from 
the district of Kentucky to the Virginia legislature. The great-grand- 
father of Judge Green was General Duff Green, of Virginia, who mar- 
ried Anne Willis, who was the daughter of Colonel Henry Willis and 
Mildred Washington, who was an aunt to General George Washington. 
His ancestors were among the first settlers of Virginia and were ex- 
tensive land-owners in the Shenandoah valley. The mother of Judge 
Green was of Scotch descent and of the same family as the celebrated 
pioneer and Indian fighter, Simon Kenton, who was contemporary with 
Daniel Boone in the exploration of Kentucky. 

' ' William H. Green was educated in Center College of Danville, Ken- 
tucky, and he became a fair classical scholar. He has always been a 
profound student, an extensive reader of history and scientific works, 
and his range of thought and investigation has been most comprehensive. 
At the bar, in the field of politics and as a writer for the press he has 
manifested ability of a superior order, and his merit has won him high 
encomiums. While yet a boy he accompanied his parents on their re- 
moval to Illinois, the family locating in Mount Vernon, where Dr. Duff 
Green, his father, died and is buried. On the completion of his edu- 
cation the Judge successfully engaged in teaching in Benton and St. 
Louis counties, Missouri, and in Mount Vernon, Illinois. In the last 
named place he began reading law under the direction of Judge Walter 
B. Scates, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. Opening an office in 
Mount Vernon, he practiced there for a year, after which he removed 
to Metropolis, where he conducted a large and lucrative practice for ten 
years. Since 1863 he h'as been a resident of Cairo, and thirty years ago 
he formed a partnership with W. B. Gilbert, under the firm name of 
Green and Gilbert. Later Miles Frederick Gilbert, and his son, Reed 
Green, were admitted to a share in the business and the firm still con- 
tinues, and is now without a superior and has few equals at the bar in 
this section of the state. Judge Green is equally at home in all depart- 
ments of jurisprudence, making a strong, logical and forceful plea be- 
fore a jury in the trial of a criminal suit, or handling with masterful 
skill the intricate and complex problems of civil law. The greatest 
characteristic of his mind is strength, his predominant faculty is reason 
and the aim of his eloquence is to convince. 

"In 1865 he was elected judge of the third judicial district, and for 
three years served upon the bench. During the past twenty-five years 
he has been the principal council for the Illinois Central Railroad Com- 
pany in Southern Illinois, and he is now district attorney for that com- 
pany. He has twice represented his district in the state legislature, as 
a member of the house, and once in the senate. While acting as a repre- 
sentative he was chairman of the judiciary committee, having been ap- 



844 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

pointed by the speaker, Hon. W. R. Morrison. He was a very prom- 
inent member of the house and did not a little towards moulding the 
public policy of the state at that period. For more than thirty-six years 
he has been a member of the state board of education, and his labors 
have been most effective and commendable in advancing the standard 
of his schools of Illinois. He has six times been a delegate to the na- 
tional convention of the Democratic party, when its sessions were held 
in Charleston, Chicago, New York, Cincinnati and St. Louis. He has 
served eight years as a member of the state central committee and for 
over twelve years chairman of the district central committee of his 
party. He has been a most important factor in its management and is 
a recognized leader in its ranks in Illinois. He has been a frequent con- 
tributor to the press and is a fluent and entertaining writer. In the 
various walks of life in which he has been seen, political, professional 
and social, he has attained a conspicuous position that has been a tribute 
to his superior talents and high personal worth." 

The birth of Reed Green occurred in Mount Vernon, Illinois, Septem- 
ber 22, 1866, and as a young child he came to Cairo with his parents. 
He passed through the grades of the public schools, following which he 
attended the Northern Illinois Normal University near Bloomington and 
then the Southern Illinois Normal University at Carbondale. When 
he left school he spent two years in the country districts as a teacher, 
after which he began reading law and in 1887 he was graduated from 
the law school at Bloomington. Immediately upon his graduation he 
became a member of the law firm of Green & Gilbert, in Cairo, his father 
being the head of the firm established there in 1869, and this profes- 
sional connection continued until in 1902, when he decided to open an 
office for himself, and in conducting a practice on his own merits he has 
proved himself to be the worthy son of an able father. 

The political history of Hon. Reed Green shows him to have taken 
a modest part in the political contests of Alexander county in the past 
as a Democrat. In 1888 he was elected to the general assembly. Two 
years later he was returned to the house and in that body was made 
chairman of the election committee, having under consideration the 
Australian Ballot Bill, upon which that committee reported favorably 
to the house and the bill became a law. He was a member of the judi- 
ciary committees of both sessions and as a member of the appropria- 
tions committee he was the means of securing an appropriation for a 
new building for the Southern Illinois Normal. He lent his influence 
and aid to the candidacy of General Palmer for the United States senate 
and saw him elected. In 1902 he was sent to the senate of the state 
by election from his district and in that body was chairman of the com- 
mittee on municipal corporations. On the expiration of his term in 
1896 he retired from politics, and since that time he has devoted himself 
assiduously to his profession. His active interest in education in all its 
phases is indicated by his connection with the public schools as a member 
of the board of education and by his membership on the official board of 
the public library. He was one of the charter members of the First 
Bank and Trust Company, and has been a director since its organiza- 
tion. 

Mr. Green was married to Mrs. Lula Ellis on December 21, 1910, in 
Cairo. 

WILLIAM H. PARISH, the oldest attorney at law of Harrisburg, Illi- 
nois, enjoys the distinction of being the nestor of the Southern Illinois 
bar. Now in the octogenarian ranks, his mind remains active and his 
judgment keen. A resume of his life is as follows : 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 845 

William II. Parish was born September 26, 1827, on a farm four 
miles from Danville, Vermilion county, Illinois, a son of Joshua and 
Sarah (Morgan) Parish. His paternal ancestor in this country landed 
here as a Dutch immigrant, and his maternal ancestors were among 
the early settlers of Hartford, Connecticut. One of his forefathers, 
David Morgan, was one of three brothers, and was a noted hunter 
and fighter. In one day he killed the last three Indians who ever raided 
on the warpath into the Panhandle of West Virginia, where he died 
at the age of one hundred and twenty years. 

As early as 1819 the Parish family settled at Palestine, Crawford 
county, Illinois, and a few years later removed from there to Vermilion 
county, where Joshua Parish spent a long and honorable life, his age 
at death being ninety-seven years. His good wife was sixty years of 
age at the time of her death. She was a woman of much culture and 
education, and such was her wonderful memory that on her death bed 
was able to repeat the whole of Pope's translation of Homer's Iliad. 

Joshua Parish in the early days often served as a juror, and he 
sometimes took with him to the court at Danville his little son William 
H., whose recollection of and friendship for Abraham Lincoln dates 
from those visits. Lincoln made a marked impression not only upon 
the youth but also upon the father, and the latter predicted at that 
time that if whiskey didn't kill Lincoln's abilities he would be heard 
from in important manner in future years. This early impresson made 
at the court by that great man had much to do in determining young 
Parish to read law, which he began in the evening by the home fire- 
side and at the noon hour while he was still at work in his father's 
fields. As a boy he made rapid strides in his school work. At the age 
of nine years he had mastered the arithmetic as far as the "double 
rule of three," and as showing the maturity of his mental faculties at 
that early age, it may be stated that when he was ten years old he 
devolved a rule for solving problems in compound proportion, the 
merit of which was at once recognized. Text books soon oppeared 
which incorporated this rule, and up to the present time it has con- 
tinued to be accepted. The early maturity of his reasoning powers, 
together with the wonderful memory which he inherited from his 
mother, made the study of law easy for him, and he was licensed to 
practice when in his twentieth year. 

In 1847, having purchased from an attorney at Benton, Illinois, a 
law library, young Parish entered upon the practice of his profession 
at that place. It was about this time that Raleigh was made the county 
seat of Saline county, and Mr. Parish was asked by the circuit judge 
to instruct the newly appointed circuit clerk in his duties. Thus it was 
that on April 8, 1848, he found himself in Raleigh, and, there being 
no other lawyer in the town, he soon decided to remain there. Several 
cases were set for trial, and he was employed in some of them. He 
was successful in these early cases and he soon had all he could do in 
the legal line. Today there is not an attorney in this county that was 
born when he began his practice, and there are but few men, if indeed 
there are any, in Illinois who have had such a long and honorable 
career in this profession as has William H. Parish. 

For some years, in company with Robert S. Stinton, Mr. Parish 
was interested in operating a store at Raleigh. About the close of the 
Civil war he removed to a farm in Saline county, and for a period of 
eleven years his attention was given chiefly to agricultural pursuits. 
Some thirty years ago he came to Harrisburg and entered into a part- 
nership for the practice of law with James M. Gregg, with whom he 
was associated until failing health caused Mr. Gregg to retire, and 



846 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

since that time he has been associated in practice with his son, John 
J. Parish. 

On December 24, 1850, "William H. Parish and Miss Mary Ann 
Choisser were united in marriage at the home of the bride, she being 
then eighteen years of age, and for sixty years they traveled life's 
pathway together. She was born on a farm in Saline county, and died 
at Harrisburg about two years ago. Her parents were John I. and 
Nancy (Sutton) Choisser, the former of French descent and the latter 
of Welsh. They were married in 1809 at Shawneetown. For years 
Mrs. Parish's father was a keelboatman on the Ohio river. During the 
war of 1812 he carried the wife of the commander of the port at New 
Orleans in a keelboat down the Mississippi river, and was on the river 
at the .time of the memorable earthquake in that locality, which drove 
his boat up the river. The latter part of his life was spent on a farm 
in Saline county. He died at Raleigh, this county, about 1865. 

Soon after the outbreak of Civil war, Mr. Parish assisted in raising 
a company in Saline county, of which he was chosen captain, and as 
such was sent to Cairo in the brigade of General John M. McClernand. 
General Grant, noting the effect of that climate upon Captain Parish, 
urged his discharge. After recuperation at home, Captain Parish 
again sought the service, and by General Grant was placed in command 
of the escort to deliver at Columbus, Kentucky, the exchanged Con- 
federate officers from Jefferson Barracks; and while doing so he met 
the Confederate Generals Chatham and Pope. 

Captain Parish was reared a Whig, and adhered to that party as 
long as it existed. After the birth of the new Republican party he 
gave to it his co-operation and ardent support, and has affiliated with 
it ever since. While he was ever alive to public needs and questions, 
it was his preference to confine his attention to his practice rather than 
to engage in an active political career. The time came, however, when 
he was appealed to to become a candidate for the State Senate, the in- 
itial influence coming from organizations of farmers' clubs with in- 
dependence from the political parties. An interesting though not bit- 
ter campaign ensued, in which he took an active part, his speeches at 
each appearance creating friends and votes. His election followed. 
Soon he was accorded recognition in the Senate, and it was not long 
before he and a handful of similar members held the balance of power. 
Among the important positions he filled was a place on the committee 
on appropriations and also on the committee on geology and minerals, 
being chairman of the last named committee. During his second term 
for he was re-elected to the Senate his position in the election of 
United States Senator put David Davis in the United States Senate 
and Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House. Votes were cast for 
Senator Parish for United States Senator, and it was his own strength 
turned to Davis that elected him, and on the famous Electoral Com- 
mission of 1876 it was Senator Davis who cast the deciding vote, thus 
giving the presidency to Hayes. 

For years Mr. Parish has been regarded as the best consulting law- 
yer in Southern Illinois. Close reading and clear reasoning, together 
with a retentive mind, have peculiarly fitted him for legal work, and 
now in ripe age, with faculties unimpaired, his counsel is still sought 
and his judgment held in high esteem. It can well be said : 
"Praise from a friend or censure from a foe, 
"Are lost on those who his merits know." 

JOHN J. PARISH. Among the prominent members of the Harrisburg 
bar and leading and influential citizens of the town is John J. Parish, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 847 

who for nearly thirty years has been associated in the practice of law 
with his honored and now venerable father, William H. Parish, of 
whom extended mention is made on another page of this volume. 

John J. Parish was born at Raleigh, Saline county, Illinois, Sep- 
tember 13, 1851, second in a family of eight sons. He was one of the 
first students at the State University, Champaign, Illinois; but on ac- 
count of some financial reverses sustained by his father at the time he 
was unable to complete his course at the . university. So at sixteen he 
returned home, and during the several years which followed his time 
was divided between teaching country school and working on his father's 
farm. He read law under his father's instructions, and in 1877 was 
admitted to the bar. In December, 1879, he came to Harrisburg, where 
he has since been engaged in the practice of law, for several years be- 
ing associated with his brother, D. W. Parish. He was state's attorney 
from 1884 to 1888, and for the past twenty-eight years with his father, 
as already stated. He has excelled as a criminal lawyer. He tried thir- 
teen murder cases in fourteen months, and he has been identified, on 
one side or the other, with many important criminal cases that have 
come up for trial here in the past thirty years. 

While he has never been a campaigner or in any way active in pol- 
itics, Mr. Parish has always affiliated with the Democratic party, and 
three times has cast his vote for William J. Bryan for president. 

Mr. Parish has large real estate interests, owning both town and farm 
property. He has laid out four additions to Harrisburg, three of which 
bear his name. Also for years he has been interested in mining opera- 
tions, having been identified with three coal companies, and still having 
royalties from coal lands. 

Mr. Parish married, in 1880, Miss Anna F. Laud, daughter of Rob- 
ert Laud, and they have four children, Bessie, Robert, Chaney and 
John J., Jr., all at home. 

Fraternally Mr. Parish has long been identified with the Masonic 
order, in which he has attained high degree. He is a Knight Templar 
and has received the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite ; also has 
received the degrees of the Mystic Shrine. He maintains membership 
in the Oriental Consistory of Chicago, and in the Commandery at Me- 
tropolis. 

ALVA R. DRY. There is perhaps no family is Southern Illinois that 
has done more in the way of pioneer settling of the state, or that has 
contributed more to the process of first civilizing, then settling, modern- 
izing and upbuilding of the commonwealth than has the family of Dry. 
Representatives of this fine old family have been identified with the 
history of Southern Illinois since the days previous to the statehood of 
this section, when all was wilderness, or, as it has been so aptly ex- 
pressed, "When Wilderness was King." They have given their lives 
to the advancement of the state in every good thing, and since Illinois 
was admitted to the Union members of the Dry family have been found 
in every generation contributing in divers ways to the best interests 
of the community in which they have lived, and adding their full quota 
to the varied lines of industry with which they have been connected. 
The splendid characteristics prevailing in this old and honored family 
have been of an order that has always been felt in the raising of stand- 
ards of citizenship, and in the furtherance of all movements for the best 
good of the communal life. 

John Dry, the great-grandfather of our subject, was the first of the 
family to settle in that section of the country now known as Southern 
Illinois, although for many generations the family had been identified 



848 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

with the history of the Carolinas, John Dry coming to Illinois from 
Cabarrus county, North Carolina. He located in the neighborhood of 
where the city of Pinckneyville later materialized, and where his chil- 
dren and his grandchildren reared their families. He passed his life 
as a toiler among the ranks of the sturdy pioneers of his time, and died 
full of years, leaving a worthy name as the heritage of his children. 
Among his issue was Edmund, the grandfather of Alva Dry. Edmund 
Dry was born in Perry county and his life was much the same as that 
of his parent, but for his experience in the Mexican war. He passed his 
life in what was known as the Dry community, living to a good old age 
and passing away there in 1898. His wife was Nancy Harris, a sister 
of Reverend J. Carroll Harris and a daughter of Jonathan Harris, whose 
father was one of the older pioneers of Perry county and for years a 
successful farmer here. Edmund Dry and his wife were the parents of 
the following named children : Robert, of DuQuoin,- Illinois ; Jackson 
J., the father of our subject ; Esculania, the wife of L. H. Campbell, of 
Pinckneyville; Julia, married to John Cooper and living at Hoxie, 
Arkansas; M. C. of Sunfleld, Illinois; J. Wilshire, a farmer of Perry 
county; Addie, the wife of James Sawyer, of this county; and Mary, 
now Mrs. Charles Noward, of Pinckneyville. 

Jackson J. Dry came to young manhood in the environments of 
country life, and acquired a creditable education for the youth of his 
time. He took up the occupation of a farmer, in which he had been 
early trained. He married Margaret Noward, the daughter of Jacob 
Noward, of German extraction, an old settler in these parts and a black- 
smith-farmer for years. Of their union four children were born. They 
are Alva R., of this sketch ; Viva E., who married William Hester, of 
Perry county; Emma, wife of Charles Morganthaler, of this county; 
and George R. of San Francisco, California. Jackson J. Dry was born 
May 1, 1850, in Pinckneyville, and is still an honored resident of that 
place. 

The district schools and the high school of Pinckneyville gave to Alva 
R. Dry his earlier education. Following his graduation from the high 
school in 1893 the young man taught in the district schools of his com- 
munity for four years, after which he passed two years as a dealer in 
the farm implement business at Tamaroa, Illinois. He next entered the 
Indiana Normal University at Valparaiso and was graduated from its 
law department in 1903. He immediately opened an office in Pinckney- 
ville, and became a candidate the following year for the office of state 's 
attorney on the Republican ticket. He was elected to the office, and had 
the further distinction of succeeding himself thereto in 1908. The 
ordinary routine of the office of prosecutor have comprised the chief 
feature of his work during the past eight years, and he has filled the 
position in a manner highly creditable to one of his name and to his 
constituents. He is at all times alive to the demands and responsibilities 
of the position, and proved himself in every respect the right man for 
the place. Mr. Dry has attended the party conventions of his state and 
judicial district at various times, and thus has kept in touch with the 
real issues of Republicanism and the atmosphere of the party is wholly 
familiar to him. Mr. Dry is the present master of Mitchell lodge, No. 
85, of the Masonic fraternity and is also an Odd Fellow. 

On May 8, 1903, Mr. Dry married Miss Carrie M. Brown, in Valpa- 
raiso, Indiana. She is a daughter of John A. Brown, now a resident of 
Pinckneyville but formerly a resident of New Philadelphia, Ohio, where 
he was engaged in the marble and granite business for years, and was 
also interested in farming pursuits. Mr. and Mrs. Dry have two chil- 
dren, Vaille, six years old, and Maxine, born in 1910. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 849 

VALENTINE RATHBONE, M. D., and WALTER RALEIGH RATHBONE, his 
son, both deceased, were prominent and influential men in their day 
and place, and the name Rathbone is closely identified with the early 
history as well as with the later annals of Saline county, Illinois. 

Valentine Rathbone was born in Saratoga county, New York, 
February 25, 1816, son of Dr. John Rathbone, a representative of one 
of the oldest and wealthiest families of the Empire state. Dr. John 
Rathbone died at Elmira, New York, at the remarkable age of one hun- 
dred years. In his youth Valentine attended school at Cortland, and 
after leaving school spent nine years on a farm. In 1843 he came west 
to Illinois to join his brother, Dr. George Rathbone, who had settled at 
McLeansboro. A letter written by this brother in February of that 
year and received at Scipio, New York, a month later, speaks of the 
hard times: States being almost bankrupt, scarcity of specie and dis- 
couragement of everybody. But in the face of these conditions Valen- 
tine saw fit that fall to join his brother. Reaching McLeansboro, he 
took up the study of medicine in his brother's office, which he alter- 
nated with school teaching. Money being scarce, he took calves, sheep, 
hogs and other produce as his pay, and later he drove his stock to St. 
Louis, where he turned it into cash. He continued his medical studies 
at St. Louis, in the St. Louis Medical College, where he graduated with 
the class of 1851, after which he opened an office at Raleigh, then the 
county seat of Saline county, and in connection with the practice of his 
profession he conducted a drug store. He remained at Raleigh until 
1860, when he came to Harrisburg. Here for nearly forty years he 
made his home, up to the time of his death, February 2, 1898. He con- 
tinued in the drug business and in the practice of medicine, in which 
he was so successful that he ranked with the foremost citizens of the 
county, both by reason of the wealth he had accumulated and on account 
of his many estimable qualities as a man, a neighbor and friend. 

The year he graduated, 1851, he married Mrs. Lucinda Baker, nee 
Clayton, a native of Kentucky and at the time of their marriage a re- 
sident of Raleigh. She survived him several years. By her first hus- 
band she had two sons, Mitt and Neil Baker, and by Dr. Rathbone two 
sons, Walter Raleigh Rathbone and John V. Rathbone. The last named 
is now a confectioner of St. Louis, Missouri. 

Walter Raleigh Rathbone was born April 15, 1857, and died January 
10, 1904. His first business venture was as a merchant. About 1878 
he opened an abstract office, which he conducted for a number of years. 
His father owned a large amount of farm property as well as town 
realty, and to this, as the father grew older, the son gave attention. He 
erected the Harrisburg Opera House, which is still in the family, being 
owned by his son, Walter V. His own affairs and those of his father 
almost wholly occupied his time, and while he was public spirited he 
never sought public office. The only official position he ever filled was 
that of city clerk. In 1883 he married Miss Maude C. Parker, who 
came to Harrisburg with her parents when a girl. For a number of 
years her father was proprietor of the Parker House of this city. She 
is now the wife of Judge A. W. Lewis. Her children are Walter Valen- 
tine, Lucinda and Edith. Miss Lucinda is a music teacher of Harris- 
burg, and Edith, now the wife of W. W. Largent, Jr., is a resident of 
Portageville, Missouri. 

Walter Valentine Rathbone, bearing the names of both father and 
grandfather, succeeds them as a citizen in the town in which they lived 
and where he was born and reared. For the past five years he has been 
engaged in the clothing business, occupying one of the best buildings of 
the town. As already stated, he owns the opera house which his father 



850 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

built, and he also owns farm lands, which he rents. He has been a mem- 
ber of the School Board two years and is now its president. On Decem- 
ber 30, 1907, he married Miss Helene Oehm, of Mt. Vernon, Illinois. 

JOHN GEORGE TAFPEE. One of the more prominent men in public 
life of Perry county is John George Taffee, for many years foremost 
in the political life of his district, who has held numerous responsible 
offices of varied character, and is now masler-in-chancery at Pinck- 
neyville, as well as vice-president of the Murphy-Wall Bank & Trust 
Company, a leading banking house of Perry county and recognized as 
one of the stronger financial institutions of Southern Illinois. Until 
1910 Mr. Taffee had never been identified with any private business 
interests, his entire time being taken by the multiplicity of duties 
devolving upon him as the incumbent of public office, and while the 
city and county has been the gainer as a result of his singularity of 
interests, it is obvious to all that a man of Mr. Taffee 's sagacity and 
inherent business ability could not have failed to make a brilliant 
success of business life had he devoted himself to such endeavor. 

Born on October 10, 1854, at Chester, Illinois, Mr. Taffee is the 
son of George Taffee, who lived for years in Perry county and was 
coroner of the county at the time of his demise, when he was forty-five 
years of age. George Taffee was the founder of the family in Amer- 
ica. He was a native of Prussia and came to this country in his young 
life, here marrying in Randolph county Miss Sarah Schulze, who 
passed away at Pinckneyville, where the family home was early estab- 
lished. The issue of their union comprise two sons who were spared 
to reach years of maturity. They are Charles, who is in the employ 
of the state in the administration of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary 
at Chester, and John G., of Pinckneyville, and whose name introduces 
this review. 

All his life a native of Perry county, John G. Taffee received his 
early education in the schools of Chester. "When he had attained to 
years of young manhood he became employed as a clerk in Tamaroa, 
and he spent the ensuing years between that point and DuQuoin, for 
sometime as a clerk and later rising to a managership. Instead of 
entering business on his own responsibility, as his wide experience 
and natural ability so aptly fitted him, he permitted himself to be 
drawn into the toils of public life, and in 1894 he filled his first office 
when he was elected to the county clerkship of Perry county as the 
successor of R. G. Williams and a well known character of Perry 
county. He served two terms, as a result of re-election, and was 
then succeeded to the office by H. H. Ward, a Democrat, who died 
while in office, and Mr. Taffee was named to fill out his unexpired 
term of office. At the succeeding general election he was again the 
Republican candidate and was elected for the ensuing term. He was 
succeeded by a Democrat in 1910, and retired from public life after 
nearly fifteen years of service. 

Once more resuming private life. Mr. Taffee engaged in the insur- 
ance business, and was appointed master-in-chancery in 1911 by 
Judge Crow, of this judicial district. As previously noted, he is vice- 
president of the Murphy-Wall Bank & Trust Company, and is as- 
sistant to the cashier of that institution. Mr. Taffee has been active 
and prominent in the fraternity work of Pinckneyville. being a Blue 
Lodsre Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Modern Woodman and a member of 
the Court of Honor. In his religious affiliations he is connected with 
the Missionary Baptist church, and has for a number of years been 
treasurer of the Illinois State Association of the Baptist church. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 851 

Mr. Taffee has been twice married. His first marriage occurred 
on April 4, 1877, when Sarah Thompson became his wife. She was 
a daughter of J. Norton Thompson, of Tamaroa, Illinois. On the 
thirteenth anniversary of her wedding Mrs. Taffee was buried, leav- 
ing her husband and three children to mourn her untimely loss. Their 
children are : J. Norton, who is a department manager of a store in 
Kansas City, Missouri ; Charles, of Trinidad, Colorado ; and Lena, the 
wife of Lee Thedford, deputy county clerk of Perry county, and who 
lives in Pinckneyville. On September 16, 1894, Mr. Taffee married 
Mrs. Ellen McElvain, of DuQuoin, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Taffee have 
no children, but Mrs. Taffee is the mother of two daughters by her 
former marriage: Myrtle is the wife of L. J. Winters, of DuQuoin, 
and Lillian is Mrs. Arthur J. Eisfelder, of Pinckneyville. 

JOHN W. DYE. One of the successful and representative business 
men of Christopher, Franklin county, Illinois, is John W. Dye, one 
of the pioneer settlers of this place and now engaged in the flour 
milling business in partnership with T. P. Harrison. He was formerly 
engaged in banking and is indeed a man of varied interests, never 
having severed his connection with the great basic industry and 
owning a small but valuable farm, whose affairs he supervises. He 
is a native son of Franklin county and has given this district the 
greatest proof of loyalty within his power by choosing to make his 
permanent residence here. Mr. Dye's life story began on August 24, 
1866, in the western part of Six Mile township, his parents being 
David and Nancy (Royal) Dye. The father was also a native Illi- 
noisan, his eyes having first opened to the light of day in Perry 
county, in the year 1835. The mother was born in Jackson county, 
Tennessee, in 1835. David Dye was a farmer by occupation and was 
a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted at the beginning of the 
war in the One Hundred and Tenth Illinois Regiment and serving for 
three years previous to being captured in Georgia and incarcerated 
for two months in a southern prison, where he endured great hard- 
ships. He returned home after his honorable discharge at the close 
of the great conflict and there exchanged the musket for the plow- 
share. He remained upon his farm for the remainder of his days, his 
demise occuring on July 30, 1894. In politics he was a loyal adherent 
of the Republican party. David Dye was a son of Reuben Dye, the 
latter a native of North Carolina, born in 1808 and coming to this 
state as early as 1830. This pioneer settled on a farm in Perry county, 
but afterwards removed to Franklin county, where he bought a farm 
and made it his home until summoned to the Great Beyond in 1872. 
He was a Whig in politics and later, upon the formation of the party, 
a Republican. The maternal grandfather of the immediate subject 
of this review, James Royal, was born in Tennessee and came to Illi- 
nois in 1850, his daughter Nancy being at that time a young girl. 
Mr. Royal took up two hundred acres of land from the Government, 
paying for it at the rate of twenty-five cents an acre, and on this 
property he lived out the remainder of his life, witnessing in his day 
great development in this part of the state. 

John W. Dye received his education in the district school and also 
had the advantage of one term at Benton, when the schools at that 
place were under the enlightened direction of C. D. Threlkeld, one 
of the principal educators in the record of Franklin county. Mr. 
Dye began his career as a wage-earner as a teacher in the district 
schools, for five years filling the office of country pedagogue, with 
satisfaction to everybody concerned. He had absolutely nothing with 



852 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

which to start and has been the architect of his own fortunes, his 
success and present high standing being the logical result of indus- 
try, ability and good judgment. Until 1906 he worked upon a farm, 
but having saved a comfortable amount of money he decided to es- 
tablish himself upon a more independent footing and in 1908 he be- 
came the proprietor of the flour mill in Christopher in partnership 
with T. P. Harrison. The mill is conducted upon the most scientific 
principles and the Messrs. Dye and Harrison supply for the most part 
the local trade. 

Mr. Dye was united in marriage in 1892 to Mary Rich, daughter 
of Joel Rich, one of the early settlers of Franklin county, Mr. Rich 
being a well-known farmer. The death of the first Mrs. Dye, an 
estimable woman, occurred in 1897, and one child, a daughter Flor- 
ence, was left motherless. This daughter is now the wife of Ira 
Provert, who is engaged in the hardware business in Christopher. 
Mr. Dye was a second time married, in May, 1898, the lady to become 
his wife being Emma (Rea) Snyder, daughter of Frank Rea, one of 
Franklin county's early settlers. 

Mr. and Mrs. Dye are earnest and consistent members of the Bap- 
tist church and the former is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen, 
in which he has held the offices of consul and clerk. In politics he 
is a tried and true Republican and he has been honored with public 
office, having held the post of supervisor of Tyrone township. He 
owns stock in the First National Bank of Christopher, in which for a 
year and a half he held the office of cashier. He has resided in Chris- 
topher for thirteen years, having arrived when it was a mere hamlet, 
and he is regarded as one of its most public-spirited and valuable 
citizens. 

Jo R. PEARCE. The subject of this sketch bears a name that has 
been closely connected with the history of Harrisburg, Illinois, from 
the time the town was laid out up to \ the present. Mr. Pearce 's 
brother, Captain James H. Pearce, is one of the few men now living 
who witnessed the laying out of the town, and their father. Dr. 
Harvey R. Pearce, who donated the ground on which the court house 
stands, was the first physician here. It is therefore of specific inter- 
est to review the Pearce family history in this connection. 

Dr. Harvey Rice Pearce and wife, Sally Elvira (Davis) Pearce, 
were both born in North Carolina, and with their respective families, 
early in life, moved from that state to Tennessee, from whence later 
they came to Illinois and settled near Roland in White county. This 
last move was about 1829 or 1830. Dr. Pearce was born April 17, 
1818, and consequently was about twelve or thirteen years of age 
when he landed in Illinois. His father, Elder Jesse Pearce, had mar- 
ried Polly Davis, the widowed mother of Sally Elvira Davis, the 
latter 's father having died of cholera when she was a child. Sally 
Elvira was born February 22, 1822. Elder Jesse Pearce was a min- 
ister of the Missionary Baptist church, and his work covered a wide 
area and resulted in much good to the communities he visited. He 
and his wife both died in White county, and three of their children 
died there. Dr. Harvey R. Pearce had five brothers and two sisters, 
as follows: Mack, Elijah, Moses, Alexander and James, and Mrs. 
Polly Ann Blair and Mrs. Mary Ann Mitchell. Mack was the last 
to pass away. His death occurred near Roland. White county, in 
1908, at a ripe old age. 

Harvey R. Pearce in early life read medicine in the office of his 
brother, Dr. Alec Pearce, at Roland, and remained at Roland until 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 853 

he reached his twenty-fifth year, when he removed to Galatia. Saline 
county, which was his home until October, 1855, when he came to 
Harrisburg. All this time he was engaged in the practice of medi- 
cine. Also at Galatia he had mercantile and sawmill interests, his 
store and mill being under the management of Moses McGehee, his 
brother-in-law. He had large landholdings at Harrisburg and vicin- 
ity, a portion of which he sold in lots, and some of which he donated 
to the town, the ground on which the court house stands and five 
acres of the city cemetery being gifts from him. Indeed, it was 
largely through his influence and efforts that the county seat was 
removed from Raleigh to Harrisburg. The site of his old home, 
which was one of the first houses built in the town, is now occupied 
by the drug store of Gregg & Gregg. Here Dr. Pearce died August 
17, 1884, at the age of sixty-six years. His wife was eighty-seven 
years of age at the time of her death. Politically he was a Democrat, 
and his religious creed was that of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
church, of which he was a member for many years. He took a deep 
interest in Masonic work, especially in the lodge at Harrisburg, No. 
325, for which he went to Springfield to secure a dispensation for a 
charter. Of his family of thirteen children, we record that Mahala 
Jane is the deceased wife of Thomas Webber of Galatia; Catherine 
is the deceased wife of Captain Axel Nyberg ; Polly Priscilla is the 
widow of Dr. E. M. Province; Sarah Ann, deceased, was the wife of 
Captain C. K. Davis; Margaret Ellen is the wife of "W. G. Sloan, of 
St. Louis; Kate is the wife of Hon. W. V. Choissier, an attorney ol 
Harrisburg ; John, a printer, died at the age of sixteen years ; Jo R. ; 
and Thomas J., who died in boyhood. 

Captain James H. Pearce was born February 26, 1846, and, as 
already indicated in the first paragraph of this review, is one of the 
few men now living who was present when the town of Harrisburg 
was laid out. From that date to the present time he has been in 
various ways identified with its best interests. For sixteen years he 
served as county clerk, continuing in that office up to 1892. He was 
master-in-chancery for two years and since that time he has been a 
justice of the peace, having his office in the court house. In the Civil 
war he gained the title of captain. He enlisted at the age of fifteen 
years, the youngest man in Company F, Sixth Illinois Cavalry, and 
was promoted through all the ranks from private to second lieuten- 
ant, and then to captain this last honor being conferred upon him in 
December, 1863, before he was quite eighteen. The term of Captain 
Davis, his brother-in-law, had expired, and it was to fill his vacancy 
that young Pearce was made captain, and he was in command of the 
company during the rest of the war. While on their way to the re- 
lief of Rosecrans they were driven back by Hood from Atlanta to 
Nashville; was in all the actions from Chattanooga, and finally chased 
Hood through Alabama, being at Selma at the close of the war. A 
portion of this time he was in command of the regiment. During 
his service he was twice wounded, once as a private and again as 
second lieutenant, and of the original two hundred and eighty-four 
men who formed the company he was one of the five that were left. 

Jo R. Pearce was born at Galatia, January 11, 1855. He accom- 
panied his parents to Harrisburg, and has ever since made this place 
his home. In his youth he learned the printer's trade, and later 
from type-setting he turned his attention to merchandising, in which 
he was engaged until 1893, during the panic of which year he met 
with financial loss. During the past sixteen years he has devoted his 
energies to the insurance business, being general agent in the district 



854 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

of Southern Illinois for the United States Life Insurance Company of 
New York, and having a fine line of business with agents throughout 
this district. 

On January 28, 1877, Jo R. Pearce 'and Miss Margaret Ellis Good- 
rich were united in marriage, and their union has been blessed in 
the birth of five children, of whom record is as follows: Genevieve, 
who died in childhood; Lilie Estella, now employed as bookkeeper in 
the First National Bank of Harrisburg; Robert G., of Harrisburg; 
Jo Raymond, road salesman for the O'Gara Coal Company; and Sibyl 
Kate, a musician. 

For over thirty years Mr. Pearce has been a member of the Ma- 
sonic order, and for nineteen consecutive years he has filled the office 
of high priest of Saline Chapter, No. 165. He is thrice illustrious 
master of Saline Council, No. 70, also a member of Oriental Consist- 
ory, Scottish Rite, and of Medina Temple, Mystic Shrine, both of 
Chicago. 

JUDGE MARION C. COOK. The many friends of Judge Marion C. 
Cook, of Perry county, are united in ascribing his remarkable success in 
his profession not so much to his knowledge of the law, though in this 
respect he is undoubtedly well qualified, as to the charm of his manner 
and the sincerity and honesty of his character, which wins him friends 
wherever he goes. Had it not been for an accident he might never have 
taken up the study of law, and Perry county would have lost one of the 
best lawyers and most efficient judges she has ever had. 

Marion C. Cook was born at Saint John, Illinois, on the 7th of March, 
1877, and received his education there and in the public schools at Du- 
Quoin. His father is Benjamin 0. Cook, of DuQuoin, who is well known 
throughout all that section as a barrel maker. He was born in Frank- 
lin county, Illinois, on June 16, 1849, the son of Moses Cook. The latter 
was one of the early pioneers from Kentucky, who followed the occu- 
pation of a farmer through his whole life. 

Benjamin 0. Cook was brought up on the farm and trained for the 
agricultural industry, but he chose a different course from the one his 
father had mapped out for him and entered the trades. He chose the 
coopershop as the scene of his labors, and his choice has been justified 
by the success that he has had. He came into Perry county in 1874 and 
has lived here ever since. His wife was Nancy J. Phillips, a daughter 
of Jesse Phillips who came from Alabama into Illinois and settled in 
Franklin county. He joined the Union army at the outbreak of the 
Civil war and was killed in the second day 's fighting at the bloody battle 
of Shiloh. Mrs. Cook died on the 26th of March, 1911, leaving a large 
family of children to mourn her death. Of these John H. lives in Elk- 
ville, Illinois; Edward lives in Herrin, Illinois; Philip H. makes his 
home in DuQuoin ; Judge Marion C. ; Gertrude, who is the wife of W. 
H. Greenwood, of DuQuoin ; Benjamin 0., Jr., also lives in this city ; 
Celeste, who married Edward Flynn, of DuQuoin ; and Everett, Jessie 
and May, who live with their father in the old home. 

After the school days of Judge Cook were over he took up the 
cooper's trade under the guidance of his father. Eight children of this 
family followed their father's choice of a profession. After pursuing 
this vocation for a time he became interested in mining and began to 
work as a coal miner. It was during this time that he lost his right 
arm, when he became entangled in the machinery of the coal plant at 
Hallidaysboro. This day, the 18th of January, 1892, will always stand 
out in the memory of Judge Cook. But the accident which seemed at 
the time to have ruined his whole life in reality served as a blessing in 



i at UBRMff 

OMHE 
bUiVERSlTY OF ILUMOR 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 855 

disguise, for being no longer able to pursue a trade he turned his atten- 
tion towards a profession and selected the law. 

He entered the office of Isaac R. Spillman, of DuQuoin, and bent 
all his energies to mastering the intricacies of the law, as quickly and as 
thoroughly as possible. He was admitted to the bar on the 7th of 
October, 1908, but before this the city and county had united in shower- 
ing honors upon him. His first public service was as city attorney of 
DuQuoin, which position he filled for eight years, and during this time 
the public improvements that have made DuQuoin a modern and up-to- 
date city were initiated and a beginning was made upon them. The re- 
sult of this movement was the installation of sewers, water works and 
an electric light system, all of which saw completion during the regime 
of his successor, but for which he was directly responsible. While still 
a law student he was nominated by the Democratic party for county 
judge, and although the county is normally Republican he defeated 
their party candidate, who was then the occupant of the office, and was 
elected by a hundred and eighty-six votes. Judge R. W. S. Wheatley 
was his predecessor in the office, and in 1910. four years later, he had 
proven his ability to such an extent that he was re-elected by three hun- 
dred and ninety-four majority over his Republican opponent, a very 
good proof that it is men not party creeds that count now. 

Judge Cook was married in Freeburg, Illinois, on the 12th of Feb- 
ruary, 1902, to Miss Lula M. Parker, a daughter of Ira G. Parker, a 
farmer of Perry county. Mr. and Mrs. Cook having no children of 
their own have adopted into their family a daughter of one of his broth- 
er's, Celeste Newell Cook. The Judge finds a relaxation and many in- 
terests in the various fraternal orders with which he is associated. He 
is a member of the Odd Fellows and his association with the Red Men of 
Illinois has been active and has brought him into considerable prom- 
inence throughout the state. He is a past sachem of the DuQuoin Wig- 
wam and was chairman of the board of appeals, comprising three mem- 
bers, and he was also a member of the committee to draft the laws of the 
order for this state. He is a Modern Woodman of the World and is a 
member of the Court of Honor. In his religious affiliations he is a mem- 
ber of the First Missionary Baptist church. 

The courage with which Judge Cook faced the changed conditions 
of his life, after the loss of his arm, epitomized the courage with which 
he was afterwards to do his duty in his judicial positions. He has never 
faltered one instant from the straight path of duty, and has won the 
trust of the whole county, who feel perfectly safe in leaving their affairs 
in his hands. Although upholding the dignity of the law when acting 
in his official capacity, when he is among his friends no one could be 
more gracious and genial ; consequently he has the high respect of those 
who know him only as a lawyer, and the affection of all who are for- 
tunate enough to count him as a friend. 

JAMES B. KENNEDY. It is the purpose of this work to place in an 
enduring form the record of the lives and accomplishments of those 
men who have been potential factors in building up this opulent sec- 
tion of the great commonwealth of Illinois. One of these men is James 
B. Kennedy, of Pulaski, a retired farmer and a successful and sub- 
stantial business man whose efforts have been directed not only toward 
building up a personal prosperity but toward the growth and develop- 
ment of both his town and county. His name is a familiar one to all 
old residents of this section because of its pioneer origin and because 
of the political and civil prominence which members have attained since 
the early advent of the family to Southern Illinois. The name of Ken- 



856 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

nedy has figured largely iu the history of both Scotland and Ireland, 
but it was from the latter country that David Kennedy, the grand- 
father of James B. Kennedy, immigrated to the United States in the 
beginning years of the nineteenth century. He located first in Ohio, 
where he was married and resided for a number of years thereafter. 
To David Kennedy and his wife, Elizabeth, were born the following 
sons and daughters: Thomas and Alexander, who were soldiers in the 
Black Hawk war and died in Southern Illinois; Samuel, who located in 
Mississippi and left a family upon his death in that state; Brazilia B. 
Kennedy, the father of our subject; Malinda, who married "W. R. Hoo- 
paw, the last sheriff of Alexander county before the formation of 
Pulaski county from it; Phoebe, who married a Mr. Woods; Sarah, 
who became Mrs. George Bankston; and Mrs. James Boner, whose hus- 
band came into Pulaski county from Iowa. David Kennedy was a 
farmer and continued that vocation as a pioneer in Illinois, where he 
became a resident in the early days of its statehood. He died near 
Villa Ridge in 1853. 

Brazilia B. Kennedy, the third son of David and the father of 
James B., was born in Ohio and accompanied his parents upon their 
removal to Illinois. For a time his home was in Sangamon county, but 
from there he came to the peninsular end of the state, where he soon 
became identified with the public affairs of Alexander county, serving 
as a deputy sheriff there when the county seat was situated at Unity, 
now Hodges Park. He was a man of strong character, fearless but 
tactful, and well qualified for a peace officer, and when Pulaski county 
was formed he was honored by election as its first sheriff. He was 
originally a Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party 
he joined its ranks and to it thereafter gave his undivided allegiance. 
He maintained his residence at Villa Ridge, residing there continuously 
until his death, in 1859, at the age of forty-six, having met death in a 
railroad accident. Brazilia Boyd Kennedy married Ruth Wright, an 
Illinois maiden who was born in 1815 and died in 1895. To them were 
born children as follows: D. B. Kennedy, now of Cairo, Illinois; W. 
R., deceased ; James B., the subject of this review ; Elizabeth, who mar- 
ried Joseph Dille and died in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, but is buried at 
Villa Ridge, Illinois ; Thomas C. ; Anna, the wife of Rev. John Pierce, 
of St. Louis, Missouri; and Medora, who married L. P. Craine, an ex- 
sheriff and ex-treasurer of Pulaski county and postmaster of Villa 
Ridge at the time of his death. 

James B. Kennedy was born March 15, 1845, and grew up in the 
home of his parents, who were worthy people but were without the 
means to provide their children with the educational advantages which 
today are deemed essential in preparing for the fullest and most ca- 
pable citizenship. His school days had ended before the opening of the 
Civil war and his educational opportunities were limited to those of the 
time and locality. The untimely death of his father threw him upon 
his own resources while yet a youth, and at the age of sixteen he as- 
sumed independence of industry as a farmer. The care of his mother 
fell to him for a number of years afterward, and it was on the family 
homestead that he first took up business life on his own responsibility. 
Success attended his efforts as a farmer and at the close of the Civil 
war he began buying land on time payments. Later he embarked in 
the stock business and followed it up with much profit for a number 
of years. Prom time to time he increased his own holdings of real 
estate and eventually abandoned farming to give his whole attention 
to land speculation. About this tinre the farm lands of that section be- 
gan to be much sought and to rise rapidly in value, and for a decade or 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 857 

more he dealt in them extensively and with much profit. In some in- 
stances he bought raw land, brought it to a state of successful culti- 
vation and made such improvements thereon as were necessary to prof- 
itable habitation, thus adding largely to the inherent wealth of the lands 
of the county. 

In 1898 Mr. Kennedy moved to Pulaski and there exerted the same 
positive force in the developing of an urban community, taking upon 
himself the financial burdens of incorporation and otherwise encourag- 
ing the making of a new town in Pulaski county. He set the example 
as a builder by erecting business houses and residences, and in other 
ways showed his effectiveness as a citizen. 

In politics he is a Republican. He served as a deputy under -Sheriff 
Spencer, Sheriff Wilson and Sheriff Craine, and was a delegate to the 
Republican state convention in 1906. He has been president of the vil- 
lage of Pulaski and its treasurer, and is now serving his fourth term as 
justice of the peace. The Kennedy family has been prominent in county 
politics ever since the formation of the county. B. B. Kennedy, father 
of the subject of this sketch, having been its first sheriff. He was elected 
in 1843, and his commission was issued by Governor Thomas Ford. 

On January 19, 1864, Mr. Kennedy was married at Vandalia, Illi- 
nois, to Miss Sarah C. Buckmaster, who was born in Fayette county, 
Illinois, in 1847, and is the daughter of Benjamin Buckmaster, from 
Baltimore, Maryland. Two daughters blessed this union : Ora, the 
wife of Charles G. Sheets, of Pulaski, and Flora, now Mrs. Hugh B. 
Eshleman, postmaster and a prominent business man of Pulaski. Mr. 
Kennedy is a Methodist, as is his family, and fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

ALEXANDER B. SPROUL. The present able and popular incumbent 
of the office of postmaster of Sparta is Alexander B. Sproul, a repre- 
sentative of one of the ante-bellum families of Randolph county. His 
father, James Sproul, settled in this locality about 1848 as an immigrant 
from the British Isles. He was born in Scotland and passed many 
years of his early life as a blacksmith with a country shop. He subse- 
quently engaged in the general merchandise business at Sparta in com- 
pany with a brother, and in 1871 he established the family home in this 
little city. He followed commercial pursuits until recent years, when 
he turned his attention to the telephone business, establishing a plant 
in Sparta. He and his sons have developed the telephone plant in keep- 
ing with the demands of the community, putting in rural lines and toll 
lines in addition to the Sparta exchange, until a large area of the coun- 
try is in direct communication with this trade center. Mr. Sproul also 
built up the Evansville exchange, which is now under a different man- 
agement. 

James Sproul established the family politics when he became a Re- 
publican early in the history of that organization. He has never par- 
ticipated actively in public affairs, but through his splendid business 
dealings has contributed in large measure to the welfare and progress 
of Sparta and the neighboring community. He was united in marriage 
to Miss Rachel Dickey, a daughter of Alexander Dickey, of Irish lineage. 
The issue of this union are : Lizzie, widow of Rev. Henry Gardner and a 
resident of St. Louis; James, Jr., active manager of the Sparta telephone 
system ; a daughter who is wife of R. C. Brown, United States district 
court clerk at Springfield, Illinois; and Alexander B., the immediate 
subject of this review. 



858 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Alexander B. Sproul was born on a farm near Sparta, Illinois, the 
date of his nativity being the 30th of September, 1866. He was a child 
of but five years of age when the family home was established in Sparta 
and to the public schools of this city, he is indebted for his early educa- 
tional discipline. For a time he was also a student in the Valparaiso, 
Indiana, Normal University, and after leaving that institution he be- 
came associated with his father in the mercantile business at Sparta. He 
continued to be actively connected with that line of enterprise until 
he was appointed postmaster of Sparta, and the historic old business 
house of James Sproul is now in the hands of strangers, while its former 
owners are engaged in a different field of endeavor. When he had 
reached his majority Alexander B. Sproul became intensely interested 
in politics and at that time associated himself in a local way with the 
management of Republican affairs in Randolph county. He was a 
member of the county central committee for a period of eight years and 
was chairman of it during much of that time. The responsibilities of a 
delegate as a member of state conventions eventually came to him and 
his whole-souled services in that connection were rewarded, in a measure, 
by his appointment, in July, 1902, as postmaster of Sparta. He suc- 
ceeded Mrs. Clara Murphy, now Mrs. Clara McKelvey, in the office and 
President Roosevelt signed his first and second commissions, while his 
third one bears the signature of President Taft. His long and efficient 
incumbency as postmaster is the best proof of his ability and loyalty in 
connection with the work. 

On the 30th of November, 1887, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
Sproul to Miss Mary S. Brown, a daughter of James S. and Agnes (An- 
derson) Brown, both of whom are now deceased. James S. Brown was 
long a prominent merchant at Sparta and he and his wife were the par- 
ents of five children, four sons and one daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Sproul 
have two children, namely : Agnes M. and Mary E., aged ten and six 
years, respectively. In a fraternal way Mr. Sproul is a valued and ap- 
preciative member of the time-honored Masonic order and in their relig- 
ious faith he and his wife are devout members of the First Presbyterian 
church at Sparta. The attractive Sproul home is a recognized center of 
most gracious refinement and hospitality and Mr. and Mrs. Sproul hold 
a high place in the esteem of their fellow citizens. 

JOHN T. GASKINS. This well-known gentleman, one of the proprie- 
tors of the leading clothing and gentleman's furnishing goods store of 
Gaskins Brothers, at Harrisburg, Illinois, and a representative, thor- 
ough business man and wide-awake citizen of that place, deserves prom- 
inent mention in this volume. He is a son of George W. Gaskins, one 
of the well remembered business men of this city, who was born in Har- 
risburg June 10, 1842, and died June 10, 1881, a son of Thaddeus Gas- 
kins, a brother of Howard Gaskins, whose life review will be found in 
the sketch of Wilson Gaskins, in another part of this volume. 

George W. Gaskins spent his entire life in Harrisburg, and was 
elected to positions of public prominence, serving as constable, justice 
of the peace and in other offices, and carrying on a number of success- 
ful business ventures. ' He was married when young to Mary Jane In- 
gram, daughter of Mrs. Sally Ingram, a widow, and she survived him 
about ten years, being fifty years of age when she died. Both were ac- 
tive members of the Baptist church. They had a family of ten children, 
of whom the following survive : John T. and George T., who are part- 
ners in the clothing trade; Edgar T., who is with his brothers in the 
store; Theora. the widow of Theodore Parish, of Chicago; and Maude, 
who married William Brown, of that city. Theodore T. and Frank T. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 859 

Gaskins died in young manhood, while the others passed away in in- 
fancy. 

John T. and George T. Gaskins have been associated in business for 
about twenty years. In 1905, with about five other far-sighted business 
men, they organized the Egyptian Coal Company and sunk their first 
shafts, known as "Number Two" and "Number Three," developed 
them, and sold them to the O'Gara Coal Company, which has retained 
the same numbers. Since 1891 Mr. Gaskins and his brother have car- 
ried on the clothing and gentlemen's furnishing business in Harrisburg, 
where they have the finest store of its kind, and it must be taken into 
consideration that the city of Harrisburg has reached the limit in up- 
to-date ideas in clothing, in fact is more modern in this than in any 
other line. It is no wonder that the brothers have succeeded, when is 
considered their energy, perseverance, industry and general business 
qualifications. They attend strictly to business, buy strictly for cash, 
and are strictly correct in all their dealings. Both are stockholders in 
the First National Bank of Harrisburg and the First National Bank of 
Eldorado ; John T. is a director in the State Savings Bank of Harris- 
burg, and both are stockholders in the McClure Wholesale Grocery Com- 
pany and the Wasson Coal Company. John T. Gaskins is vice-presi- 
dent of the Ford Lumber Company, has been a member of the school 
board for nine 'years, and is a popular member of the Hayti Hunting 
Club. For six years he was a member and Senior Warden of the Har- 
risburg Blue Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and also belongs to Oriental Con- 
sistory and Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, Chicago. 

Mr. Gaskins was married in Harrisburg, to Miss Nelia Mugge, sister 
of George Mugge, the well known merchant of this city, and three chil- 
dren have been born to this union, namely: Louie J., Mary J. and Ger- 
trude J. 

WILLIAM S. DEWEY. To Hon. William S. Dewey belongs the happy 
distinction of holding the office of county judge of Alexander county 
for a longer period of time than any other encumbent. His entire life 
has been passed in Cairo, Illinois, with the exception of a few brief 
years in early life, and his record for uprightness and fair-dealing 
throughout his entire career accords him an enviable place among the 
flower of Cairo's citizenship. 

William S. Dewey is the son of Edmund S. Dewey, who in the year 
1872 brought his family from Irvington, Washington county, Illinois, 
(where William was born August 25, 1869) to Cairo, Illinois, where Ed- 
mund S. Dewey passed his remaining years. 

Edmund S. Dewey was a native of the Old Bay state, having been 
born at Lenox, Massachusetts, November 10, 1836, and in Lenox his 
boyhood days were quietly and industriously spent in attendance at 
the public schools of that town. He was a son of Oliver Dewey, who 
established the Dewey family in Illinois, coming thence in 1853 from 
Lenox, Massachusetts, where he was born in 1805 and where he had 
passed his days up to the time of his departure with his family for the 
state of Illinois. He was the husband of Eliza Sabin, and they were 
the parents of six children : Robert K., who served in the Illinois troops 
during the war of the rebellion, and who is now a resident of Green- 
ville, Illinois; Edmund S.. the father of our subject, and who also served 
in the Federal army, as before mentioned ; Mrs. H. Josephine Sabin, 
now residing in Lee, Massachusetts; Oliver B., who did duty in the Illf- 
nois Cavalry during the Civil war and died later at St. Lawrence, South 
Dakota ; Charles A. of De Kalb, Illinois ; and Mrs. Mira E. Beveridge, 



860 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 1901 Oliver Dewey died in Greenville, 
Illinois, at the venerable age of ninety-six years. 

It was in the year 1860 that Edmund S. Dewey came to Green- 
ville, and he taught school in the village until the time of his enlist- 
ment in the Federal army as a volunteer in 1862. He was commissioned 
adjutant of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Illinois Infantry and served 
in General Grant's army in the Vicksburg campaign. Later he was in 
the Red River expedition under General Banks and participated in the 
operations of the army along the Mississippi river, taking an active part 
in the capture of Mobile and generally acquitting himself with credit 
to himself and his country. He was twice wounded while in the service, 
but each time resumed his duties as soon as his condition would war- 
rant it, and was finally mustered out at the close of the war. after hav- 
ing served over three years in the Federal army. 

Following the close of the war Edmund S. Dewey resumed once more 
his former occupation, that of teaching, becoming a member of the 
faculty of the Southern Illinois College at Irvington, but abandoning 
his career as a teacher with his removal to Cairo. He was there en- 
gaged in the commission business for several years, and it was in the 
year 1886 that he was appointed circuit clerk of Alexander county by 
Hon. 0. A. Harker, then circuit judge. Mr. Dewey succeeded Alexan- 
der H. Irwin in the office, and at the close of three years' service he 
was elected to the office, and was twice re-elected, holding that official 
position for fifteen years. "When he retired he was appointed city comp- 
troller by Mayor George Parsons, which office he held until the time of 
his death, November 28, 1906. 

Mr. Dewey was in life a Mason of the Knights Templar degree, a 
staunch Republican always, an active and honored member of the G. A. 
R., and a devout member of the Presbyterian church. A man of fine 
inherent traits, cultured and educated, Mr. Dewey chose his wife from a 
family of similar qualities. He was married at Irvington, Illinois, in 
June, 1868, to Miss M. Jennie French, a daughter of Rev. D. P. French, 
principal of the Southern Illinois Agricultural College at Irvington, 
and a native of New Hampshire. Mrs. Dewey departed this life in 
1889, and they left a family of six children, named as follows : "William 
S., who is the subject of this review ; George F., city engineer of Cairo, 
Illinois; Charles B., a traveling salesman with headquarters in Cairo; 
Jennie E., a teacher in the Cairo public schools ; John M., who is deputy 
circuit clerk of Alexander county, and who is engaged with his brother 
William S. in the abstract business in Cairo; and Josephine, the wife 
of T. J. Flack, of Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

William S. Dewey passed through the schools of Cairo, and after- 
wards entered the Sioux Falls College at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 
and was graduated therefrom in 1889. He then began a course of law 
reading in the office and under the supervision of Hon. "Walter Warder, 
of Cairo, Illinois, and in the year 1892 at Ottawa, Illinois, he was suc- 
cessful in passing those examinations which admitted him to the bar of 
the state of Illinois, and he began the practice of his profession in Cairo, 
Illinois, the same year. Especially fitted by nature for the duties of 
public life, Mr. Dewey soon found himself absorbed in active politics. 
In less than two years after he began the practice of law in Cairo, he 
was made the Republican candidate for county judge of Alexander 
county and was elected to succeed Hon. John H. Robinson. He has been 
four times re-elected to that office, and with the expiration of his present 
term will have completed twenty years' continuous service in one of- 
ficial position, a distinction which rarely falls to the lot of any man, 
however qualified he may be, and which fact speaks volumes for the 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS . 861 

tact, talent and general fitness of Mr. Dewey for the place he holds in 
the civic life of Cairo. 

On June 14, 1904, Judge Dewey was wedded to Miss Katherine 
Kleir, a daughter of Francis Kleir, who was wharfmaster for the Mo- 
bile and Ohio Railway for many years. Mr. Kleir was a native of Ham- 
burg, Germany, and was married in Cairo to Miss Phoebe Justice, their 
daughter, Mrs. Dewey, being one of their six children. 

Judge Dewey, while absorbed in the cares and duties of his office, 
has found time to become affiliated with a number of secret and frater- 
nal societies, as well as being interested in various business enterprises 
in Cairo. He is a member and past chancellor of Ascalon Lodge, No. 
51, Knights of Pythias, a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Com- 
mandery of Masonry in Cairo, and of the Commercial and Alexander 
Clubs, besides which he is the secretary and general attorney for the 
Cairo and Thebes Railway Company, as well as being one of its original 
promoters and is a member of the firm of E. S. Dewey & Company, ab- 
stractors of title and president of The Citizens Company, publishers of 
The Cairo Evening Citizen, daily and The Citizen, weekly. Judge 
Dewey, while a busy man, has found time to fulfill the duties of an el- 
der and trustee of the First Presbyterian church, of which he is a mem- 
ber, and is a member of the Illinois State Board of Directors of the Y. 
M. C. A., giving generously of his time and substance to that cause, in 
which he is deeply interested. 

MARCUS L. CARTER, M. D. Combining those rare attributes which 
go to make up the successful professional man, financier and politician, 
Marcus L. Carter, M. D., of Thompsonville, Illinois, is one of the leading 
men of his section, where he has been in continuous practice for a period 
of more than thirty years. During this time he has become widely 
known in his profession, has forwarded the business and financial in- 
terests of his community by his activity in these fields, and has wielded" 
a wide influence in public matters, although he has been a director 
rather than a mere office seeker. Dr. Carter is one of the self-made men 
of Franklin county, and from a humble start has worked his way to the 
front ranks of the successful business men of this part of the state. Born 
near Lebanon, "Wilson county, Tennessee, July 5, 1848, he is a son of 
Henry and Nancy ("Williams) Carter. 

Charles Carter, the grandfather of Marcus L., was a native of Eng- 
land, who came to this country during Colonial days, entered Washing- 
ton's army in the struggle for American independence, and served 
through the Revolutionary war. At the close of that conflict he re- 
moved to Virginia, where he took up land and became a slaveholder, 
but eventually turned Abolitionist and set his slaves free. His son, 
Henry Carter, was born in Virginia, March 12, 1812, and in young 
manhood moved to Tennessee. There he resided until forced to take 
his family from that state, in 1857, on account of his views as to the 
Civil war, when he settled in Kentucky, where he resided until 1864. 
He had served in the Union army for two years, until wounded at Pa- 
ducah, when he received his honorable discharge. In 1869 Mr. Carter 
moved to Williamson county and engaged in farming until his removal 
to Franklin county some time prior to his death, which occurred in 
1890. He became a well-to-do and influential citizen, and was the owner 
of three hundred acres of fine land. Henry Carter married Nancy Wil- 
liams, who was born in eastern Tennessee, in 1819, and whose father, a 
soldier under Jackson during the war of 1812, and later a farmer, moved 
to Wilson county and there died. 

Marcus L. Carter received his early education in Kentucky and Illi- 



862 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

nois, and after leaving the common schools began the study of medi- 
cine. He took his first term in the University of Louisville, Kentucky, 
and finally graduated at Evansville, Indiana, in 1878, although at that 
time he had been engaged in practice in Williamson county for seven 
years. Dr. Carter came to Thompsonville in 1880; and here he has con- 
tinued to serve as an alleviator of the ills of mankind ever since. His 
practice now covers a part of four counties, but he has found time to 
interest himself in other matters, being the owner of an excellent farm 
of three hundred acres and a director and stockholder in the Thompson- 
ville State Bank. His work as a physician has been characterized by 
faithful study, and he holds membership in the Franklin County Medi- 
cal Society. A prominent Mason, Dr. Carter has been treasurer of his 
lodge for many years, and he also has connected himself with the Modern 
Woodmen of America. In political matters he is a Republican and a 
hard and active worker in the ranks, attending various conventions and 
doing everything in his power to advance the interests of his party. 
Starting in life a poor boy, without advantages either of a financial or 
educational nature, Dr. Carter educated himself, worked hard and has 
eventually won success. The esteem and respect in which he is held is 
well merited, and is due him not only as a successful professional man, 
a business man of more than ordinary ability and a citizen who has been 
the architect of his own fortunes, but as a friend and advisor and one 
who is ever ready to assist those who have been less fortunate than he. 

On June 29, 1879, Dr. Carter was married to Miss Henrietta Lynch, 
daughter of William H. Lynch, who was born in Virginia and came 
later to Illinois, where his death occurred. Two children have been 
born to Dr. and Mrs. Carter: Dexter, who is engaged in managing his 
father's farm; and Dollie, who married Douglas Plasters, a merchant 
of Thompsonville. The family is connected with the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, and the Doctor and his wife are well known in church 
and charitable work. 

ANDREW J. BUTNER, M. D., one of the representative members of the 
medical profession of Harrisburg, Saline county, Illinois, was born in 
Nashville, Tennessee, April 22, 1877. The greater part of his life, how- 
ever, has been spent in the locality in which he now lives, he having 
been brought here when a small boy by his father. Death robbed him 
of parental care in early childhood, and when nine years old he went 
to live with his guardian, M. H. Bramlett, near Eldorado. Subsequently 
he made his home with John D. Bramlett, father of his guardian, who 
lived on a farm about two 'miles and a half from Eldorado, and who was 
a Mexican war veteran. Here young Butner assisted in the farm work 
in summer and attended school during the winter months up to the time 
he was seventeen. That summer he was a student in the normal school 
at Harrisburg and the following winter, having met the requirements 
that enabled him to teach, he entered the schoolroom as teacher. For 
seven years he taught school in Saline county, and thus paved the way 
to his profession. Entering the Northwestern University of Chicago, 
he took up the study of medicine and graduated with the class of 1908. 
There he specialized in obstetrics and gynecology. Immediately follow- 
ing his graduation he returned to Saline county and at Harrisburg en- 
tered upon the practice of his profession, in which from the beginning 
he has met with marked success. He has identified himself with various 
medical organizations, including the City, County and State Medical 
Societies, also the Ohio Valley and the American Medical Societies. 

Doctor Butner has an interesting family, consisting of wife and three 
children. He married in June, 1898, Miss Hallie Upchurch, a native 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 863 

of Gallatin county, Illinois, and a daughter of E. H. and Viola (West- 
brook) Upchurch. Her father is a native of Saline county, having been 
born near Harrisburg. The children born of this union are Boise Wen- 
dell, Bonnie B. and Mona Blanche, aged respectively eleven, eight and 
six years. 

Both the Doctor and Mrs. Butner are worthy members of the Baptist 
church, and fraternally he is connected with the A. F. & A. M. and 
the I. 0. 0. F., in the former having membership in both the Lodge and 
Chapter. 

As a representative member of his profession and as a citizen of 
sterling qualities, he is entitled to the high esteem in which he is held 
by the people among whom he lives. 

JOHN D. BRAMLETT, of Saline county, Illinois, bears a name that has 
been a familiar one in this part of the country since back in the days 
when Illinois was a territory. 

Benjamin Bramlett, eldest brother of Nathan Bramlett, John D. 
Bramlett's father, helped to survey Saline county, in company with 
John Rector, who in 1805 was killed by the Indians, and was in the same 
squad with him. Benjamin at the time of the survey selected a tract 
of land for his father, Reuben Bramlett, of Kentucky, and hither in the 
fall of 1816 came Reuben's two sons, John and Nathan, aged respectively 
nineteen and seventeen years, to begin the work of clearing and improv- 
ing. They cleared a portion of the land and the following year put in 
a crop, after which they returned to Kentucky and that autumn, 1817, 
piloted the rest of the family to the new location. In the spring of 
1818, by the payment of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, Reuben 
Bramlett received territorial certificate for the land and later secured 
deed from the state. Benjamin Bramlett made settlement one mile 
north of the present town of Eldorado. He lived in this county to a 
ripe old age, and died here, of measles. The son John above referred 
to became insane. He died here, unmarried. Their father, Reuben, 
was ninety-seven years of age at the time of his death. He was a 
veteran of the Revolutionary war. had served under Washington, and 
was rich in war and pioneer experience. Many were the interesting and 
thrilling stories he related to his children and grandchildren. He died 
here and was buried at Wolf Creek. 

Nathan Bramlett was born in Kentucky, in 1799, and, as above out- 
lined, came to Illinois in 1816. Here in 1820 he married Mary Up- 
church, daughter of Samuel Upchurch, one of the early settlers of Saline 
county, at the time of their marriage he being twenty-one years of age 
and she nineteen. He bought forty acres near his father's homestead, 
and lived on it for a number of years, until during the Mexican war he 
sold out with the intention of going to Texas. His son John D., then 
a soldier in the Mexican war, prevailed upon the father to remain in 
Illinois, and he spent the rest of his life here. He died in Pope county, in 
1859, at the age of sixty years. 

Another brother of Nathan who owned land and made his home here 
was Coleman, the youngest of the family. Coleman Bramlett lived on 
a farm adjoining that of his father. He bought his father's homestead 
of eighty acres, and John D., in 1848, bought it from him. 

John D. Bramlett was born on the site of the present Eldorado High 
School, or one hundred yards to the north of it, April 8, 1824, and in 
this vicinity he has spent his long and iiseful life, with the exception of 
the time he was absent serving in the Mexican war. It was in May, 
1847, that he enlisted, and he went to the front as a member of Com- 
pany H, First Illinois Volunteers, under Captain Hampton and Colonel 



864 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

James Newby. Going to Santa Fe, New Mexico, over the old Santa Fe 
trail, the regiment met Colonel Doniplan coming back; were in skir- 
mishes with the Indians and guarded the citizens against the Indians. 
Mr. Bramlett was in this service seventeen months. Another Saline 
county man who was in his regiment was Benjamin Sisk, who survived 
until October 22, 1911, and was in his eighty-sixth year at the time of 
his death. Mr. Sisk and Mr. Bramlett attended together many of the 
Mexican war soldier reunions. 

Returning to Saline county after the war, Mr. Bramlett purchased 
the farm upon which sixty-three years of his life have been spent. When 
he married he and his wife agreed to save one-third of what they made, 
and from time to time they invested their savings in land, buying be- 
fore the price was much advanced, and they reared their children to be 
economical. The home place, now a valuable farm, he purchased at 
three dollars, twelve and one-half cents per acre, and the highest 
price he paid for any land was twenty dollars per acre. He has 
given some of his land to his children, and still retains three hundred 
and twenty acres, all of which is underlaid with coal. It has never 
been mine,d, however, and holds great future value. 

In 1850 John D. Bramlett and Serena Gates were united in mar- 
riage, and they became the parents of fourteen children, thirteen of 
whom lived to adult age. Of this number ten are still living, five sons 
and five daughters. The eldest son, Francis Marion, lives near his 
father, the others, Nathan N., Meeks, John M. and Ambrose, having 
gone West, the last two named now being residents of Sherman, Texas. 
Nathan N. is a farmer, merchant and postmaster in New Mexico. Of 
the daughters, we record that Rebecca, wife of Frank Farmer, lives in 
Fannin county, Texas; and the others, Ann Eliza, wife of Harrison 
Wise, Rosa, her father's housekeeper, Nancy, wife of William Dunn, 
and Mollie, wife of W. R. Joyner, all live in the vicinity in which they 
were born and reared. The mother of this family died in 1906. 

Religiously Mr. Bramlett is a Baptist. When he was twenty years 
of age he united with Union Grove church, near his home, of which he 
has since been a consistent and worthy member. 

WILLIAM T. WALL is at the head of the mammoth retail dry goods 
house of Cairo, the W. T. Wall & Company Department Store, the 
character of which places it in the lead of retail concerns of the city. 
While the firm is a new one, and those who are responsible for its 
launching are among those styled "the new men" of Cairo, the im- 
mensity of the establishment marks an epoch in the commercial life 
of Southern Illinois, for its equal does not exist anywhere in "Old 
Egypt." It has come into being as a response to a demand for a 
distinct department store in a city which is growing more and more 
metropolitan, and whose buying public has longed for a mecca of 
trade with lavish modern appointments and with unlimited quantity 
and the height of quality under one roof. 

Mr. Wall, who with Mr. Denison met the demands of the commu- 
nity by the establishment of such a mart of trade in Cairo, is a mer- 
chant trained from youth. He started as a clerk with the mercantile 
house of T. A. Stanley in Arlington, Kentucky, not far from his par- 
ental abiding-place and near where he attended school as a barefoot 
boy. He was born in Carlisle county, Kentucky, May 11, 1872, his 
father being a millwright who spent many years building sawmills 
and gristmills all over Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, and who 
now resides at Tupelo. The father of Mr. Wall was born in Missis- 
sippi in 1834, was a son of William Wall, a planter of Irish birth, and 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 865 

a brother of Mrs. Jennie Beardon, of Santillo, Mississippi ; and 
Thomas, who met his death while serving in the Confederate army. 
The mother of William T. Wall was Mary Russell, and she and her 
husband had three sons, namely: William T. ; Charles, who is a rail- 
road man ; and Oscar S., credit man in the William R. Moore Dry 
Goods Company, of Memphis, Tennessee. 

William T. Wall attended only the public schools in the acquire- 
ment of his education, and his initial experience in business was ob- 
tained in the store at Arlington, he subsequently taking charge of 
the Wycliffe Supply Company for a year, where he was interested 
financially in the business. When he came to Cairo, in 1904, he went 
on the road as a salesman for the Marx- White Dry Goods Company, 
and terminated his connection with the road in the employ of the 
Denison-Gholson Dry Goods Company, which the old firm eventually 
became. While yet a traveling salesman, Mr. Wall purchased the 
stock of Jesse 0. Hunt, at 618-619 Commercial avenue, Cairo, and 
when the firm of W. T. Wall & Company was launched, April 1, 1911, 
this stock was moved to their new quarters, and at that time Mr. 
Wall ceased to be a solicitor for trade, save at the threshold or behind 
the counters of his own place of business. The house of W. T. Wall 
& Company is the new, modern Marx building of four stories, with a 
floor space of twenty-four-thousand square feet. It is fitted with 
expensive and artistic fixtures, with heavy beveled glass bodies, 
counters and tables to match the interior of the several floors, with 
private and handsome fitting rooms and comfortable rest room and 
music room, dust-proof cases for ready-to-wear goods, French plate 
mirrors, splendid electric lighting and elevator with all safety ap- 
pliances, and all is fire-proof. The stock is complete in every respect, 
the first floor being devoted to dry goods and notions, the second to 
ladies' ready-to-wear garments, the third to carpets, curtains and 
house furnishings, and the top floor to miscellany. 

Mr. Wall is one of the wholesale firm of Denison-Gholson Dry 
Goods Company of Cairo, is a director and secretary of the firm, and 
holds various other interests, carrying on a sort of merchandise bro- 
kerage business, and handling and turning stocks of goods eleswhere, 
all of his efforts seeming happily directed in profitable channels. He 
is a popular member of the United Commercial Travelers and of the 
Cairo Commercial Club. 

On March 12, 1908, Mr. Wall was married to Miss Hannah Mc- 
Gowen, at Vincennes, Indiana, Mrs. Wall being a daughter of Dr. 
Thomas W. McGowen. Two children have been born to this union: 
William Thomas, Jr., and Lucas Curry. 

ISAAC ROBERT TUTTLE. Clearly defined purpose and consecutive ef- 
fort in the affairs of life will inevitably result in the attaining of a 
due measure of. success, but in following out the career of one 
who has attained success by his own efforts there comes into view 
the intrinsic individuality which made such accomplishment possible, 
and thus there is granted an objective incentive and inspiration while 
at the same time there is enkindled a feeling of respect and admira- 
tion. The qualities which have made Isaac Robert Tuttle, the effi- 
cient circuit clerk and recorder, one of the prominent and successful 
men of Harrisburg, Saline county, have also brought him the esteem 
of his fellow townsmen, for his career has been one of well-directed 
energy, strong determination and honorable methods. 

Mr. Tuttle was born three miles north-west of Harrisburg, July 
8, 1861, the son of James A. and Eliza Tuttle. He was a native of 



866 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Nashville, Tennessee, and came to Illinois about the year 1848. So 
well was he impressed with the resources and advantages of the sec- 
tion that four years later he brought his parents here also and in this 
neighborhood they passed the remainder of their lives. James A. 
Tuttle bought two hundred acres of cheap land, which he improved 
and successfully cultivated. His family was in humble circum- 
stances, and upon his arrival here he had but fifteen cents in his 
pocket, when he crossed the river at Shawneetown. In 1852 he went 
back to his old home in Tennessee, driving two yoke of oxen, and 
when he came again to Illinois he was accompanied by his parents, 
four brothers and a sister to share with him the riches of the land of 
promise. Another sister and her husband, Walter Carter, also came, 
walking all the way and driving their cattle before them. One 
brother, Peter Tuttle, had been the first of all, having preceded James 
A. by five or six years. The four brothers mentioned as coming later 
were Jessup, Berry, Herbert and William. A sister, Martha, who was 
single at the time of the exodus, and another sister, Betsey, subse- 
quently became the wife of Joseph Morris. All remained, and Avhen 
the Civil war cast its pall over the Nation four of the brothers en- 
listed and served through the war, William and Jessup being prison- 
ers at Andersonville and remaining within its frightful walls until 
their health was impaired. Jessup is deceased and William is now 
the only survivor of the family. James A. Tuttle took as his wife 
Eliza Fleming, daughter of Beverly Fleming, also of Tennessee, and 
they began married life on a tract of land that he bought three miles 
north-west of Harrisburg. This was on the Mt. Vernon and Elizabeth 
road, the first road to be laid to the northwest. On this homestead 
he passed to the life eternal, on October 30, 1887, aged fifty-seven 
years. His widow is now living with I. R. Tuttle. These worthy peo- 
people, who met the new conditons so gravely, reared a family of 
thirteen children, seven to maturity. They follow : William II. ; 
James K., formerly a very successful teacher in Saline county, now 
in St Louis; Isaac Robert; Sarah L., the wife of Thomas Stricklin, 
of Dennison, Illinois ; Catherine, who married William P. Fowler, of 
Galatia, Illinois; Patsy, wife of H. P. Dorris, of Cameron. Oklahoma; 
and Charriet, who married Marion Travisted, of Crabb Orchard, 
Illinois. 

Isaac Robert Tuttle remained on his father's farm until the age 
of eighteen. From the age of eight to twelve he had almost no 
schooling and when nineteen he could not yet write. His father was 
anxious to make money and he and his sons cleared two hundred 
acres from the virgin forest. He was a very progressive man and 
was one of the first in his neighborhood to become the possessor of a 
mower, binder and other implements. Although he kept the boys 
busy, he was very kind to them and allowed each one to have a share 
of each year's crop, and when Isaac Robert was nineteen he had a 
bank account of four hundred dollars. The next fall he got a fine 
amount of wheat from eighty-five acres and he decided to make 
some investment, such as live stock and real estate. Isaac R. con- 
cluded to buy calves, but when his father asked him what the aver- 
age cost of the animals would be he could not figure it out, his educa- 
tion being so deficient, and he was so chagrined that he entered school 
the very next Monday. He later attended normal school at Carmi, 
White county, and was graduated with the class of 1881. He was a 
natural student and made fine progress and was gladly accepted as 
a teacher in Williamson county. He taught for four terms in the 
same district. He also taught some time in Saline county. In short. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 867 

.he divided his time between farming and teaching until 1898. He 
then engaged as a traveling salesman for eighteen months, his terri- 
tory being in Nebraska and Kansas. In 1900 he received the appoint- 
ment as deputy 'circuit clerk under E. M. Stricklin and in 1904 he 
succeeded that gentleman to the main office and also assumed the 
duties of recorder. In 1908 he received the compliment of re-election 
and he is devoting himself in whole-souled fashion to the office and 
its duties, and, it is needless to say, has given the utmost satisfaction. 
Mr. Tuttle is one of the most enthusiastic of Republicans and is active 
in all party work. 

In the year 1885 Mr. Tuttle was united in marriage to Mary E. 
Parks, of Williamson county. There are two promising sons in the 
family. Ural is a druggist and is married to Madge I. Webber. Oral 
P., a graduate in law from Northwestern University, was admitted 
to the bar at Springfield. He was deputy' circuit clerk from 1904 to 
1908, and is now a law partner with M. S. Whitley, in his civil and 
criminal practice. The senior Mr. Tuttle has been an Odd Fellow 
since 1902 and in that time has passed all the chairs. Harrisburg 
looks upon him as a good and altruistic citizen. 

EDWARD J. HOPP is one of the leading merchants of Pinckneyville, 
and he has only himself to thank for his success. He has given all of his 
time to the organization and development of his business, sacrificing any 
longings that he might have had towards entering the political field, and 
centering his whole attention upon satisfying his patrons and extending 
his business. He is of good old German stock, and has shown through- 
out his career the characteristics that have made the German immigrant 
the most welcome of the many people that pour through the gate of Ellis 
Island into our country. He never had to learn the lessons of thrift, 
industry and honesty, for they were inherent in his nature, and with 
these as a foundation he has become the best type of the modern, hust- 
ling American business man. 

Edward J. Hopp was born in Perry county, Illinois on the 13th of 
January, 1870. His father was Thomas Hopp, a farmer, whose death 
occurred five years later. He was a native of one of the German states, 
and came to this country as a young man. He was the only member of 
his family to migrate to America, at least so far as his children know. 
He left no tangible record of his birthplace, and since his wife died 
seven years after his demise, the children grew up with practically no 
knowledge of their forebears. The mother of Edward Hopp was Apalona 
Muench, and two of the three children born to her reached maturity : 
Anna is the wife of Joseph Batka, of Perry county, Illinois, and Ed- 
ward J. 

After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Hopp an uncle took charge of the 
children, and it was in the home of this uncle, Adam Muench, that young 
Edward grew up. He had the advantage of spending part of his youth 
in the country and part in the city, so he gained from his country life 
the healthful vigor that marks him both physically and mentally, and 
from his city life the self reliance that was particularly valuable to him, 
for he was largely dependent upon his own resources. He was educated 
in the parochial schools, and as a mere youth adopted the tinner's trade. 
He had learned this trade in his uncle's store in DuQuoiii, and he fol- 
lowed this business with fair success until 1891, when he left DuQuoin 
and came to Pinckneyville. He did the work of a journeyman for a 
time, but his German breeding was beginning to show itself, and by his 
careful economy the pennies soon became dimes and the dimes dollars, 
and presently he had enough money to invest in a shop of his own. He 



868 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

conducted this shop from 1891 to 1900, and in 1902 he opened his present 
hardware store. His present prosperity might be taken as an example 
of the old proverb "Good wares make quick markets," for he has held 
to the new doctrine of commercialism, not how much can I sell but how 
can I make my stock more attractive and better worth buying. 

Mr. Hopp is a man of deeds. Politics have never swept him into the 
whirlpool of those who seek for office. He has no patience with those 
who talk much and accomplish little, and is content to see the political 
plums fall into other mouths, not that he has not the greatest respect for 
those representatives of the people who are truly in earnest, but they 
do seem so few and far between. 

Mr. Hopp was married on the 22nd of May, 1895, to Kate Mangin, 
a daughter of Michel Mangin, who was a German settler in Perry county. 
Her mother was a Miss Martin, and Mrs. Hopp was one of a family of 
six children. Mr. and Mrs. Hopp are the parents of three children, 
Mary, Joseph and John. 

W. C. KANE. No profession develops with so much of accuracy and 
masculine vigor the native intellectual predominancies as that of the 
law. Whilst it opens a vast field for profound philosophic inquiry, it 
at the same time imperiously demands an acute and close observation 
of the daily workings of practical life. The materials for the foun- 
dation of society, which are scattered around broadcast and in pro- 
fusion, often the most heterogeneous and crude, have to be molded into 
form and symmetry by the application of great principles. These rude 
materials and these great principles have to be fused together in the 
crucible, and the .melting down and refining the former is undergone 
by firm and unyielding contact with the latter. The very highest de- 
velopment of intellectual vigor, the most profound and comprehensive 
knowledge of principle, is often found inadequate to this arduous task; 
for with these must be united a clear and quick sagacity, an adaption 
to the habits and modes of thought by those surrounding the legis- 
lator or judicial functionary, or all his well-meant labors will, like the 
fabled fruit of the plain, "turn to ashes on the lip." Among those 
who act conspicuously in thus molding and fashioning society in South- 
ern Illinois stands eminently forward W. C. Kane, the present effi- 
cient state's attorney of Harrisburg, Illinois. 

W. C. Kane was born in Long Branch township, Saline county, 
Illinois, September 19, 1873, and is a son of R. C. and Mary (Mings) 
Kane. Hugh Kane, the grandfather of W. C., was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, from which state he came as one of the first settlers to Shaw- 
neetown, Illinois. He followed the professions of doctor and teacher 
in Shawneetown, later becoming a surveyor in Gallatin and Saline 
counties, and eventually settled in the latter, the remainder of his life 
being spent in Long Branch township, where he died in 1854, when 
he was sixty years of age. His wife was Isabella Johnston, also of Penn- 
sylvania, who survived him until she was about eighty years of age, 
and they were the parents of three sons: John, who removed to Mis- 
souri, where he died ; Milton, who died when twenty-four or twenty-five 
years of age ; and R. C. ; and two daughters, one of whom resides in 
Missouri ; while Mary, the widow of Dr. Williams, resides in Long 
Branch township. 

R. C. Kane was also born in Long Branch township, where he spent 
his life in agricultural pursuits and conducted a sawmill and thresh- 
ing machine, and there his death occurred in 1905, when he had reached 
the age of fifty-seven years. He married Mary Mings, daughter of 
Prank Mings who was born in 1851 in Long Branch township, and she 



tfffc IWRMW 

OF THE 
BgWERSlTY OF ILLIWHS 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 869 

still lives in Harrisburg and owns the family homestead in Long Branch 
township. Her two daughters, Agnes and Bertha, also make their 
home in Harrisburg, while one son, Robert L., is a medical practitioner 
at Raleigh, and W. C. is engaged in the practice of law in Harrisburg. 

W. C. Kane was educated in the common schools and the Central 
Normal College of Danville, Indiana, from which he was graduated 
with the class of 1896, and also served for some time as principal of 
the high school at Harrisburg and teacher of mathematics. Deciding to 
enter the legal profession, he began the study of law in this city, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1898, soon securing wide-spread recognition 
of his legal acumen and sagacity. In 1908 he became the Democratic 
candidate for the office of state's attorney, and although this section 
goes strongly Republican as a rule, and on this occasion gave the presi- 
dential candidate, Taft, a majority of seven hundred, Mr. Kane's popu- 
larity was demonstrated by his election to the office by a majority of 
three hundred votes. While acting in his present capacity, Mr. Kane 
has prosecuted a number of very important cases, among which may 
be mentioned the first murder case that has ended in legal hanging, 
that of Alex King, the act having been committed only two months 
prior to his execution. 

In 1898 Mr. Kane was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Berry, 
who was born in Cottage Grove township, Saline county, Illinois, daugh- 
ter of John M. Berry of that township, a.nd! three interesting children 
have been born to this union: John R., Byford C. and Mary E. Mr. 
Kane has just completed one of the neatest and handsomest residences 
in Harrisburg, which is beautifully situated in the most select part of 
the city. He is a man of exemplary habits, and is now in his prime, 
with his best years before him^ and if his past record may be taken as a 
criterion of what the years to come will bring, it may be prophesied 
that there is a promising future before him. He is very popular among 
the citizens of Harrisburg, where his social disposition has won him 
many warm frends. 

JACK LUSK. A young man of marked ability and worth, Jack Lusk, 
of Harrisburg, is distinuguished not only as a native born citizen of Sa- 
line county, but as a fine representative of one of the early and honored 
pioneer families of this part of the state. Public-spirited and capable, 
he is now rendering efficient service as county treasurer, filling the posi- 
tion in a manner reflecting the highest credit upon himself and sub- 
stantially proving that the confidence of the people which was freely 
given him at the polls, and the trust reposed in his abilities, were not 
unworthily bestowed. A son of Thomas V- Lusk, he was born November 
3, 1883, in Galatia. 

Thomas W. Lusk was born and educated in Indiana, and as a young 
man came from Rockport, that state, to Saline county, Illinois. A man 
of marked business ability, he soon embarked in mercantile pursuits, and 
for many years was one of the leading tobacco merchants of this part of 
Illinois. He continued in this paying industry until his death, in 1887, 
while yet in the prime of life. He married Josephine Musgrave, whose 
father, Andrew Musgrave, one of the early settlers of Saline county, 
laid out the village of Raleigh, naming it in honor of his native city, 
Raleigh, North Carolina. Two children were born of their union, 
namely : Bertha, wife of W. S. Dorris, who is engaged in the real estate 
business at Harrisburg ; and Jack, the subject of this brief sketch ; S. G. 
Lusk, a son by a former marriage, resides in Raleigh. 

Having spent his youthful days in the village of Raleigh, Eldorado 
or Harrisburg, Jack Lusk attended school in each of the places, at the 



Vol. 1120 



870 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

same time earning some money as a newsboy. He was afterwards em- 
ployed as a clerk in different general stores, as a salesman proving him- 
self proficient and popular. In November, 1910, Mr. Lusk was the 
people's choice for county treasurer of Saline county, and on December 
5, 1910, assumed the duties of the office. He is a Republican in politics, 
and active in party ranks. 

Mr. Lusk married, May 23, 1911, Maude Lewis, a daughter of the late 
Clark Lewis, who was for many years engaged in agricultural and mer- 
cantile pursuits in Harrisburg, and who was held in high regard as a 
citizen of honor and integrity. 

WILLIAM SCHATZ. One of Cairo's best known and most busily em- 
ployed building contractors is William Schatz, who, in the large and con- 
tinual building growth of the city during the past quarter of a century, 
has taken a conspicuous part, some of the largest and handsomest edifices 
that have been erected being his creation. His advent in this city dates 
fr.om July, 1872, but he is almost indigenous to this latitude and locality, 
as he grew up at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and received his education 
and learned his trade there. As his name indicates, Mr. Schatz is a 
native of Europe, and was born in the village of Schlavige, Herzogtum 
of Braunschwig, Germany, April 5, 1850. His parents were William 
and Sophia (Hunce) Schatz, humble people of industry who abandoned 
their native land in 1856 and came by sailing vessel to New Orleans and 
then up to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on the Mississippi river. The 
father was without a trade and was possessed of little knowledge of life 
except to do common labor, yet he brought up his family as peaceable, 
honorable and industrious citizens. He died February 21, 1909, at the 
age of eighty-four years, and his widow still survives him, having 
reached the age of eighty-two. Their children to grow to maturity were : 
William; Henry, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Missouri; 
and Minnie, who is the wife of John Vogelsanger, a Missouri merchant 
at Cape Girardeau. 

William Schatz pursued only the common branches in school and 
completed his attendance at a rather early age to apprentice himself to 
a townsman, Hermann Vogelsang, to learn the trade of carpenter. On 
attaining his majority he had finished it and sought a location where he 
could profitably carve out his career. He selected Cairo, then a stilt 
town with some evidences of future growth, and for a number of 'years 
he remained a journeyman. Being urged to embark in business for him- 
self by his employer and friends, Mr. Schatz took his first contract 
among the small jobs then flourishing here and his success encouraged 
him to eventually handle some of the best work in the city, after he had 
entered the field more seriously. He built the original Baptist church, 
the colored Baptist church, the McKnight-Keaton Grocery Company 
block, the Harris Saddlery Company factory, one of the Halliday Estate 
buildings, the B. H. Cunningham house, the Cairo Armory, the H. H. 
Halliday residence and the Oris B. Hastings residence, all of which are 
mentioned to conspicuously identify him with the building of the me- 
tropolis of Southern Illinois. Little else save his personal affairs has 
secured the attention of William Schatz. The promise of profit and safe 
investment induced him to take stock in the Cairo Building and Loan 
Association, the oldest in the city, and he is president of the association. 
He has held aloof from politics, save as a voter, and upon main issues 
he is a Democrat. His position upon religious matters encourages the 
support of religious effort, and his church home is in the Immanuel 
Lutheran church of Cairo. 

On April 22, 1878, Mr. Schatz was married in Cairo to Miss Hannah 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 871 

Volmer, a daughter of Henry Volmer by his first wife, and born January 
22, 1854, in Scott county, Missouri. In his first family Mr. Volmer had 
three children : Mary, who married Frank Umerstall, of Cape Girar- 
deau, Missouri ; Matilda, who married John Meinz, also of that city, and 
both are deceased; and Mrs. Schatz. Mr. Volmer was married (second) 
to the sister of his first wife, who was then a widow, and the children 
born to this union were : Charles, a resident of Stoddard county, Mis- 
souri ; Lizzie, who married Bert Donald ; and Minnie, who married Au- 
gust Jernas and is deceased. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Schatz are : 
Henry, who passed away in childhood ; Fred, who is superintendent of 
the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, in Cairo, and in October, 1911, 
married Stella Parks; Edward, who is engaged at the carpenter trade 
in Cairo ; and Clara, who married ~W. L. Russell, of Alton, Illinois, and 
has a daughter, Charlotte. 

CAPTAIN W. W. LARGENT. History has given us the names of many 
heroes who sacrificed much to the good of their country, not stopping 
to think of personal loss or danger, but offering themselves to the* cause 
of liberty, and through their efforts the foundations of the present great- 
ness of this country were laid. Prominent among the veterans of the 
great Civil war of Saline county, Illinois, may be mentioned Captain W. 
W. Largent, one of the pioneers of this part of the state who has seen 
and participated in the wonderful changes that the last half century has 
brought. Born May 30, 1841, in Knox county, Ohio, he is a son of John 
and Jane (Early) Largent, natives of Ohio, who were married in Penn- 
sylvania. The family came to Illinois on the 12th of March, 1855, John 
Largent engaging in agricultural pursuits one and one-half miles south 
of Harrisburg, where he died during the 'seventies, at the age of sixty- 
eight years, his widow surviving him a few years. 

"William W. Largent as a lad worked on a farm one mile north of 
Harrisburg, which at that time was just being settled, there not being 
a house in the village. Starting to build a house on the farm, Mr. Lar- 
gent suggested to his father that they purchase a lot in the village, and 
this they subsequently did. "While "William W. Largent was serving in 
the army he purchased the Saline county farm, his father having gone 
to Pope county to reside for a few years. Mr. Largent can recall many 
interesting reminiscences of the early days in Harrisburg, and relates 
that he hauled every stick of timber that was used in building the old 
Court House. He also remembers cutting oats on the site of the present 
Court House, in 1855, and of giving a party at the proprietor's James 
Fezel, who lived at the present home of Captain Parish. This was the 
first gathering of youngsters in this part of the state, they having come 
here in March of that year. The house he erected that fall stood on 
South Main street. Captain Largent was made a Mason in Harrisburg 
forty years ago. He has now attained the age of seventy years, and dur- 
ing his entire life has never known what it is to taste beer, ale or whis- 
key or liquor of any kind, although he has been frequently thrown with 
men who drank. 

At the outbreak of the Civil war, Captain Largent enlisted in Com- 
pany B, Thirty-first Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, commanded 
by General Logan, Company B having been recruited from Harrisburg, 
under Captain T. J. Cain. From the rank of eighth corporal Captain 
Largent rose to the command of his company, and today holds the com- 
missions all through the different grades. After the fight at Vicksburg 
he had command of the company, the former captain resigning his com- 
mand and he continued to hold this rank up to the close, participating in 
the "March to the Sea," through the Carolinas and up to Washington, 



872 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

D. C., where the company participated in the Grand Review. At the head 
of a command of sixty men, known as ' ' Sherman 's Bummers, ' ' Captain 
Largent participated in numerous skirmishes while out foraging for his 
regiment, and at times was as far as seventy-five miles from head- 
quarters. This was a command of picked youngsters, who became fa- 
mous for their bravery and valor and for the success which crowned 
their operations. On one occasion, being ordered by General Howard to 
hold a bridge, over which a Confederate force was attempting to escape, 
by a clever charge Captain Largent and his little band succeeded in cap- 
turing the entire Southern force, numbering some three hundred men. 
and marched them into camp as prisoners. Of the original company 
that had left their homes with 'such light hearts but few returned, 
and on one occasion Captain Largent returned to his home village 
and secured forty recruits to take the places in the fast-thinning 
lines. Some of these were killed or maimed by the enemy, some died 
of fever and disease, while others, as at Vicksburg, where Mr. Lar- 
gent [s regiment was given the task of blowing up Fort Hill, were 
killed by entering the fort too soon and meeting death from the ex- 
ploding shells. Outside of this fort Generals Grant and Pendleton 
met to arrange the terms of surrender. At Atlanta Mr. Largent 's 
regiment was at the front when McPherson was killed, and his regi- 
ment was sent to fill the gap where the Confederates had broken 
through the Union lines and captured a number of articles, including 
Colonel Logan's cap. Behind this intrepid leader, whom all of the 
soldiers would have followed anywhere, they recaptured not only the 
articles taken but the Confederates themselves. Captain Largent was 
in the service four years and four days, but although he was always 
in the thickest of the fight he was never seriously wounded, his worst 
injuries being confined to being struck by a spent ball at Belmont, 
and being knocked down, and again at Atlanta. During the remain- 
der of his life he has taken a deep interest in public affairs, and has 
taught his sons to be as patriotic as himself. As a faithful comrade 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, he is known and respected 
throughout this community, and is a charter member of George New- 
ell Post at Harrisburg. On his return from the war he engaged in 
various business ventures, and during the past thirty or more years 
has been engaged in the livery business, although he is now prac- 
tically retired. In politics an ardent Republican, Mr. Largent served 
one term as sheriff of Saline county in 1886. He was also a member 
of the city council, was president of the town board when Harris- 
burg was made a city, and for twenty years he has served as a mem- 
ber of the school board, a position which he will in all probability fill 
up to the time of his death. 

In 1863, while on a veteran furlough, Mr. Largent was married 
to Miss Hattie Holland, who was born in the county of Saline, and 
when she died she left these children: Dora, who married T. S. Rey- 
nolds, of Harrisburg, a prominent citizen now acting in the capacity 
of postmaster; Moody, who is engaged in the livery business in Har- 
risburg; and Hattie, who married P. 0. Ferguson, a well-known 
merchant of this citv. In about the year 1884 Mr. Largent was mar- 
ried to Lena R. LaFont, who was born in Massac county, Illinois, of 
French parentage, and six children were born to this union, as fol- 
lows: Eugene, express agent at Harrisburg; Fanny, who married Lee 
Pearce, bookkeeper with the O'Gara Coal Company of this city; Wil- 
liam W., Jr., a druggist in business at Portageville, Missouri ; Charlie 
and Hazel McKinley, who live at home; and Louis A., who met his 
death on a trestle in a railroad accident. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 873 

Every veteran of the Civil war commands our respect and honor, 
in memory of what he accomplished and what he risked during those 
dark days. If he happens to be a member of one of the regiments of 
divisions that made famous certain struggles in the history of the 
war, then he is better remembered and as a result more highly 
honored. However, Captain Largent's war record, excellent though 
it may be, excels in no way the record that he has made as a private 
citizen and public official, and it is doubtful that there could be found 
a citizen in Saline county who possesses to a greater extent the con- 
fidence and esteem of the people of the community in which he has 

spent so many years. 

i 

CHARLES FEUCHTEE. The family name of Feuchter is a familiar one 
to the citizenship of Cairo, and the influence of its connection with the 
varied affairs of this peninsula has permeated financial and business 
channels of Southern Illinois. The honor of its founding belongs to 
Charles Feuchter, Sr., but to his son and namesake is largely due the 
credit for placing the family patronymic among the enduring ones of 
this financial and commercial center. 

Charles Feuchter, Sr., came to Cairo just before the outbreak of the 
Civil war. He had been in America then about five years, had spent some 
time in Newark, New Jersey, crossed the country to Dubuque, Iowa, 
where he stopped for a short spell, and then returned to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, from which point he came to Cairo. He was born in the town of 
Brachbach, county of Garabronn, Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1831, and 
was a son of Frederick Feuchter, who married a Miss Ricks. Besides 
himself, the children of his parents were John; Michael, Frederick, 
Katherina and Frederica, the last named of whom became the wife of 
John Tauber. 

Charles Feuchter is the only member of his family who spent his 
life in America, his younger sister, who had lived for a while in Cairo, 
returning to the Fatherland, and the remaining children being deceased. 
He engaged in the brewing of beer in a small way upon coming to Cairo, 
and his success as the first of his line here was a matter of common 
knowledge. He was of a rather retiring disposition, and took little part 
in municipal affairs, although during the early days he served as a mem- 
ber of the local fire company. He married Anna Schwanitz in Cairo, 
and died January 8, 1908, having been the father of two sons : Charles, 
Jr., and William. 

Charles Feuchter, Jr., was born in Cairo, November 2, 1863, and was 
a pupil of the public schools until well toward the senior year, when he 
entered Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, and there 
took a commercial course. Soon after his graduation, in 1881, he en- 
tered upon his serious business career as a clerk in the freight offices of 
the Illinois Central Railway at Cairo, passing through various grades of 
clerkship as he climbed upward to the position of cashier, and resigning 
that position to take the position of cashier and chief clerk with the 
Iron Mountain Railway Company here in 1890. He remained with 
the latter company only a year, when his desire for more freedom 
and a business of his own caused him to resign. His first business oppor- 
tunity came when he joined his brother William in the purchase of the 
wholesale liquor business of Judge F. Bross, which was conducted under 
the name of Feuchter Brothers until 1907, when the firm was succeeded 
by The Lazarus Company, of which Mr. Feuchter is secretary. When 
the Cuban Cigar Company was launched he became its president, a posi- 
tion which he has held to the present time, and he is also a director in 
the St. Louis & Cairo Railroad Company, and has been a director in the 



874 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Alexander County National Bank for many years, as well as holding the 
office of vice-president of that institution. In 1911 he engaged in the 
fire insurance business with James H. Galligan, the firm of Feuchter & 
Galligan being one of the chief agencies of Cairo. In addition he is sec- 
retary of the Cairo Brewing Company, and is officially connected with 
the Citizens Building and Loan Association. Mil. Feuchter holds mem- 
bership in the Commercial and Alexander Clubs and the Board of Trade ; 
is past noble grand of Oddfellowship, past exalted ruler of Cairo Lodge, 
No. 651, B. P. O. E., past protector of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, 
past G. G. M. of the Knights of the Mystic Krew of Comus, President 
of Post F, Travelers Protective Association and of the Automobile Club 
and of the Cairo Country Club. 

On May 26, 1910, Mr. Feuchter was married at Cairo to Miss Adessa 
L. Hyde, daughter of George Hyde, and their new and handsome resi- 
dence is situated at No. 2601 Washington avenue. 

JAMES S. TEMPLETON, M. D. The Templeton family has been prom- 
inently identified with the best interests of Perry county since the Civil 
war period and beyond. As ministers of the gospel, medical men, and 
in the field of business they have ever been in the foremost ranks in 
the communities with which they have been affiliated, and much of the 
progress of Perry county is undeniably to be accredited to this staunch 
old Scotch family. 

Dr. James S. Templeton was born in Perry county, on March 23, 
1871. He is the son of Reverend William Templeton, who passed his 
life in this district as a minister of the gospel, and whose life and work 
is extensively mentioned elsewhere in the pages of this history. The 
mother of the Doctor was Margaret Eliza Craig, a daughter of an old 
and highly respected pioneer of Perry county, John M. Craig of Craig 
Branch. The home life of James Templeton was blessed by the gracious 
influences emanating from a noble mother and a worthy father. He 
was surrounded by an atmosphere of intellect and culture, and his edu- 
cation was carefully conducted in the home as well as in the schools. 
He finished the public schools and later attended the Southern Illinois 
Normal University. His first independent effort was put forth as an 
educator, he himself engaging in country school teaching for four years. 
The life of an instructor did not especially appeal to the young man, 
and he determined to enter the medical profession, considering himself 
better equipped mentally and by his natural inclinations for that than 
for any other profession. He accordingly entered the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons of St. Louis, graduating from that institution in 
1898. The first location of Dr. Templeton was in Cutler, Illinois, where 
he remained in active practice for five years. He left there to become 
official physician at the Illinois Penitentiary at Chester, but remained 
there only one year, believing, as he did, that a private practice would 
be more advantageous than institution work, and after spending a year 
in work in the Rush Medical College in Chicago, in post-graduate work 
and in hospital work in the Cook County Hospital, he came to Pinck- 
neyville in 1905. Since that year he has been permanently located at 
this place and has conducted a thriving practice since his locating here. 
Dr. Templeton is identified with the County and State Medical Socie- 
ties, the Southern Illinois Society, and with the American Medical Asso- 
ciation. In his political connections he is a Republican, and has served 
his party with all efficiency as a member of the Perry County Commit- 
tee, and he has at various times done duty as a delegate in ' state and 
other meetings, but he is by no means a man with what might be called 
political aspirations. He is a Pythian Knight, an Odd Fellow and a Mod- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 875 

ern Woodman, at the same time being examining physician for these or- 
ders. The Doctor is a director of the Pinckneyville Telephone Com- 
pany, in the promotion of which he was one of the dominant factors, 
and which he has helped to develop into a system which has sent its 
branches over much of the county and has connected the rural popula- 
tion of the Pinckneyville community by thirty-one different lines of 
service. 

On November 30, 1899, Dr. Templeton married Miss Anna Gallo- 
way, a daughter of John R. Galloway, a retired farmer of Perry county 
and a veteran of the Civil war, and concerning whose life and work a 
brief outline is most fitting at this juncture. 

The Galloways, like the Templetons, are of purest Scotch ancestry. 
John R. Galloway is the founder of his family in this country. He 
was born on September 8, 1836, in the town of Salt Wells, Ayrshire, 
Scotland, and his parents were William Galloway and Jane Robinson, 
whose people were tile-makers and had been identified with that locality 
for many generations, and they were the parents of John R., Andrew, 
James, who immigrated to Australia; Jeannette, who died unmarried; 
Jane, who married a Scotch lad of her native heath ; and Mary, who 
became the wife of John McGee. But one member of the Galloway 
family felt constrained to seek the United States. That one was John 
R. When he was eighteen years of age he embarked for this country on 
the steamer Calcutta, out of Glasgow, bound for New Orleans. He was 
seventy-two days at sea, and, the voyage over, he passed ten days in 
his passage up the Mississippi river to St. Louis. It was Christmas 
week when he reached the city and soon thereafter he went to his first 
American home in Randolph county, Illinois. There he engaged in 
farming and in carpenter work on Hill Prairie, and was making rapid 
progress is his work there when the rebellion broke out. Mr. Galloway 
demonstrated his true manhood and patriotism, as well as his American 
citizenship, by promptly enlisting in the defense of the Union, and he 
became a member of Company I, Twenty-second Illinois Infantry, first 
with Captain Deatherage and later with Captain S. P. Hood. The regi- 
ment was a portion of the command ordered to Bird's Point, Missouri, 
and pitted against the Confederates at Belmont, one of the first en- 
gagements of the war. The command went into camp at Charleston, 
Missouri, and was subsequently put aboard a transport for Columbus, 
Kentucky in an endeavor to hold the Confederates in check there while 
a Union attack was being planned for the forts near Paducah. Their 
point won by this strategy, the Twenty-second returned to Bird's Point 
and were sent by boat to Pittsburgh Landing, missing the Shiloh en- 
gagement of April 6th and 7th. They were permitted, however, to be 
participants in the conflicts at Farmington and Rienzi-, Mississippi, soon 
after, and then moved to Cherokee, Alabama, and Nashville. The 
troops crossed the Tennessee river at Jackson Landing and reinforced 
General Thomas, who was being pressed there, and after relieving that 
army went into camp for the winter. The maneuvers of the Confeder- 
ate army soon brought on the engagement at Stone River, and the 
Twenty-second Illinois was hurried there to participate in the activities 
during the last days of 1862. It was about this time that Mr. Galloway 
was placed on detached duty as a mechanic in the engineering corps 
under General Norton. The army moved on to Crow Creek and Bridge- 
port, Alabama, and here Mr. Galloway was detached to aid Lieutenant 
Froelich, an engineer on the staff of General Rosecrans, and was en- 
gaged in erecting defenses for the army more or less all the way to 
Chattanooga, The engineers remained in this vicinity until the army 
fought its way to Atlanta and returned under Scofield, while General 



876 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Sherman completed the subjugation of the south with his march to the 
sea. Mr. Galloway helped survey a military road over Lookout Moun- 
tain, that constituting a part of the several months spent in that historic 
spot. With the return of the conquering army arrangements were made 
to discharge many troops whose enlistment was completed, and the 
Twenty-second Illinois men were soon sent to Springfield for the final 
performance in their soldier career, the "mustering out." This event 
took place in July, 1864, and the incident of three years actual warfare 
was brought to a close for John Galloway. He returned home by way 
of St. Louis, and at Athens a splendid reception and ball was tendered 
the returning heroes. Immediately thereafter he returned to Sparta, 
where he once more took up civilian life as a resident of that place. 
There Mr. Galloway resumed the business of former years as mechanic 
and farmer, and incidentally became an enthusiastic Republican, his 
entire allegiance and devotion going to that party. He voted for Mr. 
Lincoln in 1860, and for Governor Yates, the war governor. He aided 
young "Dick" Yates in his contest for governor forty years later, and 
in every act has maintained his reputation as a staunch party man, al- 
though he has never aspired to office himself. 

In 1876 he came to Perry county and settled at Pyatt Station, remain- 
ing there while his activity as a farmer endured. He moved to Pinck- 
neyville in 1906, where he and his life companion are now making their 
home in the evening of their lives in the home of their daughter, Mrs. 
Templeton. Mr. Galloway married his wife, who was Miss Jane Robin- 
son, of Irish parentage, on March 15, 1866. Mrs. Templeton is their 
only child. Dr. and Mrs. Templeton have one daughter, Elizabeth J. 

OSCAR L. HERBERT. One of Cairo's native sons, a man upon whom 
devolves to a large extent the management and control of a great and 
growing industry, is Oscar L. Herbert, president of the Louis Herbert 
Company, and the successor of one of the leading business men of the 
city, the late Louis Herbert, who died here September 26. 1906, after 
an active career of more than forty years in various fields of com- 
mercial endeavor. 

Louis Herbert was born near Klingenberg, Bavaria, acquired a 
liberal education in his native country, and came to the United States 
at the age of seventeen years, two of his brothers, Rheinhardt and 
Maximillian following him to America and spending their lives in 
Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Herbert was in New Orleans when the 
Civil war broke out and there joined issues with the South, but soon 
thereafter came to Illinois and was connected with the cities of Cairo 
and Mound City, at times, until the close of the rebellion. He en- 
gaged in the hotel business at Cairo as his first venture, later handled 
produce and beer, and subsequently drifted into the wholesale liquor 
business, in which he was extensively engaged at the time of his death. 
His success as a financier encouraged him to enter other avenues of 
endeavor, and he chose real estate as an investment, laying his hold- 
ings in Kentucky, and in Alexander and Pulaski counties, Illinois. 
While not known in politics he was nevertheless a factor to be 
reckoned with, a silent but positive force, his station in municipal 
affairs being that of a director rather than as a public figure. He 
was married at Mound City, Illinois, to Miss Elise Elbert, who died in 
Cairo in April, 1911, and they had six sons and one daughter, but 
the latter, Laura, died in infancy. The living are : Bernard J., Oscar 
L., and Byron C., the latter, born October 21, 1882, is connected with 
the Louis Herbert Company as secretary. 

Oscar L. Herbert was born November 10, 1876, and his preliminary 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 877 

education was secured in the public schools of Cairo, this being sup- 
plemented by attendance in Christian Brothers College, St. Louis, 
from which he was graduated in 1898. He then spent some time in 
the St. Louis Law School, preparatory to a business career, and when 
ready for life's responsibilities he secured a position with the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company and was a clerical man for a year and a 
half. He was next employed with the William Young Carriage Com- 
pany, and was with them until an opportunity came to engage in the 
business for himself, and he organized a company and was identified 
with its successful management for five .years. He returned to Cairo 
upon the death of his father, and took his place beside his father's 
associate, Mr. Harry Cushman, and has since been a factor in the firm. 
In 1907 the Louis Herbert Company was incorporated, and Oscar L. 
was elected its president, Mr. Cushman, its vice-president, and Byron 
C. Herbert, its secretary. His connection with outside affairs shows 
Mr. Herbert only to be a director of the Cairo National Bank. Like 
his father he is an honorable and upright man, scrupulously con- 
scientious in every business and financial transaction, and it follows 
that he has a large number of warm friends and well-wishers. 

In April, 1902, Mr. Herbert was married in St. Louis to Miss 
Alberta M. Bradford, and one son, Donald, has been born to them. 

HERBERT C. BEACH. A striking example of self-made manhood that 
is worthy of the most persistent and conscientious emulation, Herbert 
C. Beach, one of the leading business men of Christopher, Illinois, has 
marked his career with unceasing toil and honorable occupation and 
transactions, and from a lad wholly unknown his rise has incessantly 
been in the ascendancy. He is a native of this state and was born in 
Ogle county, July 13, 1877, a son of Henry F. and Margaret A. (Her- 
bert) Beach. 

The father of Mr. Beach was born in the state of New York, and as 
a young man came to Ogle county, Illinois, but as he died when Herbert 
C. was a lad of five years little is known of him except that he was a 
blacksmith by occupation and came of an honorable family. He married 
Margaret Herbert, daughter of John C. Herbert, a native of North 
Carolina, who moved to Illinois in young manhood, reared a family, and 
here followed his trade until the time of his death, in 1887. Several of 
Mrs. Beach 's brothers served in the Federal army during the Civil war. 

Herbert C. Beach was given but little chance to secure an education, 
as he was early sent out to work to assist in supporting the family. When 
he could find employment he worked at whatever occupation presented 
itself, and finally secured a position in a general store, and continued 
to work as a clerk for fourteen years. His mother had reared him to 
habits of industry and economy, and through the long years that he 
worked in subordinate positions he carefully saved his earning with the 
idea of some day owning a business of his own, and his ambitions were 
realized in 1904, when he came to Christopher and engaged in the real 
estate and insurance business. Constant attention to business, faithful 
study of realty values, conscientious effort to conduct his dealings in 
an absolutely legitimate manner, and withal a pleasing personality that 
has made him friends wherever he has found himself combined to make 
Mr. Beach's venture an unqualified success, and he stands today among 
the substantial men of his community. His faith in the future of Chris- 
topher has been unbounded and he has invested largely in valuable real 
estate and building property. Since coming here he has purchased 
many residences, has done his share in promoting the upbuilding of the 
city by erecting no less than twenty-eight structures, and is now the 



878 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

owner of twelve buildings. He is district agent for the Central Life In- 
surance Company of Ottawa, Illinois, one of the most solid and substan- 
tial companies of the state, and has enlarged their business to a great 
extent during the past few years. With others he is engaged in advanc- 
ing the interests of his adopted city, and is secretary of the Christopher 
Building and Loan Association. 

On September 1, 1907, Mr. Beach was married to Ruby Randall, 
daughter of W. J. Randall, a native of Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Beach 
are consistent members of the Christian church, and he teaches one of 
the largest Sunday-school classes for men in Southern Illinois, com- 
prising ninety-five members. "Fraternally Mr. Beach is connected with 
the Modern Woodmen of America and the Odd Fellows, has been 
through all the chairs in the latter organization, and at present is dep- 
uty of Tyron Lodge, No. 653, at Christopher. In political matters he 
is a Republican, with Prohibition leanings, and during the recent wave 
of temperance which swept over Illinois he did his full share in this 
great reform movement. As a sturdy, enterprising and up-to-date citi- 
zen, Mr. Beach has accomplished an incomprehensible amount of good 
for the city of Christopher. His aggressiveness, coupled with his energy 
and prolific mind ; his honesty as an example and precept ; his integrity, 
and his capability as a man of opinions, all have combined to make him 
a valuable citizen, and one who is fully entitled to the respect and es- 
teem in which he is universally held. 

DANIEL P. BARKER is one of the fine old residents of Sparta, Illinois, 
where he has been variously connected in business and where he is now 
secretary and accountant of the Sparta Gas & Electric Company. Mr. 
Barker was born in Monroe county, Illinois, the date of his nativity being 
the 5th of March, 1842. He is a son of Daniel M. Barker, a native of 
Massachusetts, who removed west in 1812, driving to Ohio in a wagon 
with his brothers. In 1817 he came to Illinois by keel boat. While in 
Ohio he took part in the state militia drills preparatory for service in 
the war of 1812. He was a farmer by occupation and he lived in Mon- 
roe county, this state, until the close of the Civil war, when he located at 
Redbud, Illinois, where his death occurred in 1868. He was a Whig 
in politics but never entered party confabs for personal advantage. 

The paternal grandfather of him to whom this sketch is dedicated 
was Zebediah Barker, a corporal in Captain Samuel Johnson's company, 
in a regiment commanded by Colonel Johnson in the Revolutionary war. 
He enlisted as a soldier in the war for independence on the 14th of Au- 
gust, 1777, and received his honorable discharge on the 30th of November 
of the same year. On June 12, 1778, he re-enlisted in Lieutenant Jere- 
miah Blanchard's company, of Colonel Thomas Poor's regiment, and 
was discharged on the 29th of January, 1779. His sons, Abner, Isaac and 
Asa, were among those who came west to Illinois with Daniel M. Barker 
and settled in the New Design neighborhood of Monroe county. Daniel 
M. Barker was twice married, his first wife having been Mary Varnum 
in her girlhood days. She became the mother of Hiram, Albert (de- 
ceased), Louis (deceased) and Myron (deceased). The second wife of 
Mr. Barker was Rachel Ross, and this union was prolific of five children, 
concerning whom the following brief data are here inserted, Eveline, 
who wedded Napoleon Fitzpatrick, is deceased ; Melcena died as the wife 
of J. L. Crozier ; Susan 0. married Robert J. Smith and resides in Chi- 
cago ; Eliza B. became Mrs. J. C. Bratney, of Sparta ; and Daniel P. is 
the immediate subject of this notice. Rachel Ross was a widow when she 
married Daniel M. Barker, and she was the mother of two children by 
her union with Mr. Ross. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 879 

Daniel P. Barker received a good country school education in Monroe 
county, Illinois, and when he embarked in life's affairs for himself it 
was as a druggist in Sparta, in which town he located in 1863. The 
building which housed his stock of merchandise fifty years ago is now 
sheltering a similar stock for one of his sons. He was not long an apothe- 
cary, however, but accepted a position as office man with the Sparta 
Steam Flouring Mill Company, in which concern he subsequently be- 
came financially interested. While so employed, the discovery of gas at 
Sparta suddenly opened up a new industry and Mr. Barker became a 
member of a company for the development of the gas field and the util- 
ization of gas as a commercial product. He continued to be engaged in 
this manner from 1888 until the failure of the supply rendered fur- 
ther operation futile, at which time he turned his attention to railroad 
work. The Illinois Southern Railroad was then building through this 
county, it having been known as the Centralia & Chester Railroad. Mr. 
Barker became office man for the construction company of this road, 
serving in that capacity for a period of three and a half years, at the 
expiration of which period he engaged in the electric business with the 
Sparta Gas & Electric Company, of which concern he is now secretary 
and accountant. This electric plant was built and is owned by Louis W. 
Barker and Professor Leon Sexton, son and son-in-law, respectively, of 
Mr. Barker. 

As we have proceeded we have omitted a brief period of Mr. Barker's 
life which differs widely from the seeming routine of civil affairs. Dur- 
ing the early years of his majority the Civil war came on and he resisted 
the temptation to get into the army in support of the Union until 1864, 
at which time he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-second 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Captain John Stevenson and in com- 
mand of Colonel R. V. Ankeny. The troops were taken into the south 
to guard the trail of the veteran army and to hold captured ground of 
the enemy in Tennessee. Mr. Barker was commissioned first lieutenant 
of his company while out and was honorably discharged as such in 
November, 1864. 

During his citizenship in Sparta Mr. Barker has given freely of his 
service to the public in whatever capacity demanded of him and from 
1872 to 1910, with the exception of an intermission, he was a valued mem- 
ber of the Sparta board of education. He is a Republican in politics 
and in casting his ballot has only sought the maintenance of a govern- 
mental policy proved to be advantageous to a citizenship like ours. Mr. 
Barker is a Master Mason and he retains a deep and abiding interest in 
his old comrades in arms, signifying the same by membership in the 
Grand Army of the Republic, and he is also a member of the Sons of the 
American Revolution. In religious matters he and his family are de- 
vout members of the Presbyterian church, in the different departments of 
whose work they have ever been most active factors. 

Mr. Barker was married at Sparta, on the 31st of October, 1865, to 
Miss Anna J. Rosborough, a daughter of William Rosborough, whose birth 
occurred in county Antrim, Ireland. Mr. Rosborough immigrated to the 
United States and for a long time was a prominent merchant at Sparta, 
where his death took place in 1885. His cherished and devoted wife, 
whose maiden name was Mary Mahard, died just eleven days before him. 
Mr. and Mrs. Rosborough had five children. The Barker family consists 
of the following children, Albert is engaged in the drug business at 
his father's old stand at Sparta ; Louis W. is a member of the firm which 
conducts the Sparta Gas & Electric Company ; Mary is the wife of Pro- 
fessor Leon Sexton, principal of the Madison school of St. Louis, Mis- 
souri ; and Elizabeth is the wife of P. S. Wilson, a banker of Steeleville, 
Illinois. 



880 HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

WILLIAM B. HALL. As a farmer of large interests and a business of 
many years standing William Butler Hall is a prominent figure in the 
affairs of DuQuoin. For more than twenty years he has represented the 
Illinois Central Railway Company in the sale of the lands, granted to it 
by the Government, and for more than a third of a century he has been 
a resident of DuQuoin and has been actively engaged in furthering the 
growth of the city. Believing that the prosperity of the city would be 
greatly fostered by the organization of another bank, he was one of the 
prime movers in the chartering of the First National Bank of DuQuoin, 
and is at present vice-president of the institution. 

William Butler Hall was born in Posey county, Indiana, on the 20th 
of October, 1848. He is the son of John Hall, who was a native of Ken- 
tucky, having been born at Bowling Green in 1810. His ancestors were 
the Halls of Virginia, of colonial fame, and the family were pioneer set- 
lers in the Blue Grass state. The father of John wielded the hoe and 
drove the plow through unturned soil, and when he came into Indiana 
it was as one of her earliest settlers. He died in Posey county, leaving 
two sons, John and Daniel Miller Hall, and one daughter, who married 
Aaron Miller and died in the county of her residence. John Hall mar- 
ried Margaret Harris for his first wife. She was a native born North 
Carolinian, and out of her large family of children, ten in number, 
only three grew up, namely, David West Hall, who died at De Soto, Illi- 
nois ; Mary, who married E. A. Sprague and died in Williamson county ; 
and William B., the only survivor. After the death of his first wife, in 
1866, Mr. Hall married Mrs. Clarissa (Tinsley) Blake. No children 
were born to them, and in 1876, Mr. Hall died in Franklin county, Illi- 
nois. He was a Democrat in politics, and was an active worker in the 
ranks of the party. In the early fifties he served his county in Indiana 
as a representative in the lower house of the state legislature. 

During the minority of William B. Hall he was a farm boy in Wil- 
liamson, county, but he managed to find the time from his duties to go 
to school. After obtaining as much education as the country schools 
provided he attended the Southern Illinois College at Carbondale, hav- 
ing only one session of work there but that work was done under the 
tutelage of Clark Braden. He later passed a winter in Ewing College, 
when Dr. Washburn, well remembered as the founder of that institu- 
tion, was its head. He then returned to his old home, where he re- 
mained until his father's death. 

In October, 1875, he married Miss Eliza Blake, a daughter of his 
step-mother. Her father was Aaron Blake, of Franklin county. She 
did not live long, dying the next year, and their infant daughter, Isa, 
only lived to be eighteen months old. The old home was so saddened by 
these events that Mr. Hall concluded to leave it and establish himself 
elsewhere. 

In 1878 he came to DuQuoin and entered into his first business con- 
nection as a merchant. After a few years of selling goods over a counter 
he was appointed agent for the Illinois Central Railway Company, as 
sales manager for their lands, and he has been engaged in this work 
ever since, and is even now occupied with some feature of the company 's 
land business. As has been mentioned, he was very prominent in the 
organization of the First National Bank, of which he is vice-president. 
He takes great interest in any building erected in DuQuoin and has 
had considerable to do with many of the finest buildings. He was chair- 
man of the building committee of the Odd Fellows when they built 
their handsome structure, and as a member of the building committee 
he helped plan and erect the Methodist church. His own home and two 
of the most substantial business houses in the city are owned by Mr. 



OMHE 
BIWERSITY OF ILLMWB 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 881 

Hall, and all of these were built under his direct supervision. He has, 
therefore, had no small part in the material development of the place. 
He is also interested in farming, having extensive interests in the sur- 
rounding country, but doing his farming mainly by proxy. 

Mr. Hall has always been keenly interested in politics, especially in 
those of his home city. His allegiance is with the Temperance Demo- 
crats, and in their behalf he has served the town as alderman and also 
as mayor, making a reputation for honesty and good government during 
his term of office in the latter capacity. He is a charter member of the 
Southern Illinois Immigration and Improvement Association and served 
as its secretary for several years. Mr. Hall is an Odd Fellow and an 
Elk. He is a regular attendant and member of the Methodist church, 
as are all of his family. 

Mr. Hall was married on the 8th of March, 1882, to Miss Lizzie 
Emery, a daughter of John Emery and a granddaughter of Dr. John 
Emery, of Loveland, Ohio. Her father was superintendent of the salt 
works at St. Johns, Illinois, when he died. Mr. and Mrs. Hall are the 
parents of two children, Gussie and Bessie. The former is the wife of 
Ralph W. Eddleman, of Chanute, Kansas, he being foreman of the At- 
chison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway shops at that place. 

Mr. Hall 's conspicuous part in the development of his town was well 
rewarded in the confidence which his fellow citizens reposed in him 
in electing him chief executive of the city, but he undoubtedly finds a 
greater reward in the consciousness of work well done. Having the ' ' bee 
of progressiveness in his bonnet," he has been able through his native 
enthusiasm to win others to his views and his work for the upbuilding 
of the town of DuQuoin can never be estimated. 

S. W. LATHAM, M. D. A man of rare discrimination and judgment, 
keen-sighted, practical and progressive, S. W. Latham, M. D., is not 
only one of the leading physicians of Saline county but is one of the 
more prominent and influential citizens of Eldorado, where as mayor of 
the city he is rendering excellent service, being especially active in the 
inauguration of enterprises conducive to the public welfare. A son of 
the late Dr. John Latham, he was born April 12, 1878, in Harrisburg, 
Saline county, of good old Virginia ancestry. 

John Latham was born and reared in Virginia, and there received 
a collegiate education, being fitted for the medical profession in his 
native state. Coming to Illinois in 1856, he practised medicine in Eldo- 
rado for three years, in the meantime reading law. Not particularly 
enjoying his labors as a physician, Dr. Latham moved to Harrisburg 
in 1859, about the time that city was made the county-seat of Saline 
county, and was made its first city attorney. He was thereafter en- 
gaged in the practice of law at Harrisburg until his death, which was 
caused, in 1885, by diphtheria when he was but fifty-six years old. Dr. 
John Latham married Sarah R. Westbrook, a native of Saline county. 
Her father, the maternal grandfather of Dr. S. W. Latham, was Rev. 
Samuel Westbrook, who came from Virginia to Saline county in pio- 
neer days, locating about two miles east of Eldorado, where he im- 
proved a farm, and was one of the most active workers in the Metho- 
dist Episcopal denomination, having served as a circuit rider for many 
years. Mr. "Westbrook served as a soldier in the Mexican war, and sub- 
sequently preached in various Illinois churches, continuing his minis- 
terial labors until upwards of ninety years of age. He died at the 
home of his daughter, Mrs. Sarah R. (Latham) Scott, of Eldorado, in 
1910, at the remarkable age of ninety-nine years. Of the union of John 
and Sarah R. (Westbrook) Latham three children were born and 



882 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

reared, as follows : S. W., the special subject of this brief sketch ; John 
0., engaged in farming near Eldorado ; and Dora B., wife of Jesse 
Nash, who is engaged in mercantile pursuits at Murphysboro, Illinois. 
Mrs. Latham lived a widow several years, and then married for her 
second husband Mr. J. M. Scott of Eldorado, of whom a brief personal 
sketch may be found on another page of this work. 

After completing the course of study in the Eldorado schools, S. W. 
Latham taught school a year, and in 1896 was graduated from the In- 
diana Central Normal College, at Danville. Entering the Saint Louis 
College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1897, he was there graduated in 
1901 as valedictorian of his class. During the ensuing year Dr. Latham 
had charge of the Jefferson Hospital, after which he settled in Eldo- 
rado, where his father had located fifty years before, and has since been 
here successfully employed as a physician and surgeon, having a large 
and remunerative patronage throughout this part of Saline county. 
The Doctor holds an honored position in professional circles, and is 
identified by membership with the Saline County Medical Society, the 
State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. 

A stanch Republican in politics, Dr. Latham has ever evinced an 
intelligent interest in local affairs, and has never shirked the respon- 
sibilities of public office. For six years he served as a member of the 
local school board during which time the present large and handsome 
public school building was erected. In 1910 the Doctor was elected 
mayor of Eldorado, and in the time that has since elapsed he has been 
very active and influential in adding to the municipal improvements 
previously inaugurated. Many of the streets of the city have been 
paved; a water works system costing seventy-five thousand dollars has 
been established ; sewerage costing ninety thousand dollars has been in- 
troduced; and a plant for incinerating garbage has been put in operar 
tion. During the first five months of Dr. Latham's administration as 
mayor seven miles of concrete sidewalks were built ; one and one-fourth 
miles of street crossings were laid; one and one-fourth miles of sewer 
pipes were laid in the city; and a practical system by which garbage 
is collected from garbage cans was installed. In all of these wise and 
much needed improvements the Doctor has been a dominant factor, 
and too much credit cannot be given him for his efficient aid in push- 
ing these beneficial enterprises, each one of which has been of prac- 
tical value to the town and county. 

Dr. Latham married, in 1901, Lura B. Osburn, a daughter of C. E. 
Osburn, of Eldorado, a former justice of the peace. Mrs. Latham is a 
member of the Christian church, and a faithful worker in the same. 
Fraternally the Doctor belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Or- 
der of Masons; to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; to the 
Knights of Pythias; and to the Improved Order of Red Men. 

WILLIAM A. LACKY. In the list of successful farmers of Pulaski 
county, Illinois, who through perseverance, judicious management and 
sound judgment as business men have risen to positions of influence 
and prosperity, mention belongs to William A. Lacky, whose fine farm 
of three hundred and forty-five acres lies near to the village of Pul- 
aski and is the farm of his birth. He represents one of Pulaski 
county's oldest families, one of the first to inhabit this locality and 
which was founded by his grandfather, Thomas Lacky, who located 
upon the hill overlooking the village of Pulaski many years before 
the little hamlet was dreamed of. Thomas Lacky migrated to this 
section from North Carolina in the territorial days of Illinois and at 
a time when the surrounding country was wild and unimproved, re- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 883 

taming the appearance of primeval nature. He brought his family 
overland, the only method of transportation then, and entered land 
in which was then Alexander county. He was a man of force and 
industry, and through his influence others were induced to make this 
locality their home. He was reared in the atmosphere of slavery and 
established that institution at his new home by returning on horse- 
back to North Carolina and bringing out four slaves, said to be the 
first introduced there. They proved unpopular however, and later 
he sold them to a relative who took them over into Missouri, then re- 
garded as a slave state. Thomas Lacky, in a sense, blazed the trail 
for settlement in that section of Southern Illinois and gave himself 
assiduously to the labor of bringing the land under cultivation, but 
his death occurred before the stumps had disappeared from his land 
and before he had accomplished much in the way of development. 
He and his wife are both buried in the Lacky cemetery on the point 
of a hill back of the home of his grandson, the subject of this review. 
Their children were: Cyrus, who left a family in this neighborhood 
at his death ; Alfred, the father of our subject ; Silas, who passed away 
near Commerce, Missouri ; Joel, Thomas and William, all of whom 
died in the locality of the old homestead; and Elizabeth, who became 
the wife of Jacob Peeler and died at Wetaug, Illinois. 

Alfred Lacky was born in North Carolina in 1812 and was a child 
about two years of age when his father brought his family to Illinois. 
His childhood environment contributed little to him in the way of 
education, although he gained the rudiments necessary to a fairly suc- 
cessful agricultural life. As a young man he gained some experience 
as a soldier in the Black Hawk war, espoused the politics of his father, 
that of Democracy, and for a number of years was a justice of the 
peace, in which official capacity he came in close touch with the life 
of his community. In church faith and membership he was a Mis- 
sionary Baptist, and was something of a disciplinarian in his family. 
His wife was Lorena Palmer, a daughter of William Palmer, who came 
to this section of Illinois from Tennessee and who is buried at Shiloh 
church. General John M. Palmer, famed as an Illinois soldier and 
statesman, was his cousin. Albert Lacky was preceded in death by 
his wife. Their children were William A., of this review ; Mary, who be- 
came the wife of August Biggerstaff and died at Shiloh church ; Thomas, 
killed by a falling tree while helping to dislodge it ; Isabel, who be- 
came Mrs. Jasper Atherton and died at Pulaski ; Lucinda. the widow 
of James Aldred ; Wesley and Anna, deceased ; and Delia, now Mrs. 
John Needham, of Pulaski. 

William A. Lacky was a graduate of the log cabin schools of his 
day and a victim of the pioneer methods of educating the youth, for 
then the rod still obtained and the appalling sound of the birch 
frequently urged the youngsters to a more concentrated effort in 
mastering the "Three R's. " In Mr. Lacky 's remarkable memory are 
preserved the names of his several teachers who had to do with his 
intellectual training. They were Thomas Duvall, William Blake, Mrs. 
DePew, a Mr. Goodman and George W. Minick. He was reared on 
the farm and there gained a practical knowledge of -the basic prin- 
ciples of agriculture. He began life with his modest patrimony and 
through able managment as a grain and stock raiser he has become 
one of the substantial men of his locality and the owner of a highly 
developed farm of three hundred and forty-five acres. This farm 
represents the best years of effort upon the part of himself and his 
industrious and self-sacrificing wife, and the spot which everybody 



884 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

knows as their home reminds the traveler of a hamlet rather than the 
ordinary farmstead. 

While Mr. Lacky's life has been one of application and industry, 
yet he has found time to devote to the social side of life, is fond of 
company, and is never too busy to extend to any visitor the hospi- 
tality of a courteous host and of a pleasant home. He is a staunch 
advocate of Republican party principles and has been an active factor 
in the management of Pulaski county party affairs. He was once the 
nominee for sheriff and has been a delegate to county conventions 
many times. 

On January 9, 1861, Miss Frances A. Biggerstaff became his wife. 
Mrs. Lacky was born July 20, 1843, to Thomas and Susan (Dilts) 
Biggerstaff, the' former of whom came to Illinois from North Carolina 
as a pioneer and was of German descent. Mr. Biggerstaff died Sep- 
tember 20, 1892, when seventy-three years of age, and in December 
of the following year his wife followed him in death. The children 
of these parents were as follows: Augustus, a resident of Pulaski 
county; Mrs. Lacky; Hector, who was accidentally killed; Isabel, now 
Mrs. Thomas Daniels, of Pulaski county; and Albert, who died in in- 
fancy. 

Mr. Lacky expects to spend his remaining years at the pleasant 
homestead near Pulaski, which is especially endeared to him by its 
many family associations and which for more than fifty years has been 
the home of himself and his faithful helpmeet. 

JUSTIN G-. HEMENWAY. One of the alert, enterprising and progres- 
sive business men of Ullin, Illinois, is Justin G. Hemenway, cashier of 
the First National Bank of Ullin, a young man of fine business mentality 
and unswerving integrity whose faithful and efficient service in other 
lines of business demonstrated his fitness and secured for him the re- 
sponsible position he now holds. 

Mr. Hemenway was born in Junction City, Kansas, on July 21, 1879, 
a son of Julius W. Hemenway. The elder Hemenway was a native of 
Vermont, born in Waterville, that state, in 1848, the descendant of an 
old Colonial New England family of Scotch-Irish origin. The Hemen- 
way family was also well represented among the soldiery of the Revolu- 
tion. Julius W. Hemenway was reared in Waterville, Vermont, and 
there acquired a common school education. At Hyde Park, Vermont, 
he wedded Miss Lucy Downey, and with his young wife came west. 
They first located at Junction City, Kansas, and it was while they were 
residents of Kansas that their only son, Justin G. Hemenway, was born. 
In 1882 the family returned east to Perry county, Illinois, where for 
twenty-two years Julius W. Hemenway was superintendent of the 
Jlakeslee Manufacturing Company at DuQuoin. Following that con- 
nection he engaged in the bakery business there until his death, in May, 
1909, at the age of sixty-one years. His wife survives him and still 
-esides a.t DuQuoin. 

Justin G. Hemenway passed his childhood and early manhood at 
DuQuoin, Illinois. After graduating from the high school there in 1898 
he attended the Culver Military Academy, Culver, Indiana, one year. 
He took the first step in the way of independent business life when he 
became a drug clerk with A. C. Brookings, of DuQuoin, from which 
employment, after a few years, he came to Ullin and took charge of 
the drug store of Dr. Robinson. It was while thus engaged that Dr. 
Robinson acquired the bank stock or interest of his partner, L. E. Chen- 
ault, and Mr. Hemenway was made the successor of that gentleman as 
cashier of the First National Bank of Ullin. In this position he has 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 885 

discharged every duty with promptness and fidelity, has been watchful 
of the bank's best interests, and to his unfailing courtesy and genial 
manners is due no small measure of the institution's popularity and 
success. 

He is a man of public spirit and every project which promises the 
advancement of Ullin receives his prompt and cordial support. In the 
movement to make Ullin a modern village a local telephone company 
was formed and a system of local and long distance communication was 
established, and of this company Mr. Hemenway is president. He joined 
in the agitation for the incorporation of the village, has been one of its 
trustees, and has served as a member of the board of education and as 
treasurer of the township. Politically he is a Republican. 

On April 16, 1905, Mr. Hemenway married Miss Nell Spilman, whom 
he had known from childhood and who is the only child of Hon. I. R. 
Spilman and his wife, who was formerly Miss Sophia Tingley. For 
many years Mr. Spilman was a conspicuous member of the bar of Perry 
county, Illinois, but he and his wife now reside in Seattle, Washington. 
Upon their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hemenway established their home 
in Ullin, and there have been born their three children Justine Georgia, 
Spilman and Julius. Mr. Hemenway is a Mason and a Knight of 
Pythias. 

HORACE R. SIMS, clerk of Perry county, is a resident of Tamaroa, 
having been identified with the varied interests of that city for the past 
decade. He was born at Crockett Mills, April 17, 1880, and is the son 
of the late Dr. James R. Sims, of DuQuoin, Illinois, whose identity with 
the medical profession in that city covered a period of fourteen years, 
and whose prominence in political and educational circles is well re- 
membered in these parts. 

James R. Sims was born in Crockett county, Tennessee, in 1847, 
where he acquired a liberal education and was well known as a teacher 
in the public schools of his native county for a number of years. His 
professional training was received in a medical college in Memphis, Ten- 
nessee, and when he came to Illinois he was in the full flush of his pro- 
fessional activities and prominence. Dr. Sims manifested an unusual 
interest in public school affairs, and was for a number of years a mem- 
ber of the DuQuoin school board, and occupying the place of president 
of the board at the time of his death. His political work was in some 
respects a counterpart of his educational services, as he was for several 
years a member of the Democratic County Central Committee, and was 
its chairman when he passed away. Dr. Sims married Miss Asenith 
Avery, and of their union eight children were born: Henry, who died 
in infancy; Edgar E., of Murphysboro, Illinois; Horace R., whose name 
introduces this review ; William A. ; James, Nina and Ida of Tamaroa, 
and Julia, the wife of Carl Federe, of Lawrenceville, Illinois. 

Horace R. Sims completed his common school training when he was 
eighteen years of age and his first work was in the capacity of a mer- 
chant 's clerk in DuQuoin. His principal employer in that city was 
Thomas Horn, whose interests, together with those of the Horn family, 
furnished a large market for DuQuoin labor. Subsequently Mr. Sims 
went to Tamaroa, there serving Haines Brothers for several years, and 
he was still in their employ when he was elected to the official position 
which he now holds. In 1910 Mr. Sims was nominated by the Demo- 
crats of Tamaroa for the office of county clerk, and he defeated his Re- 
publican opponent in the race by a majority of three hundred and 
ninety-five votes, leading his ticket by a considerable number of votes. 

He assumed the duties of the office in that same year as the successor 
VOL n n 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

of J. G. Taffee. He has thus far performed the duties of his office with 
accuracy and precision, giving to the county a service unexcelled by 
the incumbents of previous years. Mr. Sims is inclined to prominence 
in local fraternal circles, among the societies of which he is a member 
being the Masonic order, in which he is a Master Mason, and the Mod- 
ern Woodmen of America. 

On November 23, 1902, Mr. Sims married in Tamaroa Miss Birdie 
Haines, a daughter of Samuel Haines, president of the First National 
Bank of Tamaroa and one of the old merchants of the county, recognized 
as one of the ablest business men of his section. Mr. and Mrs. Sims are 
the parents of two children, Russel Haines and Florence Marie. 

DR. JOHN P. BROWN. Prominent among the professional men of 
Benton, Illinois, is Dr. John P. Brown, one of the best known medical 
advisers in this part of the state, who for many years has ministered to 
the physical ailments of the people of this community. 

Dr. John P. Brown was born in Pinckneyville, Illinois, on January 
4, 1843. His grandfather on his father's side of the house was a native 
of North Carolina, who afterwards removed to Kentucky, in which state 
he lived the remainder of his life. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 
and met a tragic death while on duty when a horse stumbled and fell 
upon him. Doctor Brown 's maternal grandfather was Alexander Clark, 
a native of Ohio, who settled on land near Pinckneyville, Illinois, in 
1810, continuing to live upon the farm until the time of his death. The 
parents of Dr. Brown were Hugh M. and Nancy (Clark) Brown. The 
father was born in Kentucky, on February 10, 1810. In 1828, when but 
eighteen years of age, he set his face toward the land of the setting sun 
and migrated to Perry county, Illinois. The location pleased him and 
he accordingly decided to settle down there. Selecting a fine piece of 
land then owned by the Government, he filed upon it and thus became 
one of the earliest settlers in the vicinity of Pinckneyville. For sixty 
years Mr. Brown continued to engage in agriculture, but in his more 
feeble years made his home with his son, the Doctor, in Benton, remain- 
ing there until his death occurred in 1899. Both he and his wife were 
devout members of the Presbyterian church. He was interested in all 
matters of public import but never aspired to official life of any kind. 
Politically he was an advocate of Republican principles. 

Doctor Brown has lived through some of the most stirring periods 
of our national existence and has had an interesting life. Before his 
early school education was completed the Civil war broke out and 
although he was but a youth of eighteen years, fired with patriotic en- 
thusiasm he forsook the schoolroom and offered his services to the North- 
ern cause. His enlistment dated 1861, when he was assigned to duty as 
a member of Company A, Eighteenth Illinois Infantry. During his 
participation in the conflict extending over a period of two and a half 
years he had part in a number of important engagements, including the 
battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh and the siege of Corinth 
Physical disability caused his honorable discharge from the army before 
the close of the war. 

After returning from the field of battle Mr. Brown returned to 
Pinckneyville and began the study of medicine under Dr. Carter, of that 
place. Subsequently he attended a school at Keokuk, Iowa, for a short 
time, then finished reading medicine with Dr. Burris and became a prac- 
titioner in Perry county, Illinois, continuing for ten years. Dr. Brown 
was not wholly satisfied with his education in medical science, however, 
and accordingly decided to enter the Missouri Medical College at St. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 887 

Louis, Missouri, and he later graduated from that institution with the 
best possible educational equipment for the prosecution of his profession. 

In 1881 Dr. Brown opened his office at Benton and has since that 
date engaged continuously in medical practice here. There is but one 
physician who has practiced for a longer period than he in Franklin 
county, while at one time Dr.. Brown was the only man with requisite 
skill to perform surgical operations in the county. 

Dr. Brown is a man of progressive instincts and keeps himself 
closely abreast of the latest developments in the science of medicine and 
surgery, holds membership in both local and state medical associations, 
and takes an active part in their meetings and deliberations. While 
he devotes his energies exclusively to his practice, so far as applies to 
business and professional activities, he does not forget his duty as a citi- 
zen and a social factor and is at all times ready to lend the weight of 
his influence to the improvement of conditions in the community in 
which he lives. In politics he is a believer in Republican principles. He 
belongs to the Elks and the Odd Fellows fraternal orders, has passed 
through all of the chairs of the latter and represented his lodge in 
Grand Lodge meetings. 

In 1862 Dr. Brown was united in marriage to Mary V. Coleman, 
daughter of Lemuel Coleman, a native of Maryland. Two daughters 
were born of this union, Addie M., who married Jackson McClelland, 
and Mary V., the deceased wife of Arthur Scott. Mrs. Brown died in 
1867, and in 1868 Dr. Brown again married, Nancy A. Burris becoming 
his wife. She is a daughter of Dr. Burris, for years a prominent physi- 
cian of DuBois, and later of Benton, at which latter place he continued 
his practice until his death. Dr. and Mrs. Brown became the parents 
of four children: Effie, who married Frank Topping; Pearl, who mar- 
ried Frank Mills ; Harry, who is a rural route mail carrier residing in 
Benton ; and Stanley, engaged in railroad work at Centralia, Illinois. 
The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take 
an active interest in the leading social and religious affairs of the com- 
munity. 

DE. JOHN B. MATHIS is an example of the man who devotes himself 
entirely to the pursuit of his profession, feeling that to be a faithful 
practitioner one 's outside interests must not be such as to absorb any of 
the time which should be given to others. Not that he is not interested 
in the civic life of his community, or in public enterprises affecting the 
welfare of its citizens, for he has held office more than once, but in busi- 
ness enterprises he takes no interest. 

The birth of Dr. Mathis occurred in Vienna, Illinois, on the 24th of 
September, 1871. His father is Dr. John B. Mathis, of Mound City, 
whose personal and geneological record appears briefly elsewhere in this 
work. Dr. Mathis was brought up at America, in Pulaski county, and 
received his early education in the district schools of that county. His 
first college work was done in Christian College, at Eureka, and later he 
attended the Southern Illinois Normal at Carbondale. When he was 
eighteen, since it was necessary for him to have funds if he wished to 
go into medical work, he gave up his life as a student and went into the 
teaching profession. He gained much experience in the schools of 
Pulaski county, learning the sympathy and patience that were after- 
wards of so great value to him. After five years spent thus he 
took up his preparation for the practice of medicine. He did his 
preliminary work in his father's office, and went to Barnes Medical Col- 
lege in St. Louis with as fine a preparation as could have been obtained 
anywhere. He graduated from the above mentioned college, which is 



888 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

x- 

now a part of Barnes University, in 1900, and established himself in 
Ullin, Illinois. 

His absorption in his books and laboratory and patients has been 
such as to prevent much outside work, but feeling in his own profession 
the lack of a telephone system he was actively interested in the promo- 
tion of a scheme to form a local telephone company, and it is of much 
satisfaction to him to know that in case of a sudden illness his patient 
does not run the risk of dying for lack of a speedy way of reaching 
him. In his service as president of the school board of Ullin he has 
been of inestimable worth in insisting upon the best of sanitation and 
modern equipment for the schools. As president of the village board of 
trustees he has shown his interest in the uplift of the community, both 
economically and sociologically speaking. 

Dr. Mathis is actively interested in the fraternal orders, being a 
member of the Modern Woodmen of America, in which organization he 
has served as clerk since the establishment of a camp in Ullin. He is 
also an Odd Fellow and a member of the Knights of Pythias. His re- 
ligious affiliations are with the Christian church. 

In the month of August, 1900, Dr. Mathis married Miss Nellie Lentz, 
a daughter of Daniel W. Lentz, who is at present living in Orange, Cali- 
fornia. Mrs. Lentz was Miss Maria E. Keen, and Mrs. Mathis is one of 
three children. The marriage took place in Cairo, Illinois, and Mrs. 
Mathis came as a bride to Ullin. The children of Dr. and Mrs. Mathis 
are Delbert, Russell and Gwendolin. 

CHARLES P. SKAGGS. Courteous, painstaking and especially accom- 
modating, Charles P. Skaggs, of Harrisburg, is one of the best clerks 
the City Court has ever had, and its clerks have always been capable 
and efficient, the affairs of his office being administered wisely and 
conscientiously and with complete thoroughness. He was born De- 
cember 1, 1858, in Marion, "Williamson county, Illinois, a son of Pryor 
Lee Skaggs, in whose sketch, which appears on another page of this 
work further parental and ancestral history may be found. 

After leaving the public schools of Marion, Charles P. Skaggs at- 
tended the State Normal School at Carbondale, and later taught 
school for a year. He subsequently read law, but instead of being 
admitted to the bar engaged in the abstracting business, for which he 
was amply qualified, making a set of abstracts for different counties, 
including Saline, Hamilton and Gallatin, and for awhile worked in 
the office of abstracts in Jefferson county. Prom there Mr. Skaggs 
came to Harrisburg, and for fifteen years was cashier of the Bank of 
Harrisburg, assuming the position when that institution was opened 
by J. M. Baker. When the bank was merged into the National Bank, 
Mr. Skaggs retired and began the practice of law with the well-known 
firm of Thompson & Williford, with which he was associated until 
being honored for the second time by an election to the office of mayor 
of the city, he having served in that position while yet cashier in the 
bank. He filled out his term, and after a brief interim was again 
chosen to fill the mayor's chair, his previous service having been 
eminently satisfactory to his fellow-citizens. 

In 1900 Mr. Skaggs was elected as a representative to the State 
Legislature from the district composed of Saline, Johnson, Massac, 
Pope, and Pulaski counties, and served in the Forty-second General 
Assembly. He was quite active in the House, and was influential in 
securing the passage of the law forbidding the wearing of a badge 
of any Order by any person not a member of said Order, the matter 
being brought to the front by himself as the chairman of the com- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 889 

mittee of miscellaneous business. He also secured an appropriation 
for erecting a monument to that honored pioneer surveyor of South- 
ern Illinois, John Rector, who was buried on Rector creek, in Rector 
township, he having been killed near the spot of his burial by hostile 
Indians. The citizens of that place, however, took no interest in the 
matter, and the effort elapsed, the appropriation being never used. 
In 1909 Mr. Skaggs was elected to his present position as clerk of the 
City Court, and is now serving in this position. 

On November 29, 1882, Mr. Skaggs was united in marriage with 
Carrie E. Seimer, who was born, educated and married in Jefferson 
county, Illinois, and they are the parents of four children, namely : 
Charles Seimer Skaggs, M. D., who is engaged in the practice of medi- 
icine at New Westminster, British Columbia ; Frank P., a druggist 
in Harrisburg, married Myrtle Reynolds, daughter of T. S. Reynolds, 
postmaster at Harrisburg ; Helen H., wife of Harry Wolcott, manager 
of the Harrisburg Elevator Company; and Will B., engaged in the 
drug business in Harrisburg. 

Fraternally Mr. Skaggs is a thirty-second degree Mason, and has 
passed all the chairs of the Blue Lodge and the Chapter, and is an 
active member of Gethsemane Commandery, No. 41, K. T., of Metro- 
pole, Illinois; he is also a member and a past noble grand in the In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows and past conductor in the Grand 
Lodge of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Skaggs are members of the 
Daughters of Re-bekah and Mrs. Skaggs was treasurer for ten years 
of the Rebekah Assembly of the state. Mr. Skaggs is prominent in 
the affairs of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is past 
exalted ruler of the local lodge of that order. Both he and his wife 
have attended several of the triennial conclaves of the Knights 
Templars. 

PRTOR LEE SKAGGS. Having accomplished a satisfactory work dur- 
ing his long and useful life, Pryor Lee Skaggs is now living retired 
from active business affairs at his pleasant home in Harrisburg, enjoy- 
ing the well-merited reward of his many years of toil. A man of up- 
right principles, strong convictions and good judgment, he fought 
bravely for the cause of the Union during the Civil war, and has since, 
in the common walks of life, performed the duties devolving upon him 
as a man and a citizen with the same loyalty and fidelity that he dis- 
played on the battle-grounds. A son of Stephen M. Skaggs, he was born 
August 6, 1829, in Knox county, east Tennessee. He is of pure English 
ancestry, his grandfather, Samuel Skaggs, having been born in Eng- 
land, although he spent the greater part of his life in Tennessee, where 
his children were born and reared. 

Learning the tanner and shoemaker's trade when young, Pryor Lee 
Skaggs was in the employ of the same man for five years. Becoming 
thoroughly familiar with both, he then, in partnership with his brother, 
opened a shoemaker's shop and a harness-making establishment, and 
in the manufacture of shoes, harnesses, collars and saddles made good 
use of all leather that came in their possession. At the end of five years, 
Mr. Skaggs sold out to his brother his interest in the business, and like- 
wise the farm which he owned, and in 1855 left Tennessee, intending to 
settle in Texas. Arriving in Marion, Williamson county, Illinois, Mr. 
Skaggs was pleased with the place, and decided to locate there. Open- 
ing a shoe shop, he carried on a good business there for a few years, 
working at the bench himself the greater part of the time. Coming 
from there to Harrisburg in 1861, he worked at his trade for a year, 
when, in 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred 



890 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

and Twentieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under command of Cap- 
tain Roark, of Harrisburg, and Colonel McKagg, of Shawneetown. 
With his regiment he went to Tennessee, arriving in Memphis just after 
its surrender, from there going to Vicksburg and there participating in 
the siege of that city and afterwards taking part at the engagement at 
Corinth, Mississippi. He then accompanied General Banks' expedition 
up the Red river, and subsequently spent the remainder of his time of 
service in Memphis, being corporal of his company. He was honorably 
discharged from the army in August, 1865, having served three years 
continuing with his regiment even when his physical condition was 
such that the most of the soldier boys would gladly have been in the 
hospital rather than in camp or on the battlefield. 

Returning then to Saline county, Mr. Skaggs continued at his trade 
for three years, running a shoe shop in Eldorado. The ensuing three 
years he was employed in a tan yard at Harrisburg, and having become 
accustomed to its management he rented the same yard for another three 
years, after which he bought the yard, and for three years conducted a 
substantial business as a tanner. Mr. Skaggs then opened a harness 
shop, and was engaged in harness and saddle making for a few years, 
establishing a large and lucrative business. Having through industry 
and thrift accumulated a competency, he then sold out his interests in the 
establishment to his son, William T. Skaggs, and has since lived retired 
from active pursuits. He is a man of worth and integrity, and an hon- 
ored member of the George Newell Post, Grand Army of the Republic. 

Mr. Skaggs married, in 1848, in Knox county, Tennessee, Eliza Jane 
Davis, who was born in that county, in November, 1831, at the time of 
her marriage having been but fifteen years old. The following children 
were born to this marriage : William T., who succeeded his father in 
business ; Charles P., whose sketch appears on other pages of this work ; 
Elizabeth J., wife of Clinton Otey, of Harrisburg; Pryor Lee, Jr., en- 
gaged in the harness making business at Eldorado ; and Hannibal Grant, 
a printer in Jacksonville, Florida. 

JAMES H. GALLIGAN. Distinguished not only as a native son of 
Cairo, his birth having occurred in this city November 11, 1866, but as 
one of its most successful and popular business men, James H. Galli- 
gan is widely and favorably known as cashier of the Alexander County 
National Bank and of the Alexander County Savings Bank. 

His father, Daniel J. Galligan, was born in county Cavan, Ireland, 
in 1839. In 1841 his parents immigrated to the^United States, locating 
in Trenton, New Jersey, where he grew to man's estate, acquiring his 
education in the public schools, and there learning the carpenter's 
trade. Soon after the close of the Civil war he started westward, fol- 
lowing the advice of Horace Greeley, locating eventually at Cairo, Illi- 
nois, where for awhile he was in the service of the Federal Government 
while it was winding up its internal naval affairs, being employed in 
the Mound City Navy Yard and at other points along the big rivers 
where there were naval stations. Completing his work for the Govern- 
ment, he resumed carpentering, and as a contractor and builder was 
afterwards kept busy, as he added one building after another to the 
growing and expanding little city at the mouth of the Ohio, continuing 
his residence in Cairo until his death, June 10, 1887. In his political 
faith he was a Democrat, and at one time was superintendent of streets. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Callahan. is still a resident of 
Cairo. They became the parents of seven children, six of whom sur- 
vive, James H. being the oldest child. 

Acquiring a practical education when young, James H. Galligan 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 891 

dropped his school work in his junior year at the Cairo High School 
to become a clerk in a drug store. The position proving uncongenial in . 
every respect, he sought other work, and in January, 1885, was made 
messenger boy in the Alexander County National Bank. Faithful in 
the performance of every duty laid upon him, he rose step by step 
through the various grades of subordinate work, from 1890 until 1896 
serving as assistant cashier of that institution. In the latter year Mr. 
Galligan was promoted to the cashiership of the Alexander County Na- 
tional Bank and of the Alexander County Savings Bank, succeeding T. 
J. Kerth, and has since filled these positions with credit to himself and 
to the satisfaction of all concerned. 

His tenure of service, with its attendant success, with the bank has 
commended Mr. Galligan to the investing and commercial field about 
Cairo, and has caused his selection as a managing force in other of the 
city's enterprises. He is now president of the Cairo Commercial Club, 
which is active in "boosting" the material interests of the city; is 
treasurer of the Cairo Building and Loan Association; and has served 
many terms as a member of the Board of Education. 

An influential member of the Illinois Bankers Association, Mr. Gal- 
ligan is a frequent attendant at its sessions, and has been honored with 
an appointment as a member of the Deep Waterway Conventions, which 
usually meet in Chicago, where an impetus is ever given to the subject 
of ' ' Inland Waterways for Domestic Commerce, ' ' receiving an attention 
that augurs much for its final achievement on a national scale. Fra- 
ternally Mr. Galligan is a charter member of the Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks, and treasurer of his lodge ; of the Catholic 
Knights of America ; and of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. 

Mr. Galligan married, in Cairo, Edith Kluge, a daughter of William 
Kluge, a prominent German citizen, and they have one child, Helen 
Galligan. 

DECATUR A. SMITH, M. D. Prominent among the medical fraternity 
of West Frankfort, Illinois, is Dr. Decatur A. Smith, for seven years 
engaged in the active practice of his profession in that city. In the 
comparatively brief period of his establishment there he has accom- 
plished much in the way of laying the foundations for a useful and 
honorable career in his chosen profession, and ultimate success of a 
signal character is predicted by those who have observed his record 
thus far. 

Decatur A. Smith was born in Williamson county, Illinois, on 
August 16, 1874, being the son of Wilfred P. and Fatima (Dunn) 
Smith. The father, Wilfred P. Smith, was born in Tennessee, and 
came to Illinois with his parents when young. He devoted himself 
to farm life, and is still a resident of Williamson county, where he 
has been popular since his settlement there. His father, John Smith, 
was a native of Tennessee, subsequently settling in Illinois with his 
family, where he finally died. The maternal grandfather of Decatur 
A. Smith. James P. Dunn, came to Illinois early in the history of the 
state, and settled on a farm in Williamson county, where he passed 
the remainder of his life. 

The early life of Decatur Smith was passed similarly to that of 
the youth of his town, and after his graduation from the public 
schools of his district he was entered as a student in Crabb Orchard 
Academy. The intention to enter the medical profession had been 
formed in earlier years, and in 1900 he entered the American Medical 
College at St. Louis, graduating therefrom in 1904. Immediately fol- 
lowing the completion of his medical studies he came to West Frank- 



892 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

fort, where he opened an office and assumed the duties of a practic- 
ing physician. His clientele has from the first been of a wide and 
pleasing order, and combined with his regular practice he has charge 
of a portion of the surgical work for the local mines and railroads. 
Dr. Smith is affiliated with a number of fraternal organizations, 
among them being the West Frankfort Lodge of the Masonic order, 
and of the W. R. Ward Chapter, No. 223, at Benton, Illinois. He is a 
member of the State, County and Southern Illinois Medical Associa- 
tions, being active in his connections therewith, and in his political 
convictions is a Republican. He takes but little interest in affairs 
politic, the demands of his profession being such as to preclude any 
but the most meager attention to outside matters. 

In 1901 Dr. Smith married Miss Lizzie Harris, a daughter of 
John Harris, now retired from business and a resident of Murphys- 
boro, Illinois. Mr. Harris has accumulated considerable wealth in his 
busy career, and is now enjoying the fruits of his labors. Dr. and 
Mrs. Smith have one daughter, Marjore, now in school. 

JOHN FORESTER, president of the Forester Coal and Coke Company 
of DuQuoin, is a prominent figure in the industrial life of that city. 
Since the organization of that company in 1903 Mr. Forester has been 
up and doing in the industry represented by this rapidly growing firm, 
and much of its development is due to his energy and ability as pro- 
moter and manager of the company of which he is the head. 

Born in Northumberland, England, August 7, 1852, he came to the 
United States with his father, John Forester Sr. who in 1856 settled in 
DuQuoin and here lived until his death, in 1874. The mother, Eliza- 
beth (Thompson) Forester, survived him until 1903, when she passed 
away at Hallidayboro, on December 13. The children of the family 
were : Robert, a resident of Murphysboro ; John, of DuQuoin ; Joseph, 
who died at the age of forty, at Murphysboro, Illinois; Elizabeth, who 
died at DuQuoin; William, a resident of Galatia; and James, of Hal- 
lidayboro, all in Illinois. 

John Forester was reared in a humble home, but what it lacked in 
elegance was made up in thrift, industry and other equally valuable 
traits, which were all important factors in the careful rearing of the 
family of children. He was given such educational advantages as the 
grades of the public school offered, and as a boy was variously employed 
about the mines in minor capacities. At the age of twenty-one, in 1873, 
he began the serious work of his life as a clerk in the store of W. P. 
Halliday at St. John, where he remained for a number of years. He 
worked diligently and he was rewarded by frequent promotions, passing 
rapidly through the various departments of subordinate work until he 
was made assistant superintendent and then superintendent of the com- 
pany. While employed by Mr. Halliday he erected the Halliday Coal 
and Coke Company's plant at Hallidayboro, placed it in operation, and 
then returned to St. John, where he erected the Halliday Salt Works 
in 1899, and, assuming management of the plant on its completion, re- 
mained in that position until it was abandoned years later. He yet 
has charge of the Halliday Estate interests in this vicinity, be- 
ing continuously in the employ of W. P. Halliday and his estate for 
thirty-nine years. It was in 1903 that he organized the Forester Coal 
and Coke Company, erecting its plant at DuQuoin. and as president 
of the company has conducted its operation since organization. The 
company has a capitalization of one hundred thousand dollars, with a 
capacity of one thousand, eight hundred tons per day. As an employer 
of something like four hundred men, it ranks among the larger labor 



IHt.UBRAin 

OF THE 
8WEBSITY OF ILLUK2 



t:tl 

lit 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS ^893 

i 

users of this vicinity in the coke industry. The other officers of the 
company are W. P. Halliday, Vice President, and Robert J. Forester, 
superintendent in charge of the works. 

Mr. John Forester is also president of the DuQuoin Planing Mill 
Company, a director of the First Bank and Trust Company and a 
member of the firm of Forester & Company, general merchants, of Du- 
Quoin. Mr. Forester is a Democrat, but is interested in politics only 
to the extent that he sustains by his vote those policies which have 
proven best for the advancement of the general welfare. He has al- 
ways been active in local affairs, and has been a member of the board 
of education of the township high school for twelve years, or, more cor- 
rectly speaking, since its organization in 1900. 

On July 20, 1880, Mr. Forester married at DuQuoin Miss Kate W. 
Jackson, a daughter of J. B. Jackson, formerly of Columbus, Ohio, 
where Mrs. Forester was born. The children of their union are J. 
Howard, Robert J., Walter J. and Frederick L. The eldest son, J. 
Howard, is associated with the Forester Coal and Coke Company. 
Robert J. is also the electrician of the Forester Coal and Coke Com- 
pany, and a graduate of the electrical engineering department of the 
University of Illinois. Walter J. is a bookkeeper for the company, and 
Frederick L., a graduate of dental surgery of the Northwestern Univer- 
sity at Evanston, is located at Faring, Illinois, in the practice of his 
profession. 

BUETON L. CASTEEL. One of the safe and reliable banking houses of 
Franklin county, which has more than doubled its business during the 
past five years, is the State Bank of Thompsonville, the cashier of which, 
Burton L. Casteel, is well-known in financial circles of this section. Mr. 
Casteel was born January 7, 1882, in the town of Hettick, Illinois, and 
is a son of James P. and Arramanda (Bacon) Casteel. 

James P. Casteel, Sr., the grandfather of Burton L., was born in 
Tennessee, and brought his family to Illinois about 1853, settling on a 
farm near Hettick, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 
1884. While still in Tennessee he had engaged in business as a mill- 
wright contractor, and had built a business that was the largest in that 
state, but on coming to Illinois devoted his entire attention to agricult- 
ural pursuits. His son, also named James P., was born near Knoxville, 
Tennessee, and was only six months old when he accompanied his parents 
to Macoupin county, Illinois. The family first settled near Carlinville, 
but during the next year moved to the property near Hettick on which 
Mr. Casteel was reared. He has always been engaged in farming, and 
is now the owner of a. tract of one hundred and twenty acres of farming 
land, worth one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. In addition he is 
known all over the state as a Missionary Baptist minister, has been prom- 
inent in Sunday-school work, and attends the Sunday-school conventions 
all over the country. In political matters he is a Democrat, but he has 
never sought public preferment. He married Arramanda Bacon, whose 
father was a native of Tennessee and came to Macoupin county in 1853, 
settling on a farm on which he spent the remainder of his life. 

Burton L. Casteel was educated in the schools of Oak Grove, and 
graduated from the Hettick high school in 1902. He then entered the 
National Business College, at Quincy. Illinois, and as soon as he had 
graduated therefrom, in 1904, came to Thompsonville and purchased 
stock in the State Bank, of which he has since been cashier with the ex- 
ception of one year when he acted as assistant cashier of the First Na- 
tional Bank of Benton, Illinois. When Mr. Casteel first took up his 
duties with the State Bank of Thompsonville it was capitalized at only 



894 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

$10,000, but on May 4, 1910, it was reorganized as a state institution, 
and was capitalized at $25,000. It now has a surplus of $2,500, and 
undivided profits of $1,600, while the average annual deposits are $80,- 
000. Mr. Casteel's position as cashier of this institution has enabled 
him in many ways to assist in bringing forward matters that will prove of 
benefit to his community, and he has interested himself in Republican 
political affairs, although never as a candidate for public office. One 
of the most popular members of the Lodge and Chapter of Masonry, as 
well as the Elks and Odd Fellows, he also has a wide circle of friends 
in his business and private life. He has invested to some extent in real 
estate, and is now the owner of an excellent farm in Missouri. 

On April 28, 1910, Mr. Casteel was married to Miss Jennie L. An- 
trim, daughter of Alexander Antrim, of Decatur, Illinois, who died in 
1908, a wealthy merchant and stockman and highly esteemed citizen. 
One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Casteel, Leanor. Mr. Casteel 
is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, Thompsonville, while 
his wife holds membership in the Christian church, and belongs to the 
congregation at Decatur. 

DR. HARRISON P. HUNTSINGER. One of the leaders of the medical 
profession in Pinckneyville is Dr. Harrison P. Huntsinger. He has 
passed a third of a century caring for the physical ills of the people of 
this community, but it is not always diseases of the body that he is called 
upon to minister unto, for he is often required to heal wounded hearts 
or to restore to health a mind diseased. He has not gone up and down 
their streets and in and out of their homes for these many years without 
having made for himself in the lives of these people a place that could 
never be filled by another. When the children have the chicken-pox 
or mother has a bad headache, one of the younger doctors is sent for, but 
if it should look like diphtheria or pneumonia, the "old doctor" is sent 
for poste haste ; one of the younger men may be given charge of the 
case, but the family must have the spiritual support of Dr. Huntsinger 's 
cheery courage and sympathetic presence. Notwithstanding his years as 
a physician, his four years spent in the army, during the crudest scenes 
of the Civil war, and his activity in the field of politics, all of these ex- 
periences tending to show him all the weakness and frailty of human 
nature, and to make his belief in the goodness of the world a lacking 
quality, he remained sound to the core, the sweetness of his nature ex- 
cusing those who fainted by the wayside, and in the strength of his 
belief in their innate goodness helping to their feet those who fell. 

Harrison P. Huntsinger comes of sturdy German stock, his ancestors 
all being men who stood for the best, and were always prominent in the 
public affairs of the communities wherein they lived. His father was 
John Huntsinger, who was born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1810, 
where his father. Henry Huntsinger, had settled on his advent from 
Germany. The latter was a man of sterling merit, and was a welcome 
addition to the many places where he lived. He, like so many of his 
countrymen, was a natural musician, and had had considerable training 
in the art. and he was well known all over the section as a singing school 
master. This was in the days when the singing school was the social 
center, and we owe many of our musicians of today to the inspiration 
that their mothers and fathers received at the hands of musicians of the 
old school. Henry Huntsinger finally drifted west and died in St. Jo- 
seph county, Indiana, at the age of eighty-four. He was a prominent 
member of the Missionary Baptist church, and all of his family were 
well grounded in the tenets of this belief. His wife was Catherine Kess- 
ler, also a native of Germany, who died in St! Joseph county, Indiana. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 895 

The children of these two were Ezekiel ; John ; Catherine, wife of Jesse 
Bell ; Martha, who became the wife of John Elginfritz ; Jane, who mar- 
ried Lewis Ireland; and Samantha, who married the latter 's brother. 

John Huntsinger received an education that was a mixture of the 
best that two races could give. At school he was taught lessons from 
books, receiving an English education, while at home he was thoroughly 
grounded in the high principles of German morality and received les- 
sons in thrift and industry. As a young man he went to Michigan, where 
he became noted for his activity in favor of the abolition of slavery. He 
served for years as a kind of station agent of the "underground rail- 
road," by which escaping slaves were aided to make their way safely 
into Canada. He was one of the original members of the Republican 
that he always loved to recall was when he with others raised a flagpole 
party, and was a Fremont committeeman for his precinct. An incident 
in honor of the first nominee of the new party. 

Kiziah Pettit, a daughter of Henry Pettit, who in pioneer days had 
moved from Ohio to Michigan, was married to Mr. Huntsinger in 1836. 
In 1857 Mr. Huntsinger came to Bond county, Illinois, and there he 
died in 1872. His wife passed away in 1864, leaving a large family of 
children. The eldest, Mary Elizabeth, married Frederick Jones and 
died in St. Louis in 1907 ; Martha A. became the wife of Richard Brann 
and lives in Mound City, Kansas; Benjamin P., who is a resident of 
Brownsville, Minnesota; Dr. Harrison P.; Cyrenius, who died in Hot 
Springs, Arkansas, having never married ; Charles A., of Perry county, 
Illinois ; and Francis B., of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. 

Harrison Huntsinger was born on the 3d of January, 1845, near 
Niles, Michigan, and here he grew up, attending the country schools 
and leading the life of a happy barefoot farmer's boy. He was no more 
than a youngster when the Civil war broke out, in fact he was still 
going to the school at the cross roads. This deterred him in no way 
from his determination to enlist and his mother, outwardly brave but 
with a sad heart, let him go. He enlisted in Bond county, Illinois, in 
Company C, of the Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, commanded by Cap- 
tain George Keener. Later on Captain Dugger assumed command of 
the company, and he was killed at the battle of Jackson, Mississippi. 
John M. Loomis was the regimental commander and the regiment formed 
a part of the First Division of the Fifteenth Corps. The first time the 
boy smelled powder was in the engagement at New Madrid, Missouri, 
from thence the regiment proceeded to Pittsburg Landing and later to 
Corinth, Mississippi, taking part in the battles at both places. The siege 
of Vicksburg came next and the young soldier was in all the main en- 
gagements leading up to the capitulation of the stronghold. After the 
dispersal of General Johnston's army at Jackson he accompanied the 
advance on Chattanooga, the march being by way of Memphis. He was 
a participant in the capture of Lookout Mountain and in the bloody 
struggle of Missionary Ridge, and followed the Confederates in their 
retreat toward Atlanta. Then followed days of incessant warfare, the 
engagements at Resaca, New Hope Church, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, 
Peachtree Creek, and on the 22d and 28th of July the fierce fighting 
around Atlanta. Following this came Jonesboro, and then Sherman's 
march to the sea. Back north through the Carolinas. skirmishing, fight- 
ing, plundering and devastating during the late winter and spring of 
1865 came the army, on that march that is the hardest event in the whole 
war for a Southerner to forgive. On the 26th of April General Joseph 
E. Johnston surrendered his army to the victorious General Sherman, 
and young Huntsinger was one of the army that made its triumphal 
entry into Washington in time to participate in the Grand Review. 



896 HISTOKY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

This was the final act in the four years' drama, and the curtain fell on 
the last scene when the boy, who had entered the army at seventeen, 
had become a veteran at Scottsburg, Alabama, in July of 1864, was mus- 
tered out at Louisville, Kentucky, on the 5th day of August, 1865. He 
had passed through the severest fighting that had come to the lot of any 
of the Union armies, and the two scars that he bears serve as reminders 
of those days of desperate conflict. One of these came from the jab of 
a saber that he received in the breast in a fierce hand to hand struggle 
at Dallas, Georgia, the other is the mark of a bullet that bit its stinging 
way into his foot at Atlanta. 

After the war Dr. Huntsinger went back to school, spending some 
time in the high school at Jacksonville, Illinois. He then decided to 
take up the study of medicine, and began his preliminary studies with 
Dr. J. J. King, of that place. He then attended Rush Medical College 
in Chicago and received his degree from that well known institution in 
1877. The next two years he practiced in the city, and then came to 
Pinckneyville. He is the second oldest practitioner in the place now, 
and as he grows older is leaving the field more and more to the "boys" 
of the profession. Recently he has become interested in the drug busi- 
ness as a member of the firm of Huntsinger and Kugle. 

The Republican party has always counted him one of their most 
loyal workers, and for twenty-five years he has served on the county 
committee of that party. During the eight years in which he was chair- 
man of it he came to know many of the party leaders of the state of 
Illinois, and they in turn realized how valuable were his services'. As 
a slight reward for his services he was appointed postmaster of Pinck- 
neyville, by President McKinley, and served his fellow-citizens in that 
capacity until 1911. 

Dr. Huntsinger is a member of the Masonic order being a Knight 
Templar. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is 
a past commander of the local post. In his religious affiliations he is a 
Methodist. He has added materially to the up-building of the town by 
the erection of several business houses and residences, his own home 
being one of the most artistic and modern in the city. 

On the 22d of February, 1884, Dr. Huntsinger was married in Perry 
county, Illinois, to Mary E. Baird. His wife is the daughter of Alex- 
ander P. Baird. a member of one of the old families of Southern Illinois 
and of Randolph county. The mother of Mrs. Huntsinger was Jane 
Henderson, and the children of Mr. and Mrs. Baird were Porter, a 
farmer of Perry county and the president of the County Fair Associa- 
tion ; Luther, of Eureka Springs, Arkansas ; Ida. who is the wife of 
Dr. W. S. Wallace, of Sparta, Illinois ; and Mrs. Huntsinger, who is the 
eldest child. The only child of Dr. and Mrs. Huntsinger is a daughter 
Clara, who is the wife of Dr. D. 0. Mead, of Pinckneyville. 

HERMAN MCCARLEY. In various other sketches in this work frequent 
mention has been made of the rapid growth of various sections of 
Southern Illinois during the past few years, and of the new territory 
that is constantly being added to the leading cities and villages, and 
this growth and development is largely due to the efforts and activ- 
ities of the various real estate dealers of this part of the state, capable 
body of men who have made it their business to interest outside cap- 
ital, induce people from other sections to settle here, and in various 
ways develop the resources of the communities which they have made 
their field of endeavor. Prominent among these men may be men- 
tioned Herman McCarley, of Christopher, who, while still a compar- 
ative newcomer to the ranks of real estate dealers, has already made 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 897 

his influence felt. He is a native of Franklin county, where he has 
resided all of his life, and was born December 2, 1880, a son of Wil- 
liam A. and Nancy I. (Dees) McCariey. 

John N. McCariey, the grandfather of Herman, was born in Ten- 
nessee, from which state he entered the Confederate service and 
served throughout the Civil war, after which he came to Southern 
Illinois and purchased a farm, on which he resided until 1877. In 
that year he removed to the state of Texas, and he is now living a 
retired life there, being in advanced years. His son, William A. Mc- 
Cariey, was born in Jackson county, Tennessee, October 1, 1857, and 
was eight years of age when he accompanied his parents to the 
Prairie state. He received his education in the common schools and 
spent his youth on his father's farm, and continued to follow agri- 
cultural pursuits in Franklin county until 1889. In that year he set- 
tled in Christopher and engaged in the milling business with A. C. 
Mitchell, but in 1908 sold out his interests, and in 1909 his death 
occurred. He was a successful business man and left a large estate 
to his three children, and was prominent in Democratic politics and a 
faithful member of the Free Will Baptist church. He married Nancy 
I. Dees, daughter of David Dees, a native of Illinois, who spent his 
life in farming in Franklin county and died there in 1896. 

Herman McCariey received his education in the public schools of 
Christopher, after which he secured employment operating a station- 
ary engine, but after spending about ten years at that occupation 
entered the real estate business. He has an excellent knowledge ot 
realty values, handles property all over the state, and owns consider- 
able farming and town property. He has inherited much of his 
father's business ability, and is considered a shrewd and capable busi- 
ness man, in whose hands large transactions may be safely placed. 

In 1907 Mr. McCariey was married to Miss Claudia M. Davidson, 
daughter of R. R. Davidson, formerly of Missouri and now a success- 
ful mill owner of Christopher. Mr. and Mrs. McCariey are members 
of the Christian church. He is affiliated fraternally with the Modern 
W T oodmen of America, in which he has many warm friends, and in 
political matters is a Democrat. 

JOHN A. HOLDOWAT. The bulk of the bakery business in Sparta is 
controlled by the Holdoway interests, and has been for a considerable 
period. John A. Holdoway is the actual head of the business, and it 
is to his peculiar ability in the culinary line that the splendid suc- 
cess of the project is manifestly due. While the business is now 
carried on under the active management of his sons, Harry and Wil- 
liam, Mr. Holdoway is their counselor in all things, and his hand and 
brain can be traced in the policies of the concern at all times. 

John A. Holdoway was born under the British flag in Wiltshire, 
England, October 14, 1834. He is the son of John Holdoway, born 
in England in 1804, a man whose whole life was devoted to the bak- 
er's trade. John Holdoway, Sr., was twice married in England. His 
first wife was Elizabeth Wibley, who became the mother of Elizabeth, 
afterwards the wife of George Horsey, of Melbourne, Australia, and 
of John A., now of Sparta, Illinois His second wife was Elizabeth 
Batt, whose death occurred before the family immigrated to America. 
Her children were Edwin, of St. Louis, Missouri : Henrietta, the wife 
of Ben Bull, and she later died at her home in England; Albert, who 
passed away in New Mexico ; Emily, now Mrs. Arnett, residing at 
Los Angeles, California ; and Ernest, who also died in New Mexico. 



898 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

The father died in Sparta in 1886, having come to America at the time 
when his son John A. immigrated. 

John A. Holdoway was somewhat of a rover by nature. His early 
education was neglected, the only geographical knowledge he gained 
of the world in his youth being what he acquired by actual travel. 
He was a constant traveler for many years while he was a youth com- 
ing into years of manhood, and he has seen and become familiar with 
most of the English speaking people of the globe in their native 
environment. In 1857 he went to Australia, and he passed a number 
of years in Melbourne, Sydney and other cities of note. While there 
he gained a livelihood either as a baker or as a miner, and while his 
fortunes were still in the making he was one of the many who headed 
for New Zealand, and there the pick and shovel and pan, or the 
"dough-board," kept away want and the pangs of hunger in that 
wilderness, while he fed an inordinate desire for adventure and travel, 
mingled with the hope that he would eventually make his fortune as 
a gold miner. 

In 1867, after ten years of hardships, he returned to England, 
where he resumed his old trade, in which his father had early trained 
him and well, and there he settled down to the actual task of estab- 
lishing a business and saving out of his labors the money which he 
had been unable to make as a soldier of fortune. After some years 
yearnings for the New World seized the man, and in 1873 he brought 
his family to the United States, accompanied by his father and others 
of the family who were still members of the household. They located 
temporarily in St. Louis, after having reached this country without 
any untoward incidents, and after a short time moved to Sparta, 
where he invested in the bakery business of one Ortman, long identi- 
fied with that industry in Sparta, and he has given his most careful 
attention since then to the upbuilding of his trade. His efforts have 
been rewarded by a measure of success to surpass his most sanguine 
expectations. The business has explained with the passage of years, 
and profits resulting therefrom have been sufficient to assure him a 
measure of financial independence for the declining years of his life. 

In 1868 Mr. Holdoway married Miss Rhoda Hooper in London. Of 
the children born to them but two survive. They are William J. and 
Harry J., now in control of the Holdoway bakery and confectionery 
establishment, having relieved their father of the cares of active 
management. Harry J. is married, his wife having been Miss Mary 
Anderson, a daughter of Thomas Anderson, of Salina, Kansas. They 
are the parents of four children : Annie, Harold, Helen and Grace. 
The father is president of the Sparta board of education, is a stock- 
holder in one of the Sparta banks, and in political matters shares the 
convictions of his parent, those of a Republican. 

SAMUEL B. EATON. Chief among the big producers of coal and coke 
in Southern Illinois is the Majestic Coal & Coke Company of DuQuoin, 
of which Samuel B. Eaton is the vice president and general manager. 
The owners of a tract of four thousand and one hundred acres of land 
southeast of DuQuoin and in the richest coal belt of the state, the com- 
pany is producing an average of three thousand tons daily, and to Sam- 
uel B. Eaton is due the major part of the credit for the accomplishments 
of the company. His was the mind which promoted and organized the 
company, and his splendid ability in his managerial capacity is one of 
the prime factors in the success of the project which has long since 
passed the stage of experiment and is now a stable and solid business. 

Born upon a farm three miles southeast of DuQuoin, which farm now 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 899 

forms a portion of the holdings of the Majestic Coal & Coke Company, 
Samuel B. Eaton is the son of William B. Eaton, who was born in Gro- 
ton, Massachusetts, in 1831. The first of the Batons of whom we have 
record was Daniel Eaton, of Boston,, who was the father of Abel Eaton, 
the son of Abel Eaton being William, the father of Samuel B. Eaton of 
DuQuoin. Abel Eaton lived quietly and unpretentiously upon his farm 
home in Massachusetts, and in the home which he founded was reared a 
goodly family. Of these William B. on reaching man's estate married 
Elizabeth Buckles, a daughter of Joseph Buckles, who was a native of 
Virginia, but migrated first to Kentucky and then to Illinois. His wife 
was Elizabeth Arnold, and they passed away in advanced years on their 
farm home in Jackson county, where they had passed many happy 
years. 

After his marriage William B. Eaton settled on a farm near to Du- 
Quoin, and until 1865 was content with the operating of his farm. In 
the year 1865, however, he gave over his farming activities and, moving 
into DuQuoin, engaged in teaming about the mines. In his later years 
he became associated in a business way with his son, who had by that 
time entered the ranks of the mining operators, and his final years were 
passed in that manner, passing away in May, 1908. Mr. Eaton was 
always a man who led a quiet, retired life. His home life was his chief 
interest from first to last. He was a Republican in his political beliefs, 
and a member of the Odd Fellows. His wife died in 1891, leaving him 
three children : Samuel B., Mary E., the wife of Edward Musselman, of 
DuQuoin, and Abel C., who is a foreman at the mine of the Majestic 
Coal & Coke Company. 

The date of the nativity of Samuel B. Eaton is July 15, 1857, and 
since that time he has been a part of the life of DuQuoin and vicinity. 
His boyhood was sufficiently humble to insure a brilliant future, if suc- 
cess in life is contingent upon that condition of birth, as many believe. 
Be that as it may, the success which Mr. Eaton has thus far achieved 
fully amplifies and evidences the fact that a generous degree of success 
is not dependent upon favorable conditions of birth and early training, 
but rather upon the possession of traits of honesty, integrity, thrift and 
perseverance, all of which Mr. Eaton shares in a generous degree. The 
education of the boy was of necessity of a very meagre order, only the 
district school of the community in which he was reared being available 
to him, and the curriculum of the district school of his boyhood offered 
but a slender course of study, including not more than the "Three R's, " 
commonly spoken of as reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic. As an aid to 
his father, Samuel Eaton at an early age began work as a teamster 
about the mines of W. P. Halliday at St. John, Illinois. It was there 
he attracted the attention of Mr. Halliday, who was ever on the lookout 
for boys of promise, and he won the position that gave him his first sig- 
nificant business opportunity by a mere incident, insignificant, yet serv- 
ing to indicate to the big capitalist that he had met that all-desirable 
something a boy whom he could trust. He was taken into the store of 
the Halliday company, where he acted as delivery-boy, freight handler 
and errand-boy while the potential man of affairs was being tried out 
for positions higher up in the gift of the Halliday company. Step by 
step he advanced in the confidence and esteem of his superiors until he 
became superintendent of the store, after which he resigned, having 
spent nine years in faithful service with the concern. In 1885 Mr. 
Eaton entered the grocery business in DuQuoin with William Black- 
burn, remaining thus for two years. His modest success while thus 
engaged in those years furnished him with the capital with which he 
first entered the mining field as an operator. Together with nine practi- 



900 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

cal miners he purchased the Little Gem mine, located to the east of the 
town, and arranged a co-operative method of carrying on the business. 
His part was to furnish the money for the project, and his nine part- 
ners were to supply the labor. The arrangement soon proved to be any- 
thing but a success, due to the fact that the labor was not forthcoming 
on the part of his partners, whereas he had already invested his capital 
in the property. To save himself, Mr. Eaton took over the property, 
cleared the indebtedness, equipped it with a quantity of primitive para- 
phernalia, conspicuous among which was a blind horse to furnish the 
power, and after some time spent in trying out the property it was 
proved to be a paying adventure. This mine he shortly disposed of, 
but the success which he had realized as its operator and owner en- 
couraged him to venture in the business on a more extensive plan. 

Accordingly Mr Eaton interested the Sylvester Coal Company of 
St. Louis, and began operating the Jupiter mine, adjoining the Little 
Gem, still later interesting M. C. Wright and L. P. Parker, when they 
opened Jupiter No. 2, which plant later went into the Weaver Coal 
& Coke Company by purchase. This transaction added very materi- 
ally to the ready capital of Mr. Eaton, upon which he and Mr. Wright, 
together with W. D. Ward, acquired a tract of two thousand acres 
of land southeast of DuQuoin, and the three made overtures to Chi- 
cago men of capital to join them in the launching of a new mining 
industry. The arrangement was effected without difficulty, and the 
new company was incorporated under the name of the Majestic Coal 
and Coke Company, with R. Floyd Clinch, of Chicago, as president 
and Samuel B. Eaton as vice-president and general manager. The 
property is well financed and officered, and has an average daily out- 
put of three thousand tons, giving employment to about seven hun- 
dred men when running at its limit of capacity The company is a. 
splendid example of what the perserverance of one man of brains 
and integrity can be made to accomplish. 

The Majestic Coal & Coke Company does not represent the sum 
of Mr. Eaton's interests in matters of a financial and industrial 
nature. He is vice-president of the First National Bank of DuQuoin, 
and was one of the organizers of the bank. He is secretary and treas- 
urer, also manager, of the DuQuoin Land Company, which is doing 
an extensive business in scientific farming, and in numerous other 
ways is active in the upbuilding of the city in which he lives. Mr. 
Eaton has been a director of the township high school for some years 
and president of the board since its organization. 

On May 2, 1889, Mr. Eaton married Miss Laura Blackburn, a 
daughter of his one time partner, William Blackburn, who came from 
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, settling in DuQuoin and living there for 
many years as a merchant. He was the husband of Louisa White, 
and he died on December 18, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Blackburn were the 
parents of two daughters, Mrs. Eaton and Miss Ella Blackburn. Mr. 
and Mrs. Eaton have one son, Leslie B. He was born August 17, 1890, 
and was educated in the schools of DuQuoin, graduating from the 
high school. He was connected with his father's business for some 
time as an electrician, but as he manifested a strong leaning towards 
the automobile business, he secured an assignment of territory for 
the Marion Automobile Company of Indianapolis, with headquarters 
at Dayton, Ohio, and is now actively connected with that business. 

Mr. Eaton is prominent in Masonic circles, holding membership in 
the Lodge and the Chapter, and he is president of the board of trus- 
tees of the Methodist church, taking a healthy interest in the good 
works of that organization. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 901 

WILLIAM J. WHITEAKER, M. D. One of the professions most heavily 
fraught with responsibility and yet with interest for the possibilities it 
offers of helping and advancing mankind is that of medicine, which is 
the calling Dr. William J. Whiteaker, of Pulaski, Illinois, has taken up 
as his life work. Dr. Whiteaker has elected to conduct his professional 
labors in the near vicinity in which he has spent practically his whole 
life, for he is a native son of Southern Illinois, born at New Burnside, 
Johnson county, on January 11, 1872. His father, Captain Mark White- 
aker, now a resident of Vienna and one of the well known and capable 
citizens of Johnson county, Illinois, is a veteran of the Civil war and 
a stanch Republican in political affairs and is an ex-sheriff of Johnson 
county. 

Dr. Whiteaker grew up in the company of his father's numerous 
household and was reared to farm pursuits, but temperament, natural 
powers and the influence of an elder brother, Dr. Hall Whiteaker, who 
is mentioned elsewhere in this work, all contributed as forces directing 
his course toward medicine as his life's line of endeavor. He received 
his literary education in the Vienna schools, in Union Academy at 
Anna, Illinois, and in the Northern Illinois Normal at Dixon. His stu- 
dent days were not continuous, however, for at the age of eighteen he 
engaged in teaching a country school and followed the profession six 
years, completing his literary training in the meantime. His last year 
in the school room was spent at America. He then began his medical 
education by reading with his brother, Dr. Hall Whiteaker, and later 
was a pupil in the office of Dr. Brown, of Vienna. In 1896 he entered 
Barnes Medical College, St. Louis, and was graduated from it in 1900. 
Following his graduation he acquired three years of hospital training in 
the insane hospital at Anna, Illinois, and did one year's work in a sim- 
ilar institution at Little Rock, Arkansas. He began the active and 
independent practice of his profession at Olmstead, Illinois, where he 
continued until 1909, when he located at Pulaski. There he embarked 
in the drug business and carried it on actively as an adjunct to his pro- 
fession until September 28, 1911, when misfortune in the form of a 
serious fire overtook him. The fire, which originated in his office, not 
only destroyed his business but also laid waste to some sixteen other 
buildings and marked an epoch of disaster for the little hamlet. How- 
ever, Dr. Whiteaker has, in a measure, compensated for this loss by 
the erection of the finest home in the village and one that would do credit 
to a place with metropolitan airs. 

He is a stockholder in the Pulaski Fair Association and is county 
physician of Pulaski county. In his professional sphere he is a member 
of the Pulaski County Medical Society, is local surgeon of the Illinois 
Central Railway Company and is a member of the company's surgeons 
association. Politically he is a Republican and while he takes a lively 
interest in public affairs and in the issues of the day, he has never been 
allured by public position and is without aspirations for political hon- 
ors. Fraternally Dr. Whiteaker is a member of the Masonic order, is 
a past master of his lodge and has been a delegate to the Masonic Grand 
Lodge. He is a past noble grand in the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows and has also sat in the Grand Lodge of that order. He belongs 
to the respective auxiliaries of the above named orders, the Order of 
the Eastern Star and the Daughters of Rebekah, and also sustains mem- 
bership in the Modern Woodmen of America. His church membership 
is in the Congregational denomination. 

On November 21. 1900, Dr. Whiteaker was married in Vienna, Illi- 
nois, to Miss Alice E. Mathis, a daughter of J. P. Ma this, whose father 
came into Johnson county from Hardin county, Kentucky, and whose 



902 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

brother, John B. Mathis, is a physician at Mound City, Illinois. J. P. 
Mathis married Ellen Atherton, a daughter of Asa C. Atherton, and 
Mrs. Whiteaker is the eldest of their four children, the others being 
Fred, Otto and Guy. Dr. and Mrs. Whiteaker have a son, Hall, born in 
October, 1904. 

BENJAMIN H. ANDERSON. Among the men of Pulaski county, Illi- 
nois, who are singled out for their success as business men for their 
public spirit and enterprise as citizens Benjamin H. Anderson, of 
Ullin, stands well to the fore, a representative of a family that has 
been established in that vicinity for over three-quarters of a century 
and whose members have ever been known as steady, energetic and 
progressive citizens. He became a resident of Ullin in 1894, and that 
town and adjacent community have since been the scene of his busi- 
ness activities and the recipients of his influence and efforts in pro- 
moting its material progress and prosperity. 

Mr. Anderson was born in Union county, Illinois, February, 10, 
1865, and was reared on a farm five miles east of Anna. Though 
Illinois was then well beyond its pioneer period, the proverbial log 
house still obtained and entered into the personal experience of Mr. 
Anderson. He was educated in the district schools and passed the 
years of his minority a country youth assisting with the duties of the 
home farm. His father, the venerable Harrison Anderson, of Ullin, 
was born near Jonesboro, Illinois, October 28, 1836, and with the ex- 
ception of a period in early manhood spent as a merchant's clerk 
and later on as a deputy sheriff of Union county he gave the whole 
of his active and vigorous life to the basic industry of agriculture 
and ranked as one of the successful farmers of Union county. Har- 
rison Anderson married Miss Rosann "Worley a daughter of Jackson 
Worley, who came into Union county from Johnson county, Illinois, 
where Mrs. Anderson was born March 31, 1841. To this union were 
born : Thomas J. of Anna, Illinois ; Alice, the wife of William God- 
dard, of Carbondale, Illinois; Benjamin H., the subject of this review; 
Adolphus, who died as a youth ; Ollie, the widow of George Peeler and 
now a resident of Cape Girardeau, Missouri ; Homer, of Los Angeles, 
California ; and Warren, who died before mature years. 

Presley Anderson, the paternal grandfather of our subject, settled 
near Jonesboro, Illinois, early enough to be reckoned among the 
state's pioneers. He was a Missionary Baptist preacher. He was 
from Tennessee, and in that state was wedded to Miss Lucinda Wil- 
liams, who bore him eleven children, namely : Harrison ; Polly, who 
married John Conner a soldier in the Mexican war; Benjamin, who 
was numbered among the brave defenders of our national life during 
the Civil war, his service having been as a member of the One Hun- 
dred and Ninth Illinois Infantry; Emily, who became the wife of 
Peter Hinkle and died in Union county, Illinois ; Joseph, a sacrifice 
to the Union cause, who died in the infamous Andersonville prison as 
a prisoner of war ; Jane, now a resident of Arkansas, who became the 
wife of a Mr. Crutcher and subsequently married a Mr. Palmer; 
Matthew, of Piggott, Arkansas; Elizabeth, who became Mrs. John 
Apple and died in Union county, Illinois ; La Gayette. buried in the 
same county ; Belle, who died at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as Mrs. Ed- 
ward Cover ; and Walter a resident of Hot Springs, Arkansas. After 
the death of his first wife Presley Anderson married a Miss Davis. 
To this union were born a daughter. Dell, who married William Camp- 
bell ; George and Frank, of Balcom. Illinois ; and Jeff who died un- 
married. Presley Anderson spent his sixty years of life as a farmer 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 903 

and died in the '70s. In political affiliations he was a Democrat, but 
was a stanch advocate of the preservation of the Union, in support 
of which two of his sons entered the Union army and one of them 
gave up his life. In the local politics of his county he was chosen 
twice as county coroner. 

When Benjamin H. Anderson left the farm as a young man he 
spent a few years as a clerk in the employ of H. J. Neibauer and 
Reck Chule at Dongola. Having acquired some capital, he engaged 
in the retail liquor business in Ullin and followed it about eleven 
years. During this period he acquired title to farm lands and began 
their improvement and cultivation, and at the expiration of the period 
noted he turned his attention actively to farming and to buying and 
shipping stock to market. His career as a stock dealer covered a 
number of years, was successful and established him a reputation 
over a wide area adjacent to his home town. Upon retiring from the 
stock business as a shipper he entered the livery business as a mem- 
ber of the firm of Anderson & Rhymer and is also engaged in the 
implement business, as well as in livery and farming. 

He was one of the active participants in the movement for the 
incorporation of Ullin, has served as a trustee of the town, and in 
community affairs gives his hearty co-operation to those movements 
for the general good. He is a member of the Ullin board of educa- 
tion, and as a home developer in a general way he has contributed 
materially toward village growth in the erection of buildings. While 
he was reared under Democratic influences in politics, he is not domin- 
ated by partisanship and acts rather for the good of the public than 
for that of a political party by supporting that candidate who stands 
for the best government and the cleanest administration of affairs. 

In Dongola, Illinois, on April 3, 1890, Mr. Anderson was united 
in marriage to Miss Lydia Henley, a daughter of Thomas Henley, an 
old settler from Tennessee and a miller by trade. Mrs. Henley was 
formerly Mary Hurt and Mrs. Anderson is the second child of six. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have been born two sons, Russell, who 
died in childhood, and Ralph. Mr. Anderson affiliates fraternally 
with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and sustains his 
membership in the order at Murphysboro, Illinois. 

JAMES T. MARLOW, M. D., has passed more than twenty-five years 
of his life in the practice of medicine at Tamaroa, and for almost a 
quarter of a century has been engaged in the drug business in that 
place in connection with his profession. There is perhaps not a man in 
Tamaroa who is more widely acquainted with the people of that com- 
munity than is Dr. Marlow, nor one who has been more humanely ac- 
tive in all good works for the advancement of the well being of the 
public. 

James T. Marlow was an active factor in the life of the farm until 
after he had reached his majority. His schooling came to him chiefly 
through the Pinckneyville schools and from a select school kept by the 
county superintendent of schools there. He chose his vocation early in 
life, and in 1884 he entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, 
finishing his course in 1886 and graduating from that institution with 
the degree of M. D. In July of the year in which he finished he estab- 
lished himself in Tamaroa, which since that day he has called home. 
He opened a drug store, and has been since that time both merchant and 
physician, and equally successful in either capacity. Dr. Marlow holds 
membership in all the various County. State and American Medical 
Societies, and has served his local society as its vice-president. Politi- 



904 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

cally he is of the Democratic faith, and is enthusiastic in his adherence 
to the party, although well content to let others fill the offices. He is 
prominent in local Masonic circles, being a Master Mason. Dr. Marlow, 
in addition to his personal business affairs, has found time to become 
identified with one of the big organizations of his section, being one of 
the prime movers in the building of the Tri-County Telephone Com- 
pany's system, embracing Perry, Franklin and Jefferson counties, a 
mutual company which has since been absorbed by consolidation with 
companies. 

On September 15, 1887, Dr. Marlow was married in Perry county 
to Mary Ellen Eaton, a daughter of Enoch Eaton. Dr. and Mrs. Mar- 
low have two children. They are Edith, the wife of Sheriff Samuel T. 
Duncan, of Tamaroa, and Robert E., a student of the St. Louis Medical 
College. 

MARCUS L. KENNEDY is one of the representative citizens of Mounds, 
Illinois, who have ever made their influence felt in a quiet, unobtrusive 
and effectual manner. As postmaster of Mounds for the past four years 
he has given to that position the same close application and the careful 
attention to the performance of his duties that have characterized his 
entire life, and which have fixed him firmly in the community wherein 
he has lived and labored for the past thirty years as a dependable and 
valuable citizen. 

Born in Pulaski county, Illinois, on a farm near Villa Ridge, on 
April 28, 1858, he is the son of Samuel Clendenning Kennedy, who 
was born in 1820 and reared in that same community where David 
Kennedy, his father, established the family about the same time that 
Illinois was admitted to the Union. There David Kennedy lived and 
died, full of years and rich in the esteem and friendship of the best citi- 
zenship of Pulaski county. The wife of David Kennedy was Phoebe 
Ann, and they were the parents of Alexander, Thomas, Basil, Samuel 
C., Phoebe, Sarah, who passed away as Mrs. Bankston, and Malinda, 
who wedded Ralph Hoopaw. 

Samuel C. Kennedy grew up without favorable school advantages, 
and continued in the vocation of his father. He married Caroline Cur- 
lew, a member of the Curlew family who came to Illinois from Ken- 
tucky when Mrs. Kennedy was a young girl, she having been born in 
Kentucky in 1831. She died in 1895, and was the mother of Thomas, 
who married Clara Painter and left a family in Pulaski county on his 
death there ; Nancy, who became the wife of Dr. Stone ; James, who died 
unmarried, as did also Samuel and Phoebe ; Marcus L. ; John, and War- 
ren, the youngest member of the family, who also died unmarried. 

Marcus L. Kennedy acquired his education in the public schools in 
the vicinity of Villa Ridge, and when he was seventeen years of age left 
the farm and came to Villa Ridge, where he secured employment in a 
box factory. Later he engaged in business, but after a few years he 
entered the service of the Illinois Central, with which company he re- 
mained for six years. It was while he was in the employ of that cor- 
poration that he was appointed to the office of postmaster, under the ad- 
ministration of Theodore Roosevelt, succeeding himself to that position 
in 1911 by commission from President Taft, in which official position he 
is giving eminently satisfactory service to the community in the dis- 
charge of his duties. 

Mr. Kennedy is a Republican in his political convictions, as might be 
inferred from his present position, and he has ever manifested a modest 
enthusiasm in the affairs of that party, giving gladly of his time and 
ability to its demands when occasion offers. He has given praiseworthy 



. 




HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 905 

service to the city as a member of the common council for four years and 
has in numerous other ways rendered valuable services to the city. 

Mr. Kennedy was married at Shiloh, Pulaski county, on June 14, 
1885, to Miss Cora B. Morrow, a daughter of Hiram and Nancy (Grady) 
Morrow, settlers in Southern Illinois from Tennessee. The only surviv- 
ing member of their union is Mark L., Jr., a daughter, Hazel, having 
passed away in January, 1908, at the age of twenty-two years. 

Mr. Kennedy is a member of the Methodist church, in whose activi- 
ties he has always participated, and fraternally, is identified with the 
Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. 

HUGH B. ESHLEMAN. As president of the Bank of Pulaski Hugh 
B. Eshleman is well known in the commercial circles of Pulaski county, 
Illinois, and as > the postmaster at Pulaski and an active and forceful 
character in the public life of both his county and town he is recognized 
as one of the prominent men of his community, where he has been iden- 
tified with various enterprises contributing to its growth and welfare. 

Mr. Eshleman was born at Villa Ridge, Illinois, September 25, 1877, 
a son of the late William Jacob Eshleman, whose death at Villa Ridge in 
1900, at the age of sixty-eight years, terminated a long and useful 
career as an active participant in the civil and political affairs of Pu- 
laski county, with which he had been identified from the close of the 
Civil war. William Jacob Eshleman was born in Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, one of the seven sons of William Eshleman, a native of 
Germany who immigrated to the United States when a young man and 
located in Pennsylvania, where he married. These sons scattered and 
brought up their families in different parts of the United States, but 
the parents remained farmer^ residents of Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, until their deaths at the old Keystone homestead. Unique is. 
the record of these seven sons during the great conflict of 1861-65. All 
of them entered military service but four of them espoused the Union- 
cause, while the other three tendered their services to the cause of the- 
Southland and entered the Confederate army. 

William Jacob Eshleman, the father of our subject, responded to- 
President Lincoln's call for volunteers the first year of the war and en- 
listed in the Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer infantry. This regiment 
left the state in February, 1862, and proceeded to Fort Donelson, Ten- 
nessee, where it was assigned to the command of General Lew Wal- 
lace. As a part of Grant's army it participated in the battle of Shiloh, 
where the regiment took a conspicuous and honorable part, receiving 
commendatory mention from its superior officers. It also gave gallant 
service at Corinth and Metamora, and in May, 1863, entered upon the 
Vicksburg campaign. The regiment continued in service until mus- 
tered out in January, 1866, but Mr. Eshleman had been wounded four 
times and was discharged for disability in 1865. During one of the 
battles of the war his regiment captured a Virginia regiment in which 
his brother Aaron was enlisted and the brothers had the rare expe- 
rience of meeting each other as enemies and as victor and vanquished 
in the fortunes of war. 

William Jacob Eshleman came to mature life with a fair educa- 
tion. The promise of the West was alluring and in 1859, a young man 
of twenty-seven, he came to Illinois, locating at Freeport. It was thus 
that his services in behalf of the Union came to be as a member of an 
Illinois regiment. Soon after the war he was married in Pulaski 
county, Illinois, to Miss Rachel Elizabeth Kelly, a daughter of Rev. 
Mordecai B. Kelly, an old army chaplain, a well known Baptist minis- 
ter, and ex-chaplain of the Southern Illinois penitentiary at Chester. 



906 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

To this union were born five children : Carrie May, who died, as Mrs. 
Frank Cothrun, of Sesser, Illinois ; Mary Grace, who married Paul J. 
Munch of Minneapolis Minnesota; Nathan Wardner, who died while 
head carpenter of the Southern Illinois penitentiary; John M., of El 
Centra, California, for a time state deputy labor commissioner of Cal- 
ifornia and now a railroad commissioner and leading Republican politi- 
cian of that state ; and Hugh B., the subject of this sketch. The mother 
died December 31, 1885, at the age of forty-six, and was survived by 
her husband until his demise in 1900. The father had given his whole 
active career to agricultural pursuits. 

Hugh B. Eshleman received a liberal education in 'the Southern 
Illinois Normal University at Carbondale and in the business cor- 
respondence course in the Sprague School of Law. For a short time 
he read law with Judge Caster, of Mound City. He began his active 
and independent business career as the proprietor of a hotel at Mounds, 
Illinois, but later he abandoned that business to take up farming at 
Pulaski, and was thus engaged until appointed to succeed his brother 
Warner as head carpenter at the Chester penitentiary. Leaving the 
state service after two years he returned to Pulaski, where for four 
years he gave his attention to merchandising. During that period he 
received his first appointment as postmaster of Pulaski, serving four 
years. In 1906 he was reappointed to that office and is now serving un- 
der the civil service. He was reared under Republican influence and 
espoused the policies of the Republican party when he became a voter. 
Energetic, progressive and well educated, his fitness for public serv- 
ice placed him in office soon after attaining his majority and he has 
officiated in some capacity ever since. After havng served seven years 
as police magistrate of Pulaski he resigned to become a candidate for 
mayor and was elected to that office in April, 1911. 

In a business way Mr. Eshleman was one of the organizers of the 
Bank of Pulaski, holds a controlling interest in it, and was its first 
cashier, serving from 1909 to 1911, or until chosen president of the 
bank, a position in which he has already demonstrated his ability for 
organization and successful management. Miss Ethel Little is cashier 
of the bank and her sister Ina is assistant postmaster, while Mrs. Eshle- 
man is assistant to both the postmaster and the cashier of the bank. Be- 
sides this interest, Mr. Eshleman is secretary and treaurer of the Con- 
solidated Concrete Tie Company, now exploiting the inventions of J. R. 
Sneed and R. J. D. Cowan in the shape of a concrete railroad tie, which 
seems destined to meet the requirements of practical use and become a 
valuable commercial product. Mr. Eshleman also owns considerable real 
estate in and adjacent to Pulaski, and his hand is evident in the sub- 
stantial character of the buildings thereon. At the meeting of the Na- 
tional League of Postmasters in 1909 Mr. Eshleman was elected sec- 
retary of the body and was re-elected in 1911 as secretary and treas- 
urer. He is a member of the Ancient and August Order of Masons, 
having attained to the thirty-second degree and the A. A. 0. N. M. S. 
He is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks 
and the Odd Fellows and with the auxiliary bodies of the first and last 
orders. 

On May 15, 1897, at Pulaski, Illinois, Mr. Eshleman married Miss 
Flora May Kennedy, a daughter of J. B. Kennedy, a prominent citizen 
of Pulaski county. Mr. and Mrs. Eshleman have two children Ruth 
Marie Grace and Claud James. 

REV. EMANUEL BREEZE. The work of a clergyman is hard from a 
material standpoint, but to the conscientious minister all his efforts 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 907 

receive ample compensation in the realization of their necessity. Rev. 
Emanuel Breeze, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, of Harrisburg, 
Illinois, belongs to this class, and has shown himself a very earnest 
worker, thoroughly devoted to his calling and in full possession of the 
respect and esteem of not only his parishioners but of the people of 
other denominations. Rev. Breeze is a native of England, and was 
born in Staffordshire and educated in London, where he took his theo- 
logical course. He came to the United States in 1895 and was ordained 
in "Wisconsin, where he located at Platteville, Grant county, and re- 
mained there until 1908, at which time he was transferred to his present 
charge. His brother, Daniel Breeze, who came to this country at about 
the same time, is also a minister of the Presbyterian faith and at pres- 
ent has charge of the pastorate at Shawneetown, Illinois. Rev. Eman- 
uel Breeze has four brothers in the Christian ministry. 

The first Presbyterian church at Harrisburg, as it now stands, was 
erected at a cost of thirty thousand dollars, the pipe organ being do- 
nated by the Ladies Aid Society, and during the three years that Mr. 
Breeze has been in charge the church has shown a wonderful growth in 
every way. He is not only a faithful worker as a spiritual guide, but 
is an excellent business man, managing the affairs of his charge in a 
manner that assures its future financial stability. There are now about 
one hundred and sixty -five members in the congregation, while the Sun- 
day-school has a large attendance. 

Rev. Breeze was married in Sumner, Illinois, to Florence Marion 
Peck, a daughter of Rev. Joseph Peck, London, England. Four chil- 
dren have been born to this union, of whom Dorothy and Kenneth, the 
two eldest, are still alive. Rev. Breeze was made a Mason at Dodge- 
ville, Wisconsin, joined the Chapter at Medford, Wisconsin, became 
identified with the Oriental Consistory at Chicago, and eventually was 
made a member of the Medinah Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. He is popu- 
lar in all of these organizations, and is known as one of the most prom- 
inent Masons in his part of the state. Dr. Breeze is a faithful and able 
pastor, and a chaste writer through whose vigorous and thoughtful sen- 
tences the truth is beautifully set forth; a genial and companionable 
friend, having always a felicitous word upon his tongue; and a sym- 
pathetic friend of both old and young, of the eminent and of the ob- 
scure. He is also known as a valued citizen, manifesting a commendable 
interest in the affairs of the day. 

CAPTAIN WILLIAM D. LIPPITT. One of the best-known and most 
widely influential men in this region is Captain William D. Lippitt, who 
is the treasurer of Alexander county. He represents an exceptionally 
extensive acquaintance about Cairo through his long connection with 
river traffic on the big rivers here and through his active citizenship and 
participation in public affairs. He dates his residence in Cairo from 
1875, and through all these years he has been to the front. Like so 
many strong figures who have made themselves felt in a multitude of 
communities, he was born in Ohio, the date of his birth having been 
January 23, 1850, and the place having been the thriving and prominent 
little city of Zanesville. His father was Arnold Lippitt, a mechanic, 
who brought the first glass works west of Pittsburgh and engaged in the 
manufacture of glass at Zanesville, where such works, as well as ex- 
tensive potteries and like establishments, have thriven ever since. Arnold 
Lippitt prospered in his enterprise for a number of years but the finan- 
cial panic of 1857 engulfed him because of inability to realize on out- 
standing accounts. At this time he was offered considerable land on 
Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, in settlement of a claim against a debtor, but 



908 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

declined this and thus missed a great opportunity, for Walnut Hills 
property rose very rapidly in value and today land in that rich and 
beautiful suburb is very costly. 

Taking up the family history of the Lippitts further, Arnold Lippitt 
was a son of George Lippitt, who came to Ohio from Rhode Island and 
settled at Coshocton. He was a Methodist minister, and was the father 
of six children. He died at Coshocton. Arnold, his first son, was a 
glass manufacturer, and built two glass works at Zanesville. He was 
married in Muskingum county to Martha, a daughter of William 
Cheagle, a farmer on the Muskingum river. Among their ten children 
were : Adelia, who married Charles Gallagher, a Muskingum river cap- 
tain who came to Cairo before the Civil war, and he and his wife died 
here; Louisa became the wife of W. D. Terry, who was superintendent 
of the stage line from Wheeling, West Virginia, to Columbus, Ohio, in 
pioneer days; Rose married George Lentze and removed to Cairo, where 
both passed away ; Helen was the widow of Captain Reese W. Dugan 
when she died in Chicago in 1910 ; Arnold C. was a hoop manufacturer 
and left a family at his decease, and Captain W. D., the subject of this 
biography, was the youngest of ten children. 

Arnold Lippitt, the father of Captain W. D., removed in 1867 from 
Zanesville to Jackson, Tennessee, and there engaged in the milling busi- 
ness. He ran a custom mill for making breadstuffs and feed and he 
passed the remaining years of his life at Jackson. He died in 1887, at 
the age of eighty-five years at Cairo, Illinois. His wife passed away in 
1889, aged eighty-five years. Arnold Lippitt belonged to the old Whig 
party and then on the organization of the Republican party he joined 
its ranks. 

Captain Lippitt, like many another strong and successful man, 
started upon his active career with only a moderate amount of education 
from books. He chose as the field of his first endeavors that of a rail- 
road man, entering upon this work at the age of seventeen years. Mani- 
festing capacity in this direction, he became assistant agent at Jack- 
son, Tennessee, for the old Mississippi Central. He followed railroad 
work until 1875, when he was induced by his brother-in-law, Captain 
Reese W. Dugan, superintendent of the Underwriters Company, which 
was patrolling the rivers as a "snagger," to take service with him. He 
became clerk of Steamer T. F. Eckert and was connected with it till 
1880, when he was appointed assistant postmaster by George W. Mc- 
Keig, and he served under him for four years and under his successor 
for three years. He then returned to the river, which had strong attrac- 
tions for him, and subsequently he spent twenty-one years on the trans- 
fer boat at Cairo. He finally left the water in 1908 and engaged in mer- 
chandising here. He retired from this field when he entered upon his 
public duties as assessor and treasurer, to which position he was elected 
by the Republicans in 1910. 

On January 15, 1883, Captain Lippitt was happily married in Cairo 
to Miss Fannie Pitcher, a daughter of W. F. Pitcher and Minnie Pauli- 
son, of Trenton and Hackensack, New Jersey, respectively. Mr. Pitcher 
came to Illinois in 1873, and Mrs. Lippitt is one of a family of eight 
children. She was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and she and the Cap- 
tain have no surviving issue. 

Captain Lippitt occupies a prominent place in fraternal orders, be- 
ing a past master of Masonry and a past eminent commander of the 
Knights Templar, and he spent many years as Captain of the Host of 
the Chapter. In church relations he and Mrs. Lippitt are Episcopalians. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 909 

WILLIAM SIMPSON DOBRIS, a well-known and highly esteemed miller 
of West Frankfort, was a resident of Williamson county for nearly 
thirty years. His operations as a farmer in his early life, followed by 
his subsequent mercantile experience, which he abandoned for the mill- 
ing business, have all served to establish him most firmly as one of the 
representative citizens of his county. 

Born in Robinson county, Tennessee, on September 17, 1851, William 
Simpson Dorris is the son of Josiah M. and Amanda (Hampton) Dorris. 
They were both born in Tennessee, and coming to Illinois in 1852 settled 
on a farm in Williamson county and spent the remainder of their life 
in that county. Josiah M. Dorris was a veteran of the Civil war, having 
served in the One Hundred and Twenty-eight Illinois Regiment. He 
was a Democrat, but was not in any sense a politician, although he 
served for years as a justice of the peace. They were members of the 
Baptist church and were numbered among the most valued workers in 
the church, being actively prominent in all branches of the work, par- 
ticularly in that of the Sunday-school. Mr. Dorris was the leader in 
the work of organizing the church at Williamson Parish in Williamson 
county, and took an active interest in the welfare of that organization 
thereafter. His father was a native of Tennessee, and his entire life 
was passed within the confines of the state. The maternal grandfather 
of William Simpson Dorris was also born in Tennessee, but he made 
frequent pilgrimages from that state into Illinois, and became so well 
known on the route he usually traveled that it was a common saying 
among his friends that he ' ' could borrow meal on the road. ' ' He finally 
moved to Illinois, where he remained permanently, and where he finally 
died. 

William Simpson Dorris was educated in the country schools of 
Williamson county. His schooling was of necessity limited, owing to 
circumstances, but he made the best of such opportunities as came his 
way. In his early manhood he bought a forty acre farm on credit, his 
good name being the only security asked. He lived on the farm for 
some time and eventually added to it at intervals. In 1896 he was 
prompted to go into the mercantile business in a small way, and in addi- 
tion to his regular mercantile business he bought grain and traded stock 
to a considerable extent. He was particularly successful in this venture 
and made a good deal of money. In 1902 he moved to West Frankfort 
and there he engaged in the mercantile business in a more extended way 
than he had been previously involved, and in addition to the mercantile 
side he added the milling business. In 1911 he had so prospered in the 
milling business that he sold his store and since then he and his son 
operate the fifty barrel mill under the firm name of W. S. Dorris & Son. 
They have an extensive flour trade in Williamson and adjoining coun- 
ties, in which district their product is well and favorably known. 

In 1872 Mr. Dorris married Henry Ann Clayton, daughter of Dough 
Clayton. He was one of the oldest settlers of Franklin county, taking 
up land from the Government in his early days, on which he passed his 
life and died. Mr. and Mrs. Dorris became the parents of one son, John 
D., who is associated in the milling business with his father. The wife 
and mother died, and Mr. Dorris married Rena Martin, the daughter of 
0. C. Martin, who was for many years preceding his demise one of the 
most prominent stock men in Franklin county. To this latter union 
four children came. They are Arta, Delma, Lola and Marion. The 
family are members of the Baptist church, and are prominent in its 
activities at all times. 



910 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

WILLIAM L. JOHNSON, M. D. Few men are sufficiently versatile to 
successfully pursue two separate vocations during their lives. Rare, 
indeed, is the professional man who becomes a successful financier 
after having earned a reputation in the field of medicine, but this 
has been the record of William L. Johnson, M. D., who is well known 
to the medical profession of Southern Illinois, and who is president 
of the Thompsonville State Bank and a heavy stockholder in other 
institutions at Macedonia and Akin. Dr. Johnson was born at Mace- 
donia, Hamilton county, Illinois, May 6, 1869, and is a son of Robert 
II. and Louisa (Fisher) Johnson. 

John K. Johnson, the grandfather of William L., was born in South 
Carolina, and from that state migrated to Tennessee and subsequently 
to Illinois. R. H. Johnson, an uncle, established the town of John- 
son, now known as Macedonia, and became one of the best known men 
of the county. He was one of the rich agriculturists of Hamilton 
county and a leader in business and political movements for many 
years. Robert H. Johnson, father of the Doctor, was born in Ten- 
nessee and was six weeks old when he was brought by his parents to 
Hamilton county. He was reared to the life of an agriculturist and 
was working on the home farm near Macedonia at the outbreak of 
the Civil war, in which he enlisted as a member of Company H, Thir- 
teenth Illinois Cavalry, with which organization he served for two 
years. Mr. Johnson married Louisa Fisher, daughter of Cyrus Fisher, 
who was born in Pennsylvania and came to Illinois at an early day. 
Cyrus Fisher was a great hunter of deer, and as a nimrod was known 
all over this section of the state, his death occurring in 1864. 

William L. Johnson received his education in the district schools 
and Ewing College, subsequently attending the Southern Illinois 
Normal University, at Cardondale, and after graduating therefrom 
he started to teach school. After two years as an educator he decided 
to enter the medical field, and in 1897 was graduated from the Mis- 
souri Medical College of St. Louis, immediately after which he estab- 
lished himself in practice at Macedonia, but in 1900 went to Akin. 
In 1908 he first came to Thompsonville, where he has since built a 
large and lucrative clientele. Dr. Johnson keeps abreast of the dis- 
coveries and inventions of his profession by close application to the 
leading medical journals of the day, and by taking advantage of the 
benefits to be gained by membership in the Illinois and Southern Illi- 
nois Medical Societies and the American Medical Association. Fra- 
ternally he is connected with the Masons, in which he has been junior 
warden, and with the Odd Fellows, in which order he has acted as 
secretary. In his political views the Doctor is a Republican, but he 
has never allowed his name to be used in connection with public 
office. He and his family are faithful members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. Dr. Johnson has been successful in his profession 
and is the owner . of an excellent piece of property. He invested 
heavily in stock in the banks at Macedonia and Akin while in prac- 
tice at those points, and on coming to Thompsonville saw the oppor- 
tunity to establish a banking institution here. The Thompsonville 
State Bank, of which he is president, is capitalized at $25,000, with 
a surplus of $2,500, and undivided profits of $1,600, while the people 
of the community have expressed their confidence in the strength 
and stability of the institution and the integrity of its officials by 
making an average deposit of $80,000 annually. The success that has 
come to Dr. Johnson in all of his undertakings is well merited, and 
has been the result of his hard and faithful application to every mat- 
ter that has been placed in his hands. He is one of the self-made men 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

of Franklin county, and may take a pardonable degree of pride in 
what he has accomplished. 

In August, 1899, Dr. Johnson was united in marriage with Miss 
Mattie Gullic, daughter of the late N. R. Gullic, who was a well- 
known miller of Macedonia for a number of years, and five children 
have been born to this union : Garvies, Pauline, Jewell, Robert N. and 
Wilma, the first three named being students in the local schools. 

CHARLES J. BOSWELL, M. D. In Dr. Charles J. Boswell, the city 
of Mounds has a citizen in whom she may well take pride. It is but 
rarely that a professional man is willing to spare the time or energy 
which any but the most perfunctory public service demands, but Dr. 
Boswell is one of those unusual personages whose civic pride is great 
enough to make it possible for him to find time for every public duty, 
however exacting it may prove, and in the years of his residence in 
Mounds his services for the general good of the community would be 
hard indeed to estimate. 

Born in Union county, Illinois, he is the son of John H. Boswell, 
a retired farmer of Anna, Illinois, who was born in 1838, also in Union 
county. The Boswell family was established in Illinois in a very early 
day by Captain Thomas Boswell, grandfather of our subject, who came 
to Illinois from North Carolina. He passed the remainder of his life in 
Union county as a successful farmer, and died in 1884, at the advanced 
age of seventy-three years. 

John H. Boswell, father of our subject, was educated in the schools 
of Union county and in Shurtleff College, Alton, Illinois. He was a 
member of Company E, One Hundred and Ninth Illinois Infantry, of 
which his father was captain, and with his regiment did valiant duty 
in the Civil war. In 1861 he was married in Washington county, Mis- 
souri, to Miss Lucy A. Major, a daughter of James M. Major, who was 
a farmer, originally from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where Mrs. Boswell 
was born in 1839. She and her husband are the parents of two surviv- 
ing children, Charles J. and John E. Boswell. 

Both sons received especially careful home training, and were given 
every advantage possible in the way of schooling. They passed through 
the schools of their county, after which Charles J., of whom we write, 
entered the Southern Normal University at Carbondale, where he com- 
pleted two years work. He then took up the study of medicine in 
Marion Sims Medical College, St. Louis, when he was but sixteen years 
of age, and in 1895, after three years of close and careful application 
to his studies, was graduated from that institution when nineteen years 
old, doubtless the youngest practicing physician then of record. He 
soon became a strong factor in his profession, winning for himself in 
his locality an enviable reputation for skill and knowledge. Following 
his permanent establishment at Mounds, Illinois, he took two post 
graduate courses in the New York Polyclinic. He is a member of the 
Pulaski County Medical Society, The Southern Illinois Medical Society 
and the Illinois State Medical and American Medical Associations. He 
is district surgeon for the Illinois Central Railroad Company in Mounds, 
and is a member of the American Association of Railway Surgeons. 
He also had the distinction of being appointed to the state board of 
health by Governor Deneen on July 14, 1908. 

Not only has Dr. Boswell made a name for himself in the practice 
of his profession, but he has become a leader in political and business 
affairs of his district. He has been mayor of Mounds, and during his 
tenure of office numerous reforms were inaugurated for the betterment 
of the civic welfare. He has been president of the Mounds board of 
health, and as a member of the county central committee has done es- 



912 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

pecially effective work in the interests of the Republican party, whose 
adherent he is. He was named president of the First State Bank of 
Mounds upon its organization, and is also one of its directors, in addi- 
tion to which he is a director of the Mounds Building and Loan Associa- 
tion. In short, there is scarcely an industry or organization of note in 
Mounds which has not felt the influence of Dr. Boswell at one time or 
another since he became connected with that city. 

Fraternally he is a Master Mason, being affiliated with Trinity lodge, 
No. 562, and belongs to Cairo Chapter No. 71, at Cairo, Illinois, as 
well as to Cairo Commandery, No. 13, at Cairo. Thus far in his busy 
career Dr. Boswell has not married. 

WILLIAM S. WILSON. Another example of attainment in the face of 
apparent failure is William S. Wilson. After a long, hard struggle, 
when in climbing the height towards the goal which he had set before 
him, he often clung with his finger tips to some slight projection at the 
imminent danger of falling, but climbing upward step by step, he finally 
reached the top. Standing there he felt at last that he had gained a 
safe resting place in the battle of life, only to feel the ground that he 
had thought so solid underneath his feet slipping slowly from beneath 
him, and then to find himself hurtling down the precipice up which he 
had so painfully climbed. It would seem that a man bruised and shaken 
as he was would be content to lie quiet at the bottom, but this was not 
his nature, he was one of those who achieve. He went over the road 
again and this time he safely reached his goal. Mr. Wilson is president 
of the Ritchey Coal Company, and is one of the best known coal operators 
in Southern Illinois. He is also active in the financial and civic life of 
his city, and is anxious to bring to the country that has brought him 
prosperity as much success as is possible. To this end he advocates any 
progressive measure that tends to improve the social conditions of 
Pinckneyville, and this city should be very thankful that it can number 
among its citizens so public-spirited a man. 

William S. Wilson has the best blood of the North and the South in 
his veins. His father, William S. Wilson, Sr., was born in Shelby 
county, Kentucky, and was of Scotch descent. Many of the members 
of this family fought for the cause of state sovereignty under Jackson 
and Lee, but William S. Wilson, Sr., had the temerity to marry into a 
family whose sentiments were strongly in favor of the Union, his wife 
having two brothers in the Union army. The lady in question was 
Letitia Fairleigh, a daughter of William Fairleigh, whose forefathers 
were from France. He was of an old pioneer family of Kentucky, and 
served many years as county clerk of Mead county. Mrs. Wilson's 
mother was one of a large family. William S. Wilson, Sr., passed 
his life as a tiller of the soil, and gave many years of faithful service to 
his fellow-citizens as sheriff of his county, retiring from this office just 
a few months prior to his death, which occurred in 1856. 

William S. Wilson was born at Brandenburg, Kentucky, the town 
where his father died, on the 26th of October, 1852. He is the younger 
of two sons of his parents, his brother William W. having passed away 
in Pinckneyville, Illinois, in 1878. He was agent of the old Cairo 
Short Line at that place, and on his death left two children. His wife 
was a Miss Ozburn, and his children were H. E. Wilson, who is now 
with the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company at Chicago, and 
a daughter who is the wife of Robert Roe, of Pinckneyville. William 
S. was only a youngster of three years when his father died, and he 
grew up in the home of his maternal grandfather. He was an inde- 
pendent lad and could not endure the feeling of being indebted to any- 
one, not even to his grandfather, so be began to support both himself 



HISTORY OF SOUTHEEN ILLINOIS 913 

and his mother early in life. He therefore acquired little education, 
but he made the most of the few advantages he did have. When he 
was fifteen he entered an office of the Western Union Telegraph Com- 
pany, to learn telegraphy. He rapidly picked up a knowledge of Morse, 
and soon became an operator and an agent at points along the line of 
the Cairo Short Line Railroad. It was a continual struggle to feed and 
clothe his mother and himself, and as she grew older there were little 
luxuries that he felt she must have, so many, many times he cheerfully 
gave up something he really needed to buy fruit for her. 

His promotion came soon, he being made agent for the Cairo Short 
Line at Freeburg, Illinois, in 1870, and in 1886, he was appointed 
superintendent, after advancing from one point to the next higher by 
the slow processes known only to railroad companies. His headquarters 
were moved to Pinckneyville in 1890, and he remained with the com- 
pany until 1896, when the Illinois Central acquired the Cairo Short 
Line, and Mr. Wilson then went into the coal business. 

He entered the coal business in Williamson county as a member of 
the Scott-Wilson Coal Company, whose plant was near Carterville. He 
was vice-president of this company and was also one of the owners of 
the Carterville Mining Company. He opened and developed the old 
White- Walnut Coal Company, which has recently been dismantled at 
Pinckneyville. He was president of this company until an opportunity 
came along to make an advantageous sale, and it passed into other 
hands. In all these operations, covering a period of ten years, he united 
the practical knowledge of the mine operator with the daring and cour- 
age of the financier, and each new venture was of greater industrial 
importance than the last. Just before the money panic in 1907 he 
made his supreme effort and put all the money he could procure in the 
Bessemer Wash Coal Company, of which he was the organizer and the 
president. This company operates six mines and a wash between 
Pinckneyville and East St. Louis, and would have undoubtedly been a 
huge success but that the unstable condition of financial affairs caused 
by the panic made it impossible to float its bonds and finance it. It 
collapsed like a bubble and all the earnings of years of industry and 
economy were swept away. Mr. Wilson and the Ritchey Brothers were 
the chief sufferers in the catastrophe and it was necessary for them to 
start again at the foot of the ladder. 

It was now that Mr. Wilson showed the stuff of which he was made. 
With the aid of friends he and his old railroad associates embarked in 
the coal business again, after confidence had been somewhat restored, 
and the Ritchey Coal Company was organized. The company opened 
a mine at the junction of the Illinois Central and the Wabash, Chester 
and Western Railroads, and secured a long contract with the Illinois 
Central Company. To fill this contract requires practically the whole 
of the daily output of the mine, consequently prosperity once more 
smiles upon Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson is president of the company, 
Thomas Ritchey is vice-president and Sherman Ritchey is secretary, 
treasurer and manager. 

Immediately upon taking up his residence in Pinckneyville Mr. 
Wilson evinced his interest in the advancement of the town, and its 
citizens soon placed great confidence in him. He has served for six 
years as a member of the town council, and for twenty years has been 
president of the board of education. He is particularly valuable in the 
latter position, for the education that he did not have in his younger 
days makes him place all the higher value \ipon it, and he is determined 
that whatever else shall suffer the schools of Pinckneyville shall be 
equipped so as to give the best education to her prospective citizens. 
As a financier he has become well known through his position as pres- 



914 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

ident of the Building and Loan Association, which post he held for 
several years, and through his place as executive head of the First 
National Bank. He has particularly urged that the citizens of Pinckney- 
ville should add to the beauty of their city by the erection of substantial 
and artistic homes. In this he has set them a worthy example in his 
own home, which is one of the most attractive in the county. 

On the 29th of April, 1875, Mr. Wilson was married in Owensboro, 
Kentucky, to Belle M. Moorman, a daughter of S. M. Moorman, who 
was a prominent merchant of that place. He was born and brought up 
in Owensboro, and served in the Civil war as a soldier fighting for 
the Confederacy. Mrs. Wilson was born on the 25th of December, 1856, 
in Owensboro. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have two children, Sarah, who is 
the wife of Dr. C. H. Roe, and George R., who is engaged in the coal 
business in St. Louis. Mr. Wilson lost his mother in 1906, at the age 
of eighty, but she died happily, having seen her son come through his 
trials and unconscious of that greater trouble that he was yet to face. 
Politically Mr. Wilson was a Democrat until Bryan came into the 
limelight, and since that time he has acted independently, with a lean- 
ing toward the Republican party. He is a member of the fraternal 
order of Masons, and in his religious views is a warm supporter of the 
beliefs of the Missionary Baptist church. He is superintendent of the 
Sunday-school, and is a leader in many of the activities of the church. 

ABEL CAPEN EATON, well known in DuQuoin as the foreman of the 
Majestic Coal and Coke Company, was born in this city on October 28, 
1868, and is a brother of Samuel B. Eaton, one of the large operators 
in coal in Southern Illinois and the vice-president of the company named 
above. The schools of the community gave to Abel Eaton such educa- 
tion as he was permitted to receive, but he was not a regular attendant 
past the age of sixteen years. He became more or less familiar with 
coal mining methods as a boy about the mines, but was not actively 
connected with the work until in more recent years. When he was 
seventeen years old he engaged in railroading with the Cotton Belt 
Company as a brakeman in the train service, located at Pine Bluff, Ark- 
ansas, following that service with a season of employment as a fireman, 
subsequently being promoted to the position of engineer, and he served 
in that capacity with the Frisco Company on the St. Louis, Kennett and 
Southern branch of their road. After many months of service in the 
swamps of southeastern Missouri he was attacked with malaria, and 
he was finally forced to abandon his position there and seek a climate 
in which his health might be restored. He naturally returned to his old 
home in DuQuoin in his search for renewed health, and after some little 
time there he was able to resume work, and he accepted a position as 
hoisting engineer at the Leiter mines at Zeigler, Illinois. His ability 
was such that he was not for long permitted to occupy the more humble 
place, and within a comparatively short time he was promoted to the 
position of assistant mine manager. He remained in that place for 
some time, and then went to West Frankfort as night foreman for the 
Deering Coal Company there, and left them after some eight months 
to take the place of assistant mine boss with the Majestic Company in 
1906. When the vacancy in the foremanship occurred he was promoted 
to the position, and since that time he has had charge of the two prop- 
erties of the company situated in the same field, filling the position in a 
manner wholly creditable to himself and satisfactorily to the company. 
Mr. Eaton is a member of a number of fraternal orders, among them 
being the Odd Fellows, the Order of Eagles and of the Red Men. 

Mr. Eaton has been twice married. His first marriage was with 
Miss Mamie Collins. One son was born to them, Edward, who is a 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 915 

graduate of the Cone Trade School of Chicago and is an electrician for 
the Majestic interests, and who married in 1911 Miss Blanche Matthews. 
In May, 1905, Mr. Eaton married Miss Sibyl Burk in Benton, Illinois. 
She is a daughter of Riley and Done (Glover) Burk. The Eaton family 
reside upon the old Eaton homestead east of DuQuoin, where the father, 
William Eaton, settled before the Civil war, and where many early and 
interesting events in the history of the family took place. 

W. THOMAS WHITE, after forty years of service in the ranks of 
the employes of the Wabash, Chester & Western Railway Company, has 
retired from his position as station agent at Cutler, which he has held 
for the past thirty-four years, and since April 14, 1911, has been living 
a life of comparative inactivity, as contrasted with his long term of ac- 
tive service for that company. Few men can show a record of faithful 
service with one concern covering so long a period of years, but the life 
and works of W. Thomas White have been an open book, and his every 
act tinctured by a loyalty and allegiance to his company that had won 
him high praise from his employers and from the people of his com- 
munity as well. 

A native of Perry county, Illinois, Mr. White was born on January 
14, 1853. His father was a native of Washington county, born in 1830, 
and died in Perry county in 1863. Reverend Thomas White, the grand- 
father of the subject, settled in Washington county as one of its pioneer 
settlers from South Carolina. He was a Methodist minister, and he 
died in Texas in 1840. He, with his wife, Jane Pate, were the parents 
of four children : Julia, who became the wife of William Lemons and 
passed her life in Washington county, Illinois; David, who died in Wash- 
ington county in 1865; Elizabeth, who married Jackson Lemons and 
died in the same county ; and Orson, the father of W. Thomas, the sub- 
ject. 

The father of Orson White passed away when he was yet at a very 
tender age, and the frontier schools alone prepared him and his brother 
and sisters for the serious business of life. Orson White was a staunch 
defender of the Union and a supporter of Republican policies, and at 
the outbreak of the Civil war he was the one man of the faith in his 
section of Perry county. The spirit of the community was in strong 
opposition to the Government, and when some of the Democrats were 
drafted for the service efforts were made to resist enlistment. Upon one 
occasion, following a draft, a Federal soldier made his appearance in 
the community and applied to Mr. White for lodging. During the night 
a small posse of citizens, many of them neighbors, called Mr. White 
outside and inquired into the presence of the "blue coat" in his house. 
Upon his explanation that the man was under the protection of the 
White roof and should not be molested, the representatives of the 
Knights of the Golden Circle, as they called themselves, informed Mr. 
White that they would give him one hour to start the "blue coat" on 
his way out of the country, under penalty of violence to his person. It 
was judged by the soldier that ' ' discretion was the better part of valor, ' ' 
and as a result he and his protector took horses and rode to the home 
of another Republican several miles away. By early morning Mr. White 
was back under his own roof and he had the satisfaction of seeing the 
shirking men captured and forced into service in defense of the flag. 
In early life Mr. White married Martha McCurdy Hix, the widow of 
Joseph Hix, by whom she was the mother of one daughter, Caroline, 
who married and died in St. Francis, Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. White 
were the parents of four children : W. Thomas, of Cutler, Illinois ; 
Nathan B-, who died in Perry county in 1910, after passing the greater 



916 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

part of his life in Tamaroa as a carpenter; Minnie, who died unmar- 
ried; Delia, who married Coleman Smith and died in Perry county. 
Mrs. White passed away in August, 1909, as the widow of Burrell Smith, 
now deceased, Orson White having died as a young man during the 
Civil war. 

W. Thomas White passed his boyhood upon the farm around Tama- 
roa, falling into the hands of that systematic farmer and altogether ad- 
mirable citizen, Lysias Heap. He was a cultured, educated gentleman 
and Thomas White was the third boy he had taken under his paternal 
care. He was well versed in boy-lore and he well knew the way to the 
best that was in the heart and mind of a boy, and how best to develop 
his better nature. During the winter young White was sent to school 
the same as if he had been a son of his benefactor, and the boy improved 
his opportunities in a more than usual manner. No arduous labors were 
demanded of him as a return for his schooling privileges, but he did the 
choring and other light work about the premises and in this way came 
to young manhood. He made his home with Mr. Heap until he was 
past twenty, at which age he began teaching school, continuing thus for 
eight years. At that time the Wabash, Chester & Western Railroad 
Company was building its line through the county and Mr. White be- 
came interested in it. He became a brakeman and served in that capa- 
city until he lost a leg as the result of an unfortunate railroad accident 
in 1873, and following his recovery he was made station agent at Cut- 
ler, which position he filled with a high degree of satisfaction to all con- 
cerned until his retirement in April, 1911, after thirty-four years of 
service at one station. During many years of that time Mr. White had 
carried on farming to a greater or less extent upon the farm, a portion 
of which was his wife's property, coming to her from her father, the 
Reverend M. Harshaw. Upon this farm she was born, reared, married 
and has thus far passed her married life. The marriage of Mr. White 
with Miss Sarah Harshaw took place August 4, 1881. She was born 
October 3, 1853, and was educated in the home, in the public school and 
in a private academy at Coulterville. Reverend Michael Harshaw, her 
father, came to the Cutler neighborhood in 1842, coming from Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania, and settling in the dense woods on the now pros- 
perous farm conducted by his daughter's husband. He was a native 
of county Armagh, Ireland, born there in 1818, and in Bakerstown, 
Pennsylvania, December 27, 1842, he married Margaret McCloskey, a 
native of county Antrim, Ireland, who came to the United States in 
1824. They were the parents of seven children : Eliza, the wife of 
Rev. S. B. Moore, of Tarkio, Missouri ; Rev. Andrew Harshaw, of Junc- 
tion City, Kansas ; Mrs. White ; and Rev. William Harshaw, of Minne- 
apolis, Minnesota; all of whom are living, and three are deceased. The 
wife and mother passed away October 4, 1910, at the advanced age of 
ninety-three years, while the father died August 11, 1874. Rev. Michael 
Harshaw was an important factor in the work of the United Presby- 
terian church in this section of Illinois. His education, received in 
Washington and Jefferson College, and later at a Presbyterian sem- 
inary, was ample to prepare him for the work he was engaged in for 
so many years of his life, and, indeed, up to the last week of his life. 
He blazed the trail for much of the later work that has been done in 
Southern Illinois by the United Presbyterian church, and was faithful 
to the last in the performance of his duties as a minister of the gospel. 
A man of high character and fearless in his convictions, he was a formid- 
able enemy to all that smacked of vice in its myriad forms, and he was 
loved and respected by all who came within the circle of his acquaint- 
ance. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 917 

Mr. and Mrs. White are members of the United Presbyterian church. 
Mr. White has been a notary public for many years, is a justice of the 
peace and is a Prohibition Democrat. He has been secretary of the 
Farmers' Institute for many years and takes a hearty interest in all 
matters of agricultural import. One son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
White : Howard, a resident of Cutler, born December 4, 1887, and mar- 
ried to Theresa Meyer on April 20, 1911. 

ROBERT R. LINK. On June 4, 1893, was summoned to the Great 
Beyond the soul of a man whose sterling integrity and most exemplary 
character have left an indelible impress upon the hearts of his fellow 
men- At the time when he was called from the scene of his mortal en- 
deavors he was in his sixty-first year, and it may be said of him that he 
was even then in the very prime of life, and his memory will long 
remain a fair heritage and example to the younger generation. It may 
indeed be said of him with all due conservatism that he was one of the 
finest and most prominent men who ever lived in Ewing. He was the 
friend of all measures calculated to advance its prosperity and it was 
one of his distinctions to be one of the five men who founded Ewing 
College in 1868, of which institution he was ever the staunch friend 
and benefactor. Mr. Link was one of the leading Prohibitionists in 
Illinois, running for state treasurer on that ticket in 1890 and for gov- 
ernor in 1892. His vocation was that of an agriculturist and an 
educator. 

Robert R. Link was born in Wilson county, Tennessee, on the 4th 
of December, 1832. He was the son of James A. and Catherine (New- 
man) Link, both of whom were born in North Carolina, where they met 
and married, removing in the days of their youth to Tennessee. James 
A. Link was a farmer and slave owner during his lifetime. Robert Link 
came to Illinois in 1861 and located upon a farm in the vicinity of 
Ewing, which he had bought previous to his coming, and this farm was 
the scene of his subsequent life until death called him. In a short time 
he had gained the confidence and respect of all with whom he came in 
contact, and eventually became one of the leading men of Ewing. In 
the early years he taught school in the winter seasons and farmed in 
summer. In the autumn of 1865 he was elected county superintendent 
of schools and in 1869 was re-elected by an increased majority, and too 
much can not be said of the meritorious work he did for the public 
schools of Franklin county during this trying period- 

As previously mentioned, Mr. Link was one of the five men who 
founded Ewing College in 1868, an institution which has ever been the 
pride of Franklin county, and in which many of the most estimable 
and successful people of the county have received their education. The 
worthy spirit of the founders has never been lost in all the intervening 
years and their example remains a material, intellectual and spiritual 
blessing to this thorough and progressive college. Mr. Link filled the 
office of secretary of the institution from its founding until the day of 
his. death, and he always gave freely of his time, talent and substance 
to the college, and encouraged others to do likewise, and the existence of 
the institution today is in a greater measure due to his efforts than to 
any other influence or combined influences brought to bear. He left 
his regular business affairs to solicit funds and students for the college, 
and not until it was established on a firm and solid basis did he relax 
his efforts in its behalf in any degree. In fact, he always spoke of the 
college as his life work, his other business being regarded by him merely 
as a means to an end. Never was there a more generous hearted man 
than Robert R. Link. The boys were his principal responsibility, and 

VoL H 2 S 



918 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

his dearest labors were in the aiding of poor and orphaned boys to secure 
an education. Many a homeless orphan, untutored and without hope, 
owes his education and present position in life to the benignant heart 
and mind of this kindly gentleman. Instance upon instance might be 
cited to bear out this fact of his life, but it is sufficient to state that it 
was so in this review. All who knew him can bear witness to the fact, 
and those who owe all to his generosity and patient love are ever ready 
to give eloquent testimony, both by word of mouth and lives of well- 
spent endeavor. As one who worked his own way through college, he 
was well able to give timely counsel and aid to other boys similarly situ- 
ated, and he made frequent reference to his own straitened circum- 
stances in dealing with his proteges. His father, James A. Link, at one 
time was a wealthy planter and slave owner, but became much reduced 
financially, so that the education of his son, Robert R-, was a matter of 
which that son of necessity bore the greater responsibility in a financial 
way. He was fond of relating to hard-working students that once in 
his college days he needed a pair of shoes, but lacked the wherewithal 
to make the purchase. He walked home on Friday night, a distance of 
seven miles, cut a cord of wood, hauled it to town and bought his shoes 
on Saturday, and walked back to school before Monday morning. It 
was a favorite recital with him when a Ewing college boy was in need 
of money for any purpose, and he always finished his story by offering 
the boy a team, wagon, wood and a market and it is needless to say that 
many a worthy youth has relieved his pressing needs in that manner. 
Never less than eight boys were in attendance at Ewing College under 
his guidance, and most of them earned their own way, as a result of 
his careful and wise management. He was always busy. At work upon 
his farm, lecturing in the interests of the temperance cause, or labor- 
ing in the behalf of the beloved college, he might always be found occu- 
pied at something. Pour o'clock in the morning was his rising hour, 
and it was not an unusual occurrence for him to arise at two in the 
morning and drive eighteen miles to meet an early train. His outdoor 
exercise kept him always in fine physical condition, and at the age of 
sixty he never expected any man to chop more wood or pitch more hay 
than he did and it required a well conditioned man of any age to keep 
up with the pace he set. His wife partook of the same kindly, gener- 
ous and energetic nature that characterized him. She was one of the 
most active women in Ewing, and in her own home was the moving! 
spirit in its domesticity. A woman of plain and quiet instincts, economy 
was everywhere practiced in the maintenance of the home, but with the 
college, the church, or any other worthy cause she was liberal to a fault. 
To the dependent boys who were always to be found sharing their home 
she was a veritable Lady Bountiful, and the needy of the community 
knew the fullness of her large and generous spirit, and it is safe to con- 
jecture that the books of church and college in Ewing will evidence 
that they gave many times the amount of their personal expenditures 
to the worthy institutions in which they held so deep an interest. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Link were strong advocates of woman suffrage, another 
manifestation of the fine and progressive spirit of a man who passed 
to his reward almost ten years before that subject came to be a national 
issue as it is today. Mr. Link was a gifted orator, possessing gifts of 
logic and forcefulness which made him a power in any cause he em- 
braced. His whole heart was in the cause of prohibition, and he devoted 
much of his time to the work of the party. When a nominee for gov- 
ernor on the Prohibition ticket he canvassed the entire state of Illinois, 
thereby greatly enlarging his acquaintance. His death in 1893, the 



IHIE 

OF 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 919 

/ 

year following the campaign, was a matter of deep and widespread 
regret, and it may well be said of him, 

"To live in hearts we leave behind 
Is not to die." 

Mr. Link married on October 12, 1862, Miss Eliza Jane Webb, the 
daughter of Elijah T. and Nancy (Clark) Webb. Elijah Webb was 
born in Franklin county in 1818 and was one of the first children born 
in the county, his parents being among the earliest of the pioneers. He 
answered the dual calling of a farmer and Primitive Baptist minister. 
His death occurred in 1879, and his wife followed him in 1884. 

Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Link, four survive at the pres- 
ent time. The eldest, William C., was a graduate from the commercial 
department of Ewing College, and after successfully filling several posi- 
tions as a bookkeeper he went on the road as a commercial traveler, was 
later one of the organizers of the Egyptian Hustlers, and after a re- 
markable success as a salesman acquired the Hotel McCreery, in which 
his success has been even more remarkable. 

Alice completed the musical course in Ewing College and occupied 
the chair of music in that institution for several years, until she mar- 
ried John Richeson, A. M., one of the ablest scholars and teachers Ewing 
College ever was privileged to own. He was born and raised on a 
farm near Ewing College, where he was educated. For more than ten 
years he taught in the college at different times, holding with distinc- 
tion nearly every chair in the college. In vacation seasons he traveled 
all over Southern Illinois, acting as instructor at teachers' institutes 
in almost every county south of the Mason and Dixqn line in the state, 
and always with unqualified success. When he left that institution he 
went to the schools of East St. Louis, where he is remembered with 
love and respect by everyone who was privileged to know him. From 
there he went to St. Louis, Missouri, as principal of the industrial 
school, where he still remains, and where his labors are attended by 
the same success that has followed him through life. 

Effie L. Link graduated in the teachers' course at Ewing College, 
and was valedictorian of her class. A few weeks subsequent to her 
graduation she married J. F. Roberts, a wealthy commercial man of 
Cairo, Illinois, where they now live. 

Nancy L. was graduated with high honors in the musical course 
at Ewing College and she acted as choir leader in college and in church 
for several years. She was repeatedly offered the chair of music in the 
college, which she declined. She is now the wife of Robert J. Hall, of 
Ewing. 

J. B. FORD. In every community, town and city, no matter how 
much public-spirited feeling may exist, the work of taking the initia- 
tive and pushing ahead always devolves upon a willing few. Fore- 
most among the public-spirited citizens of Harrisburg, Illinois, who 
took the initiative and have produced results that have contributed to 
the general welfare is J. B. Ford, president of The J. B. Ford Lumber 
Company, Incorporated, a brief sketch of whose life is as follows: 

J. B. Ford, although a native of New York state, passed his boy- 
hood days on the frontier in the Middle West. Iowa, Michigan and 
Illinois. As a young man he taught school in these states, and it was 
as a school teacher that he first came to Saline county, Illinois. He 
had prepared himself for this work by a course in the State Normal 
School at Ypsilanti. In 1881 he was a teacher in the Harrisburg schools, 
and for thirty years his influence in various ways has been a prominent 
factor in the upbuilding of the city. As manufacturer and contractor 
and builder, there are substantial evidences of his work on every hand ; 



920 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

as chief executive of the town, his administration was one marked by 
many desirable and permanent improvements. 

Mr. Ford's large lumber and contracting business may be said to 
have had its inception here in 1884, when he and Mr. N. Johnson opened 
a repair shop and in a small way manufactured wagons. To this busi- 
ness they soon added a planing mill. Two years later there was a divi- 
sion of the business, Mr. Ford taking the lumber machinery and start- 
ing a new business. Soon L. A. McGuire, a dealer in pine lumber, 
became his partner and they consolidated, and for three years they con- 
tinued together. Then another division took place. Mr. McGuire took 
the finished stock and started another yard, while Mr. Ford retained 
the mill and worked up the rough stock. At that time this was the only 
planing mill in Saline county. 

In 1893, his lease having expired, Mr. Ford moved to his present 
location. Here, in the heart of the city, he bought six acres, for which 
he paid $500. This property is to-day worth no less than $20,000. Im- 
mediately he built a new planing mill and enlarged the business, and 
two years later he added a sawmill, a standard double mill, the plant 
demanding a $15,000 investment. At that time timber was cheap ; in 
some instances it being burned in order to clear the land. Mr. Ford 
saw his opportunity and made the most of it. From one forty-acre 
tract of timber land, which he purchased for $25.00, he had a yield of 
200,000 feet of lumber. The home market was good, and in order to 
meet the demand he employed about twenty-five men and kept his mill 
running day and night. When timber began to get scarce he bought up 
all he could handle in the next three years, and before this was worked 
up it had doubled in value. While for several years he did business on 
borrowed money, he kept his credit good, and he .had the keen fore- 
sight to make provision for the panic of 1893. Even then, however, he 
had hard work to keep the business going. 

About 1895 Mr. Ford became interested in contracting and build- 
ing. He became associated with Robert King, a bricklayer and brick 
manufacturer, and together they carried on building in connection with 
the manufacture of builders' supplies up to the time of Mr. King's 
death. They erected the principal buildings of the town, including 
grade schools and high school, churches, banks, court house, business 
blocks and fine residences, and also put up many buildings in other 
towns, regularly employing from fifty to one hundred men. When the 
business had grown sufficiently to demand increased capital, Mr. Ford 
decided to incorporate, which he did in 1906, under the name of The 
J. B. Ford Lumber Company, Incorporated, with a capital stock of 
$55,000, for the manufacture of lumber, brick and tile and to deal in 
lumber and do general contract work. The company is officered as fol- 
lows : J. B. Ford, president ; A. O. Bennett, secretary and treasurer ; 
and J. H. Mallone, general manager. In 1906 the annual business of 
the company was $140,000; this year (1911) it is $200,000. Two hun- 
dred men are employed, twenty-five to thirty being in the brick plant, 
and the pay roll averages $1,200 per week. At the time the company 
was incorporated, it was Mr. Ford's intention soon to retire, but he is 
still actively identified with the business and no date has been set for 
his retirement. He is a stockholder and director in the McClure-Flan- 
iiigan Wholesale Grocery Company, and a director and vice president 
of the State Savings Bank, both of Harrisburg, and is the owner of 
much valuable property here. 

In 1908 he was elected and served as mayor of Harrisburg, and 
during his incumbency of this office was the means of introducing val- 
uable improvements in the town, including sewers and pavements. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 921 

Also during his term the city was well policed and the debt was re- 
duced $8,000. 

Mr. Ford married, in 1886, Miss Guard, daughter of Alexander 
Guard, an extensive land owner and one of the pioneers of Equality, 
Gallatin county, now deceased. Mr. Guard was a son of Timothy G. 
Guard, who was the builder of the Illinois Iron Furnace. Mr. and 
Mrs. Ford have three sons : Eugene, Charley and Dayton. Charley is 
in business with his father, having charge of the brick yard, and 
Eugene is the proprietor of a hotel at Benton, Illinois. 

REUBEN J. WHEATLEY, bookkeeper for the "Willis Coal & Mining 
Company for a considerable number of years, has passed his life thus 
far in the various phases of the coal business, and is well and favorably 
known among the men of the craft in local mining circles. Previous 
to his connection with Percy, Mr. "Wheatley was a resident of DuQuoin, 
in which city he was prominent in the politics of that district as well 
as in the administration of the affairs of the Miners' Union. He has 
seen a variety of service in the mining business, rising from the humble 
position of car-greaser as a youth in DuQuoin to his present position 
of importance. 

Born April 5, 1870, Reuben J. Wheatley is the son of Dr. Isaac L. 
Wheatley, who was for many years identified with the medical fratern- 
ity of Franklin county. He was also a blacksmith. Dr. Wheatley was 
one of the first Christian preachers in his locality, and helped to build 
the first church of that denomination in DuQuoin. He was a man of 
wide education and was prepared for the medical profession. He 
served in the Federal army as a surgeon in the Eighty-first Illinois 
and passed through his period of service without being wounded or 
captured. He married Martha M. Turner, of Wheeling, West Vir- 
ginia. She was a daughter of Samuel Turner and died at the age of 
sixty-five years. Children were born to them as follows : Venia, the 
wife of M. L. Skinner, of West Frankfort, Illinois ; William, of Elk- 
ville, Illinois; Laura, who married William Pumlee, of DuQuoin, Illi- 
nois ; Isaac N., of Riverside, Indiana ; Reuben J., of this sketch ; Joseph 
W. of DuQuoin ; and Ono K., of DuQuoin. 

The education of Reuben J. Wheatley was of a rather meagre order, 
and his brief training in the common schools of DuQuoin was the only 
preparation he had for life in that respect. He was not of the sort, 
however, to remain at the bottom of the ladder merely because circum- 
stances had denied him a proper equipment to insure successful climb- 
ing, as the accomplishments of later years will show. When he was 
sixteen he secured employment in a printshop of DuQuoin, but he soon 
decided that the work was not sufficiently promising to warrant his 
continuing with it, and he went to work as a car-greaser for the St. 
John Coal Company, later for the Central Coal and Salt Company in 
the same capacity. He tried his hand at blacksmithing, with fair suc- 
cess, and finally entered the employment of the Greenwood Coal Com- 
pany in a mechanical capacity. He soon was promoted to a position as 
check-weighman, a position which he held for eight years, after which 
he served in a similar capacity for three years with the Lake Mining 
Company. In 1903 he came to the W T illis Coal and Mining Company, 
serving them first at DuQuoin, and one year later he came to Percy, 
and as bookkeeper for the company is responsible for the accounts of 
the Percy mines of the company. He has continued in that position for 
several years, amply demonstrating his ability as an expert accountant. 

Not alone has Mr. Wheatley done good work in his private capacity, 
but he has given valuable service to the city of DuQuoin, with which 



922 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

he was connected for so many years. He served on the council of that 
city for two terms, and in various ways was able to perform valuable 
labors in behalf of his home town. He is a Republican and has always 
been a staunch supporter of the cause. Twice has he served as village 
president of Percy, filling that position in a praiseworthy manner. 
While in DuQuoin he first became active in the interests of the Miners' 
Union, of which he was a member, and was local secretary of the lodge 
in that place. He was made sub-district representative by that lodge 
and was sent as a delegate to the state meetings, where he was chosen 
as a delegate to attend the National Miners' convention in Indian- 
apolis in 1900. In all his associations with that organization he has 
performed valuable service for his local lodge and won the hearty co- 
operation of fellow men in his labors in their behalf. 

On June 12, 1887, Mr. Wheatley was married at DuQuoin, Illinois, 
to Miss Nannie McCollum, a daughter of Riley M. McCollum. The 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley are Shelby, who is a miner and who 
is married to Ruth Short ; Marion, Fay, Karl and Charles. The family 
are members of the Christian church, and Mr. Wheatley is a Master 
Mas^n. 

LORANZEY D. KIMZEY. The farming districts of Illinois have pro- 
duced some of its most able business men, and many of those who are 
now following business careers in the cities and villages 'received their 
training as agriculturists and entered mercantile pursuits only after 
years of tilling the soil. Jackson county has many such men, and 
they may be counted among their most representative citizens. Prom- 
inent among them in his community is Loranzey D. Kimzey, the pro- 
prietor of a large grocery and meat market at Fordyce, who in addition 
to being a valuable addition to those who have charge of the com- 
mercial interests of his section, has proven himself an able and con- 
scientious public official. Mr. Kimzey was born on a farm in Hard in 
county, Illinois, October 22, 1868, and is a son of Ephraim and Mary 
(Schumacher) Kimzey. 

Ephraim H. Kimzey was a native of Kentucky, but was a stanch 
Union man, and at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war he left his 
native state to come to Illinois, and here enlisted as a member of Com- 
pany E, Forty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, and served three 
years and six months, or until he was badly wounded and received his 
honorable discharge on account of disability. At the age of twenty- 
five years he was married in Hardin county to Miss Mary Schumacher, 
of that locality, and three children were born to this union: Loranzey 
D., Milo and C. A. After his marriage Mr. Kimzey engaged in farm- 
ing in Hardin county, but eventually sold that land and came to Jack- 
son county, and until his death, in 1888, was engaged in farming near 
Murphysboro. His widow is still living, on a farm near Sand Ridge. 
Mr. Kimzey was a stanch Republican in his politics, and was a popular 
comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic. 

L. D. Kimzey received his education in the public schools of Hardin 
county, and was engaged in farming with his father until seventeen 
years of age in that locality. At that time the family came to Jack- 
son county, and he remained in association with his father until the 
latter 's death, at which time he purchased a farm of his own. Reared 
to agricultural pursuits, and taught scientific methods of farming, 
Mr. Kimzey was successfully pursuing that vocation, but decided to 
try his ability in the mercantile field, and during the early months of 
1911 rented his land, moved to Fordyce. and there purchased the 
grocery and meat market of R. Grain. As a business man he has 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 923 

shown himself to be enterprising, progressive and capable, as well as 
possessed of the attributes which enable a man to successfully follow 
more than one vocation. He has built up his business considerably, 
added needed reforms, and established himself firmly in the confidence 
and esteem of the people of his adopted locality. Like his father a 
stalwart Republican, Mr. Kimzey has served as highway commissioner 
of Sand Ridge township, was school director several years, and is at 
present acting as township treasurer. Fraternally he is affiliated with 
the Modern Woodmen of America. 

Mr. Kimzey was married at the age of twenty-five years, to Miss 
Celesta C. Porter, of Jackson county, daughter of L. D. Porter, a 
farmer of Sand Ridge township, and to this union there have been born 
four children : Walter, Helen, Lucevia and Ida. Mr. and Mrs. Kimzey 
are well and favorably known in their locality, and have numerous 
warm, personal friends. 

DR. MAX ADLES. In the various phases that medicine has developed 
none is of more value to mankind nor is showing a more speedy develop- 
ment than is that of the laboratory investigator. These men who court 
death every day of their lives in handling the deadly germs of typhoid 
fever or of diphtheria in the effort to advance the cause of science are 
not always to be found in the big laboratories of the city, but many of 
them are in the small towns, working with equal enthusiasm in spite 
of the lack of inspiration that is in the atmosphere of a laboratory 
where a number of scientists are all working together. One of these 
true scientists is to be found in the person of Dr. Max Adles. Pri- 
marily, however, Dr. Adles is a doctor and the foremost thought in 
his mind is the care of the sick dependent on him, but secondarily 
comes the investigations that he has and is making as a student. His 
studies have led him beyond the realm of science, and have given him 
a broad minded view on many subjects. He is a close student of 
political economy, and is intensely alive to the conditions of the times 
and the changes that are sweeping over the face of the country. 

Dr. Adles is not a native born American, having first seen the light 
in far away Russia, in Kiev, "the mother city of Russia." The day 
of his birth was December 28, 1867, and his father was Hirsch Adles. 
Hirsch Adles brought his family to America, and what a change it 
must have been for the lad, from the old city on the banks of the 
Dnieper to the rush and whirl of New York. It was in the latter city 
that Mr. Adles located and here he spent the remainder of his life. 
His wife was Rachel Rafelson, and she became the mother of three 
children. After the death of her husband Mrs. Adles went to the 
Holy land and took up her residence in Jerusalem. 

In the land of his birth Dr. Max Adles was accustomed to the com- 
fort and ease of a well-to-do household, and he had received the best 
education that Kiev afforded. On his arrival in this, country, he was 
sent to complete his studies in the Cooper Institute of New York City. 
When he later decided to enter the medical profession he entered the 
medical department of the University of Columbia. He came west in 
1890 and continued his studies in the old Missouri Medical College, 
which is now a part of the Washington University at St. Louis. From 
this institution he was graduated in 1898. The first year of his prac- 
tice he spent in St. Louis, where he had the valuable experience that is 
to be gained through hospital work. In 1899 he came to Perry county, 
and first settled in Pinckneyville, but DuQuoin seemed to offer him a 
broader field, so in January, 1900, he moved hither. It is here that 
his chief professional work has been done. 



924 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Dr. Adles is of that type of man who is never content, he always 
wants to know the "Whys" of things. He is not satisfied, either, 
unless he has reasoned a thing out to his own satisfaction, and he 
proposes to take as little as may be on faith, he must have a reason. 
This is the mind of the investigator, and this turn in his mental proc- 
esses has led him far afield from his profession, so that there is 
scarcely a subject into which he has not dipped. As for the great 
fundamental principles of life, Dr. Adles believes that everyone should 
work them out to suit himself, which theory he has himself followed. 

In order not to lag in the procession of those who are putting into 
practical use what the research men are discovering daily, Dr. Adles 
took a post-graduate course in New York City in 1904, and his affilia- 
tion with the various societies of the "regular school" has been close 
ever since he began to practice. He belongs to the local medical society 
of DuQuoin, to the Southern Illinois Medical Association, to the Illi- 
nois State Medical Association and to the American Medical Associa- 
tion. His activity toward better sanitation and the prevention of 
disease by public preventive measures brought to him the responsibility 
of the office of president of the DuQuoin board of health. He also 
holds the position of medical examiner for several of the mutual in- 
surance orders, and some of the old line companies have commissioned 
him to conserve their interests. He has never had the time to take 
a very active part in politics but he is a firm believer in the tenets of 
the Republican party. 

Dr. Adles was first married in New York City, in 1889, to Mary 
Koenigsen, who died leaving a son Ben, who is now in his senior year 
at Harvard College. On the 5th of July, 1899, Dr. Adles was married 
for a second time, in Belleville, Illinois, his wife being Elinor Wood, 
a daughter of Oscar Wood. Dr. and Mrs. Adles are the parents of 
three children, Eula B., Elizabeth and Galon Hirsch. 

REUBEN JULIUS GODDABD. The legal profession of Randolph county 
sees in Reuben Julius Goddard the patriarch of the fraternity in that 
section and the last of the Sparta contingent of legal lights of the. Civil 
war period. He was born June 21, 1842, and as a scion of old and 
famous families on both his maternal and paternal sides it is manifestly 
consonant with the fitness of things that a somewhat extended mention 
be made of his ancestry at this time. 

Reuben Julius Goddard is descended from pioneer Revolutionary 
stock on both sides, the Goddards and the Browns for many genera- 
tions being noted for their intellectual attainments and professional 
achievements. The Goddards were English people of the Episcopal 
faith, while the Browns were Scotsmen of the faith of the Covenanters, 
and Reuben J. Goddard is shown to be a lineal descendant of John 
Brown, the Scotch martyr to the cause of religious liberty. The reigns 
of the two Charles in England were noted for their turbulence and the 
unhappy persecution of their subjects. It was the avowed determina- 
tion of the two monarchs to be the head of the church and to be ac- 
knowledged as such in the worship of their subjects. The great body 
of the people, however, bitterly resented such intrusion into their 
private beliefs and opinions, rejecting the formalities of ceremonial 
religions and, unwilling to acknowledge any but God as the head of the 
church, refused to worship in the name of the king. Many leading 
men in Scotland from all walks of life entered into a covenant to resist 
the efforts of the crown to force compliance with his demands, and in 
this movement was founded the religious faith afterwards known as 
the Church of the Covenanter. John Brown, the ancestor of Reuben 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 925 

Julius Goddard, was one of those sturdy, up-standing zealots. When 
Charles the Second came to the throne he sought out all of those who 
had defied edicts of worship of Charles the First, and sent his 
soldiers out to regulate the Covenanters or to destroy them. They 
captured John Brown early one morning while out gathering fuel for 
his fire, and after questioning him briefly as to his practices and be- 
liefs and his refusal to make public acknowledgment to the king, they 
shot him dead in the presence of his wife and family. The slaying of 
the fine old man caused an exodus of the Browns from Scotland to 
America. They settled in the Penn colony in Condoguinet valley, 
now Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and there James Brown, the 
grandfather three generations removed from Reuben Julius Goddard, 
passed his life. His son William was the father of the mother of Wil- 
liam Brown Goddard, the father of Reuben J. Goddard. From Penn- 
sylvania the posterity of William Brown drifted south and west into 
Virginia, and when the exodus to the new country of Kentucky was 
started some of the Browns joined it and settled in Fleming county of 
the Kentucky commonwealth. That the Browns were intensely patri- 
otic is evidenced by the fact that many of them served in the ranks of 
the Colonial army during the Revolutionary war. Among them were 
Benjamin, Matthew, Patrick, three Williams and John. All these made 
admirable records as valiant soldiers against the king, and their poster- 
ity has since demonstrated their inherent and abiding love of freedom 
and country by aiding in the ultimate preservation of the nation which 
their ancestors helped to establish. The Goddards, like the Browns 
of latter days, were of the early Virginia families, and that family 
also furnished men to the ranks of the Colonial army in the early 
struggle for independence. From Virginia some of them drifted into 
Kentucky with the tide, and it was there the two families met and 
their marital union eventually took place. 

William Brown Goddard, the father of Reuben J. Goddard, was 
born in 1817. He was liberally educated, and after the completion of 
his education he with his wife came to Cahokia, the old Indian town 
in St. Clair county, but subsequently removed to Randolph county. 
Mr. Goddard eventually located in Sparta, where he followed his profes- 
sion as an architect. He became involved in business affairs in the 
commercial world, and gave a deal of his time to the merchandise busi- 
ness, and was an active trader in Sparta for some time, in connection 
with his many other interests. Mr. Goddard, however, was a man 
with a ' ' hobby, ' ' which took the form of a deep-rooted interest in higher 
education. He with others eventually founded Union Academy, and he 
was one of the moving spirits in the later founding of Monmouth 
College at Monmouth, Illinois, in both of which institutions he always 
maintained a deep interest. Later he moved to Colorado, and he made 
that state his home during the latter years of his life, dying there at 
Evans on April 12, 1873. His wife survived him for a number of 
years. The children of William Brown Goddard and his wife were : 
Evelyn, the widow of Myron Camp, of Benton, Kansas ; Dr. James H., 
who was a surgeon in the Federal army during the War of the Rebel- 
lion, and he later moved to Sedgewick, Kansas, and finally died there ; 
Reuben Julius, of Sparta ; William Brown, who died in early life ; 
Sarah, who died at Sedgewick, Kansas, as the wife of Robert Porter 
Morrison ; Albert, of San Diego, California, and Mary O., who died 
in childhood. 

Reuben J. Goddard went from the Sparta schools to the Union 
Academy, of which his father was the founder; upon the completion 
of his academic course he entered the University of Michigan, at the 



926 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

time when the Civil war was just breaking out. He took a literary 
course and a full law course, graduating from the famous university 
in 1864. His diploma admitted him to the bar of Randolph county, 
and that same year -he opened his office in the town in which he had 
been born, reared and partially educated. He found in Sparta as his 
colleagues at that time W. P. Murphy, F. B. Anderson, J. C. Holbrook, 
John Mechin and B. F. Livingston. Of this goodly group not one is 
left to recite the incidents of ante-bellum days, and Mr. Goddard finds 
himself the very dean of the legal fraternity of Randolph county. Be- 
fore the war the Goddards were Northern Democrats. They supported 
Douglas until the advent of the war, when they became Lincoln Re- 
publicans, acting with that party henceforth. Reuben J. Goddard fol- 
lowed the Republican banner until 1872, when he aided in the support 
of Horace Greeley as a liberal Republican. Thereafter he leaned more 
strongly towards Democracy and he eventually came into full fellow- 
ship with that organization. Since then he has worked in fullest har- 
mony with party leaders in Illinois. He has taken active part in the 
county campaigns, suffered his name to appear on their tickets as a 
candidate, and has been chosen to public office. He has served Sparta 
as city attorney for sixteen years, and for two years he was attorney 
for the common pleas court. In 1872 he was elected states attorney of 
Randolph county to succeed John Mechin and for eight years he held 
that office. After an intervening period of twelve years he was re- 
elected to the same office as successor of Ralph Sprigg, and terminated 
another two term period of service in that office in December, 1900. 
While not in office Mr. Goddard has devoted himself to private prac- 
tice. He is local attorney for the many financial institutions of Sparta, 
and has served the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in that capacity since 
its construction, and with the Illinois Southern he has served in a like 
capacity for a period of ten years. Mr. Goddard has been affiliated 
with the Masonic order for many years, being a member of Hope Lodge, 
No. 167, A. F. & A. M. ; of Harmon G. Reynolds Chapter; and of Tan- 
cred Commandery, No. 50, at Belleville. 

In November, 1875, Mr. Goddard married Miss Emma Kerr, a 
daughter of John D. Kerr, formerly from Westfield, New York, but 
then of Chester, Illinois. The Kerrs are a family of Irish origin. Mr. 
Kerr, married Miss Clara Stephens, of Kerr's Corners, New York, and 
they became the parents of four children. Mr. and Mrs. Goddard have 
one child, William Brown, born in 1879, now a law student associated 
with his father. 

ROBERTS FAMILY. It is more than three score and ten years since the 
founder of this family settled in Randolph county. That honor be- 
longs to James Roberts, the father of William Roberts and grandfather 
of Harry W. Roberts, and it was in 1839 that he arrived and shortly 
afterwards located on and received a patent for the east half of the 
northwest quarter of section 14 in township 6, range 7 west, eighty 
acres, lying one mile northwest of New Palestine, and now owned by 
Dr. W. R. MacKenzie of Chester. 

James Roberts was born in Newark, New Jersey, August 30, 1787, 
and was a son of a Revolutionary soldier ; his father, also named James 
Roberts, being one of that noble band of immortal patriots who at the 
call to arms in 1775 donned the meagre uniform of the Continental 
army and served faithfully with credit and honor during the six long, 
weary years of that sanguinary struggle for freedom from oppression, 
passing through the consequent hardship, privation, suffering and blood- 
shed which finally culminated in the establishment of this peerless re- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 927 

public, a rich heritage acquired for us through the tribulation of 
these illustrious forefathers. James Roberts, Senior, was honorably 
discharged at Philadelphia at the close of the Revolution and died 
shortly thereafter. Patriotism was a virtue in this family, for during 
the second war with Great Britain (1812-14) James Roberts, Junior, 
enlisted in defense of his country and saw service in and around New 
York City during that conflict. 

About the year 1819 James Roberts was wedded to Margaret Mur- 
phy in New York City, she being a native of that city, born there on 
January 20, 1798. Shortly after their marriage James Roberts began 
his westward migration, removing from Newark, New Jersey, to Colum- 
bus, Ohio, in 1820, where he resided and followed the occupation of a 
wagon maker for a number of years. He then returned to his old 
home in New Jersey for a short time but the lure of the west was in- 
sistent and he returned to Columbus about 1830, and after a short stay 
removed with his family to Southern Michigan, locating at the little 
village of White Pigeon, St. Joseph county, where they resided for 
seven years. In about 1837 they removed to Washington, Tazewell 
county, Illinois, and in 1839 the migration closed by settlement on the 
farm near New Palestine, the coming of James Roberts adding a use- 
ful citizen to that section of Randolph county. While scarcely to be 
numbered among the pioneers, yet there was still some "blazing" to 
be done in this region of former French dominion and his hand was 
modestly set to the task. He lived a worthy, industrious and respected 
life and died esteemed and regretted by the community. 

Eleven children were born to James and Margaret Roberts, four 
of them dying in infancy, one in Ohio, one in Michigan and two in 
Washington, Illinois. Of those who reached maturity their names given 
in the order of their birth are : Catherine, married to James W. Nixon ; 
Maria, married to James Clark; Sarah Ann; William; Hiram; Eliza, 
married first to Henry Stipe and after his demise to James Allan; 
Charlotte, married to Charles Robbins. The surviving members of the 
family are Hiram Roberts and Mrs. Eliza Allan, both residents of Ellis 
Grove. 

James Roberts was a Master Mason, and was a member of Kas- 
kaskia Lodge, No. 86, A. F. & A. M., at the time of his death, when he 
was laid to rest with the honors and ceremonials of the burial service 
of that ancient order. He departed this life on July 20, 1869, and 
lies in the little cemetery at Ellis Grove, beside his wife, who passed 
away on August 7, 1857. 

William Roberts, the third child of James Roberts, was born at 
Columbus. Ohio, May 19, 1822, and passed his boyhood days there and 
with the family in their journeyings until they arrived in Washington, 
Illinois, where, at the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed by his father to 
learn the harness and saddlery trade. About the time the family re- 
moved to Randolph county he chose to go to St. Louis, where he passed 
about six years of his early manhood. In 1846 he came to Chester and 
entered into partnership in business with C. 0. Church, this partner- 
ship after a short time being dissolved and a new one formed with 
David Block in groceries, trading and produce. This firm also dis- 
solved subsequently, and he went into the saddlery and harness busi- 
ness with R. H. Richardson as a partner. In 1855 Mr. Richardson died 
and Mr. Roberts continued the business on his own responsibility, re- 
tiring in 1875, after a long and successful mercantile career. After a 
residence in Chester continuously for a third of a century, he removed 
to St. Louis with his family in 1879, purchasing a residence at 3322 
Morgan street, at that time near the Western limits of the city. In 



928 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

1887 the family returned to Chester and for seven years resided in the 
Matlock (now McAtee) house in the Buena Vista section of the city, re- 
moving to their new home on Young avenue in 1894, where Mr. Roberts 
passed away on October 4, 1896. 

On June 13, 1850, William Roberts was married to Susan C. Entler, 
by Rev. B. F. Spilman, of the Presbyterian church, in the old Wassell 
residence on Sparta street in Chester, then the home of Charles Wright 
and now the site of Don E. Detrich's residence. After their marriage 
Mr. and Mrs. Roberts went to housekeeping in the brick residence under 
the hill, where thirty years of their early married life were passed in 
contentment and happiness, or until the removal of the family to St. 
Louis, as previously stated. The two decades prior to the Civil war 
were witnesses of the heyday of prosperity for river towns. Business 
was booming and money was plentiful in the thriving little city of Ches- 
ter, then a prominent port along the great transportation highway of 
the United States. Railroads had not yet come to claim the commerce 
of the river and drive from its welling bosom the magnificent vessels 
which ploughed its service and carried to market the great wealth of 
the Mississippi valley. 

William Roberts always took a lively interest in public affairs but 
was without ambition for public preferment, and only consented to per- 
form a duty incumbent upon all good citizens when he became a mem- 
ber of the Chester city council or sat with other members of the 
board of education. He had political views in harmony with 
Democracy as espoused by the founders and fathers of the party. He 
was acquainted with toil in his earlier life, but his business efforts were 
sufficiently rewarded and his declining years were passed in comfort- 
able circumstances. He was an exemplary, unostentatious citizen, 
one of the plain people such as give stability and character to the com- 
monwealth and nation, and his passing away was the finality of an 
honorable life. 

Mrs. Susan C. Roberts, the wife of William Roberts, was born at 
Shepherdstown, Virginia, December 2, 1823, and died at Chester, Illi- 
nois, July 11, 1908. Her father and grandfather bore the same name, 
Martin Entler, and the former was born April 30, 1786, and died at 
Shepherdstown, Virginia, February 14, 1825. He was married, Novem- 
ber 25, 1808, to Susan Cobbler, who was born June 7, 1789, and who 
died at Chester, Illinois, August 11, 1854. It is not definitely known 
when Martin Entler settled in Jefferson county, Virginia. His fore- 
fathers were natives of Holland and came to America during the period 
of English dominion over American affairs. That there were patriots 
among them and that they were found wearing the uniform and fol- 
lowing the banner of independence is a matter of tradition and history. 
The old Entler home, built of stone, still stands in Shepherdstown, down 
near the clear waters of the sparkling Potomac, spurs of the Blue 
Ridge surrounding the old town and making a setting of picturesque 
beauty. This is a region of rare, historic interest, Harper's Ferry, 
Charlestown, Winchester, Antietam, and other notable places being in 
the near vicinity. 

The children of Martin and Susan Entler were: George W., born 
April 26, 1809, married to Ann R. Staley February 22, 1831, and died 
at Perryville, Missouri, December 16, 1880; his wife was born at Harp- 
er's Ferry, Virginia, June 16, 1813, and died at Perryville April 6, 
1896. Eliza, born February 11, 1811, married William McKay August 
8, 1832, and died at Shepherdstown, Virginia, June 9, 1842 ; her husband 
died at Chester, August 19, 1857. Prudence, born November 13, 1812, 
married John Yontz October 31, 1828, and died in Chester, March 31, 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 929 

1885; her husband died on his farm near Chester January 1, 1860. 
Julia A., born December 18, 1816, married Charles Wright August 11, 
1836, and died at Chester November 11, 1878, her husband died at 
Chester June 2, 1889. Amelia, born August 2, 1819, died at Chester 
October 10, 1895, unmarried. John L., born August 2, 1822, died at 
Shepherdstown November 26, 1822. Susan C., the youngest child and 
the last to pass away, was born December 2, 1823, married William 
Roberts June 13, 1850, and died at Chester, July 11, 1908; her hus- 
band died at Chester on October 4, 1896, as previously mentioned. 

During the first half of the nineteenth century many immigrants 
were attracted from the Atlantic states to Illinois, among them some of 
the people of Shepherdstown, Virginia, Captain Jacob Peaman, of Kas- 
kaskia, being instrumental in creating interest in this new country by 
the Father of Waters among the friends of his childhood. He was born 
at Shepherdstown and when a young man he came out to the old French 
settlement and entered the government service in its land department. 
In this capacity he made occasional trips to Washington, visiting his 
old home on the journey. In April, 1837, he induced George W. Staley 
and George W. Entler to accompany him on a homeseeking tour in the 
west. The steamboat which landed them at Kaskaskia embarked the 
Kaskaskia tribe of Indians to be located on a reservation farther west, 
a move effected by the Government to give the white man supremacy 
over this section of Illinois. In May, 1838, the family of George W. 
Entler followed him hither under escort of Captain Feaman. The 
family comprised his wife and their children, Laura, William, Pink and 
Lawrence, and Louisa Staley, his wife's sister. They resided in Kas- 
kaskia until early in the year 1844, when they removed to Perryville, 
Missouri, where they resided during the remainder of their lives. 

In 1840 John Yontz, his wife and child, Luther, came west, leaving 
the Ohio river at Shawneetown and following the old Indian trail to 
Kaskaskia. He subsequently resided at various towns in the county, 
following the occupation of a miller. The remaining members of the 
Entler family, comprising the widowed mother, Susan, and her single 
daughters, Amelia and Susan C., together with Charles Wright, his wife 
and children, John M., Susan E., Alfred W., and Amelia T., and Wil- 
liam McKay and his children, Ann T., Susan E., Sophia B. and Eliza 
E., all came out in June, 1844, the memorable high water year. They 
departed from Shepherdstown with a two-horse wagon and followed the 
National Turnpike to its terminus at Wheeling, their household effects 
having been previously forwarded to that point. This was before the 
days of quick railroad transportation, when stages and steamboats did 
the traffic of the country. At Wheeling the westbound travelers em- 
barked on a new sternwheel steamer, "The Iron City," bound down 
the Ohio river, among the passengers being Governor Duncan and his 
son of Ohio, then returning from Washington. At Cincinnati the cap- 
tain of 'the "Iron City," learning of the great inundation, decided, for 
the safety of his boat, cargo and passengers, not to attempt to navigate 
the Mississippi with his small craft at that historic stage of water, and 
accordingly had everything transferred to the large sidewheeler 
"Frolic," lying at the wharf heavy laden with passengers and ready to 
cast off and steam down the river. The journey down the Ohio and up 
the Mississippi was completed without untoward incident, the passage 
up the great river at its highest swell being an impressive and memo- 
rable event. Ascertaining that the lower part of the town of Chester 
was flooded and that a landing there after dark was impossible without 
great risk to life and property, the captain decided to land his Chester 
bound passengers at the mouth of Mary's river, and there at dead of 



930 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

night those future citizens of Illinois and their effects were unloaded. 
The following morning they broke camp and made their way over the 
hills to the town, stopping at Jacot Bair's tavern, a log house where the 
Muegge brick house stood, and now the site of Welge's furniture store. 
The following day the journey was continued to Georgetown, now Steel- 
ville, to the home of John Yontz, where it ended. 

The widow Entler and her daughters lived in Georgetown until 
1846, when they accompanied Charles Wright and his family to St. 
Louis, making their home at Eleventh and Locust streets. Two years 
later they returned to Chester and established their home in the build- 
ing afterwards known as the Wassell residence, and where Susan C. 
Entler married William Roberts, as before stated. 

Four children were born to William and Susan C. Roberts, Harry 
W., Eugenia E., Kate E. and a daughter who died in infancy. Harry 
W. is a native of Chester and he was educated in her public schools, 
afterwards finishing his education by a few years ' experience in newspa- 
per offices learning the newspaper business and printer's craft. His main 
occupation, however, has been in and around the county offices, having 
had more or less experience in all of them, and today is acknowledged to 
be the best posted man in Randolph county in matters pertaining to 
the county records. His first work at the court house was in 1871, 
under John R. Shannon, county clerk, afterwards gravitating to the 
circuit clerk's office, acting as deputy under circuit clerks Savinien St. 
Vrain and George H. Tate from March, 1872, to March, 1878. He 
then had charge of R. J. Harmer's abstract of title office for three years, 
going to St. Louis in the spring of 1881 and being employed in the buy- 
ing office of the Simmons Hardware Company. Returning to Chester 
in 1884, Mr. Roberts took an 'active interest in politics, in furtherance 
of the principles of the Democratic party, and in June, 1887, was ap- 
pointed postmaster by President Cleveland, serving four and a half 
years, until January, 1892, the major portion of the time under Pres- 
ident Harrison. During his incumbency the post office, which was 
located where H. C. Horner's office now stands, was burned, and the 
postmaster suffered the loss of fixtures and furniture. He was assistant 
cashier of the First National (now First State) Bank of Chester from 
June, 1892, to February, 1894, afterwards being occupied more or less 
in the county offices, and on the death of Mr. R. J. Harmer in February, 
1897, he again took up the business of abstractor of titles, following 
that profession until August, 1909. 

Mr. Roberts is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Mississippi 
Valley and Illinois Historical societies, and the National Geographic 
Society, and is secretary of the Chester Business Club. 

JOHN J. KOENIGSMARK, business director of the Koenigsmark Mill 
Company of Waterloo, is a man of the most modern and admirable 
business methods and is held in highest regard and affection as an 
employer and public-spirited citizen. He is a representative of one of 
the old families of this section, and, as the name indicates, the family 
is of Teutonic origin, its various members being characterized by many 
fine traits which have come to be indelibly associated with the children 
of the Fatherland. In addition to his industrial interests Mr. Koenigs- 
mark is an extensive realty owner, and his loyalty to this favored sec- 
tion of the great state of Illinois is of the most definite type. 

Mr. Koenigsmark was born January 15, 1869, at Columbus, Illinois, 
the son of Thomas and Theresa (Geiger) Koenigsmark. He was edu- 
cated in the public and parochial schools of Columbia, Illinois. On 
June 24, 1896, he was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Heer, of 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 931 

Waterloo. Her father, Frank Heer, was a native of Hanover, Germany, 
his birth having occurred in that city on February 16, 1824. He came 
with his parents to America in 1835, and came via Baltimore to Water- 
loo, where he passed a useful life as a farmer and veterinary surgeon 
and died a much respected citizen, on April 22, 1901. This favorably 
remembered gentleman was for twenty-five years trustee of Saints Peter 
and Paul church in Waterloo and was helpfully interested in all public 
affairs. He was one of the pioneers who broke the land from the virgin 
forest and witnessed a process of swift and sure development seldom par- 
alleled. Mrs. Koenigsmark's mother, whose maiden name was Charlotte 
Meyers, came to America from Laven, Germany, with her parents in 
1854, landing at New Orleans and making the journey from that Creole 
city up the Mississippi to Waterloo, which was to represent her future 
home and be the scene of the principal events of her life. She was born 
September 22, 1838, in Minden, Germany. Her two sisters reside in 
this country, namely: Miss Catherine Heer, of Waterloo, Illinois; and 
Mrs. Amelia Arms, of St. Louis, Missouri. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Koenigsmark has been blessed with 
the following sons and daughters : Carmalita, aged fourteen years ; 
Dolores, born November 28, 1900, and died when seventeen months old; 
Thomas, aged eight years; Constance, aged six; and Fidelis, aged three. 
These are all promising "little men and women" and promise to bear 
creditably the honored name of Koenigsmark. 

Mr. and Mrs. Koenigsmark are valued members of S. S. Peter and 
Paul church, which is of the Catholic denomination, and they are very 
active and generous in the charities and other good works under its 
supervision. The head of the house takes much pleasure in his fra- 
ternal affiliations, which are for the most part in those organizations 
especially sanctioned by the church, such as the Knights of Coulmbus, 
the Catholic Knights of Illinois, the Western Catholic Union, and he is 
also an enthusiastic member of the Commercial Club of Waterloo. 

Mr. Koenigsmark removed to Waterloo in the year 1886, and has 
ever since been in the milling business with his father and brother. He 
also has important real estate holdings, being interested jointly with 
Jacob J. Koenigsmark in all the properties left by Mr. Thomas Koenigs- 
mark, his father. Mr. Koenigsmark is an ideal employer, kindly con- 
siderate and sensible, and it is a source of great pleasure to him that his 
employes all come to him with their troubles. He is beloved and re- 
spected by them all and unusually fine relations exist between employer 
and employed. The subject is domestic in his tastes, finding his great- 
est pleasure at his own fireside in the company of his wife and chil- 
dren. In every question bearing upon the general welfare of the com- 
munity he takes keen interest and can ever be depended upon to sup- 
port to the best of his ability all measures likely to conduce to its 
happiness and prosperity. The name of Koenigsmark is one which is 
synonymous for public-spirit and generosity. He owns a beautiful home, 
which is the center of gracious hospitality and over which his wife 
presides with signal grace and kindliness. 

WILLIAM ULLRICH. Having devoted his active career to the profes- 
sion of teaching, William Ullrich, superintendent of schools of Ava, 
Illinois, occupies a prominent place among the educators of Southern 
Illinois, and is popular alike with his co-workers and pupils. He is a 
man of progressive ideas, many of which have taken shape in reforms 
long needed here, and his work along all channels has been earnest and 
sincere. Professor Ullrich is a native of St. Clair county, Illinois, and 



932 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS , 

was born on a farm near Mascoutah, September 2, 1872, a son of Fred 
and Elizabeth (Ferbert) Ullrich. 

Fred Ullrich was born at Rheinpfaelz, Germany, February 22, 1848, 
and came to the United States when he was twenty-one years of age, 
locating on a farm near Mascoutah. He followed agricultural pursuits 
there until the 'nineties, at which time he went to a farm near New 
Baden, and there he still resides. Possessed of characteristic German 
energy, industry and thrift, he has succeeded in his chosen vocation, 
and has the respect and esteem of all with whom he is acquainted. In 
1870 Mr. Ullrich was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Ferbert, 
also of Rheinpfaelz, Germany, the marriage being the outcome of a court- 
ship that had started in the Fatherland. Seven children were born to 
them, of whom two died in infancy, while those who reached mature 
years are : William ; Fred, who is a member of the faculty of the Nor- 
mal University school at Normal, Illinois; Anna, who is single and re- 
sides with her parents; John, who is married and is engaged in super- 
intending the operations on the home farm ; and Barbara, who married 
Elmer Downs, of Normal, in 1911. The parents of these children are 
faithful members of the German Evangelical church, and Mr. Ullrich is 
identified with Democratic politics. 

William Ullrich spent his early life on the farm on which he was 
born, and when he could be spared from his duties on the home place 
began his education in the country schools. During 1894 and 1895 he 
fitted himself for the educator's profession by attendance at the normal 
school, Normal, Illinois, and in 1890 he also attended the summer schools 
at Bushnell. As early as 1895 he engaged in teaching, his first school be- 
ing a country school near Summerfield, St. Clair county, and he next 
was made principal of the schools at New Baden, an office which he filled 
very satisfactorily for twelve years. Mr. Ullrich has acted as principal 
of the Ava schools for the past two years, and his administration has 
been marked with a number of progressive innovations. The course 
here includes three years of high school, and the year 1912 marked the 
largest graduating class that the city has known. A studious man and 
a deep thinker, Professor Ullrich has not allowed his studies to narrow 
his mind as to other matters, but may be found giving his support to 
anything which promises to be of benefit to his community, and he is 
looked upon not only as a careful, capable and conscientious educator, 
but a public-spirited citizen from whose influence the city gains a large 
measure of benefit. 

In 1900 Professor Ullrich was united in marriage with Miss Helena 
Mueller, of New Baden, daughter of Andrew Mueller, and four chil- 
dren have been born to this union: Eugene, Dora, Gilbert and one 
who died in infancy. Politically he is an active and interested Dem- 
ocrat, and his fraternal connections are with the Odd . Fellows, the 
Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. 

JOHN L. FLA.NNIGEN. Engaged in the successful practice of his 
profession in East St. Louis, the thriving metropolis of St. Clair county, 
Mr. Flannigen is recognized as one of the representative members of the 
bar of his native city and also as a citizen of marked progressiveness 
and public spirit. He is serving his third successive term as a member 
of the state legislature, and this fact offers effective voucher for the 
high esteem in which he is held in the county of his birth. 

Hon. John L. Flannigen was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on the 
13th of September, 1878, and is a son of James and Naomi (Lane) Flanni- 
gen, who are now dead. James Flannigen was a man of fine intellec- 
tual attainments and was for a number of years actively identified with 



HISTOKY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 933 

the work of the pedagogic profession. He later turned his attention 
to the publishing business and about 1887 he removed to Colorado, where 
he became a citizen of prominence and influence. He whose name in- 
itiates this review was about one year old at the time of the family re- 
moval from Illinois to Colorado, and he passed his boyhood and youth 
in the city of Ft. Morgan, where he duly availed himself of the advan- 
tages of the public schools and where he also attended the University of 
Denver. 

In September, 1903, Mr. Flannigen returned to East St. Louis and 
in his native city he has since been actively engaged in the general prac- 
tice of his profession, in which he has gained secure prestige as a 
versatile and resourceful trial lawyer and as a counselor admirably 
fortified in the science of jurisprudence. He formed a professional 
partnership with John E. Hamlin, under the title of Flannigen & Ham- 
lin. This alliance has since continued and in 1910 the partnership was 
amplified by the admission to the firm of Hon. William E. Trautmann 
and Samuel W. Baxter, since which time the large and representative 
business has been conducted under the firm name of Trautmann, Flan- 
nigen, Baxter & Hamlin. 

In politics Mr. Flannigen accords unequivocal allegiance to the Re- 
publican party and he has been an influential factor in the furtherance 
of its cause in his home county and state. In 1906 he was elected to 
represent his native county in the lower house of the state legislature, 
and by successive re-elections he is now serving his third term as a mem- 
ber of this body. He has shown distinctive ability and loyalty as a 
legislator and is one of the valued and influential members of the general 
assembly of the state. He prepared and introduced the house bill 
known as the East Side levee and sanitary district bill, which came to 
enactment in the general assembly of 1908 and which important meas- 
ure provides for the expenditure of seven millions of dollars for well 
ordered public improvements in the district covered. Mr. Flannigen 
is a popular member of the East St. Louis Bar Association. He is a 
bachelor and is a popular factor in the social, professional and business 
circles of his home city. 

WHITNEY GILBREATH. An essentially representative citizen of Ches- 
ter and one who is the owner of extensive farm lands in Illinois is 
Whitney Gilbreath, who is the sole representative of an old pioneer 
family of the name in this section of the state. Mr. Gilbreath was born 
on the 21st of February, 1849, in Grant county, Wisconsin, and is a 
son of John R. Gilbreath, a native of Randolph county, Illinois. After 
the death of his father John R. Gilbreath went to Grant county, Wis- 
consin, where he lived for a time and where was solemnized his mar- 
riage to Miss Caroline Hill. The children born to this union were : 
Henry, of Guthrie, Oklahoma; Isabel, who married Thomas Holmes and 
is now residing in New Orleans, Louisiana : Marion, of Cora City, Illi- 
nois ; and Whitney, the immediate subject of this review. 

The grand rush to the gold diggings of California caught John R. 
Gilbreath in its maelstrom, and in 1850 he joined a party from his 
locality in Wisconsin and crossed the plains in an ox wagon to the 
Eldorado of the Pacific slope. While a resident of Wisconsin he was a 
mine operator, owning lead mines in that state, and his advent to the 
gold regions naturally found him interested in mining operations there. 
He seems to have operated from Marysville, where his demise occurred 
in 1856. In 1855 Mrs. Gilbreath removed from the Badger state to Illi- 
nois, locating at Rockwood. in Randolph county. Her children were 
reared and educated at Rockwood and there she died. 



934 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

James Gilbreath, father of John R. Gilbreath and grandfather of the 
subject of this review, came to Illinois about the opening of the nine- 
teenth century, for Montague's history of Randolph county shows him 
to have been sheriff in 1805. He came west from Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, and bought down the Ohio from that point the brick with which 
the first brick building in Illinois was erected. This was in 1803. This 
building was subsequently utilized as the first capitol of the new ter- 
ritory and sessions of the legislature were held in its. second story. In 
later years the above building was devoted to store purposes and it was 
washed into the Mississippi river in 1899, while the property of Augus- 
tus Pape, of Chester. James Gilbreath brought a number of slaves with 
him to Illinois and was engaged in farming and trading for a number of 
years prior to the inception of the Civil war. While sheriff of Randolph 
county he executed the first man legally hanged in the state. Concern- 
ing that thrilling event the following brief data are here inserted. A 
settler named Reed lived with his wife and a young girl of another 
family on Reed's creek in the southern part of Randolph county. A 
ruffian named Jones wanted the young girl but his advances were met 
with the determined opposition of Mr. and Mrs. Reed. Jones then re- 
solved to kill the Reeds and to take the girl by force. In the fight which 
followed his appearance at the Reed home Mr. Reed was slain and his 
wife left for dead. Mrs. Reed, however, revived in time to warn the 
scattered neighbors and sheriff of Jones' violence and the latter was 
ultimately found at the mouth of Jones' creek, ready to embark down 
the river with his prize. He was arrested, tried and convicted and 
died a legal death at the instance of Sheriff Gilbreath. 

James Gilbreath was married in Pennsylvania and became the father 
of two sons, namely, John R. and Barton. Mr. Gilbreath died in the 
ante-bellum days and is buried in the old cemetery on the hill, above 
Fort Gage. 

After completing the curriculum of the public schools of Rockwood, 
Illinois. Whitney Gilbreath entered upon an apprenticeship to learn the 
miller's trade and he followed that line of occupation for a period of 
sixteen years. He built and operated a mill at Elkville, this state, and 
owned another at Ava, Illinois, but eventually disposed of his milling 
interests in order to engage in trading and farming. At the present 
time, in 1912, his land accumulations comprise more than two thousand 
acres in Jackson and Alexander counties, Illinois. A large portion of 
this estate is under cultivation. In 1902 Mr. Gilbreath engaged in the 
construction of drainage canals through the swamp lands of Jackson 
county and his work resulted in bringing a tract of twenty thousand 
acres of land back to the sunlight and into rich and producing fields. 
Mr. Gilbreath is now engaged in superintending the construction of 
twenty miles of levee along the Mississippi river in Jackson county, as 
one of the commissioners of the levee board, created by the circuit court 
of that county. 

At Sparta, Illinois, on the 15th of April, 1875, -Mr. Gilbreath was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Dean, a daughter of James and 
Anna (Charles) Dean, the former of whom came to Randolph county, 
Illinois, from Boston, Massachusetts, in 1830. James Dean was a 
merchant by occupation and he died in 1882, at the age of seventy-two 
years, while his cherished and devoted wife died at the age of forty 
years. Concerning the children, AVilliam resides at Ava, Illinois ; Mary 
E. is the wife of the subject of this review ; Murry resides at Ava, as 
does also Nellie, who is the wife of H. L. Jones ; and George maintains 
his home at St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbreath became the 
parents of three children, as follows, Lee, a farmer in Jackson county, 



Hit LIBRARY 

OF THE 
WWERSITY OF 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 935 

Illinois, married Miss Laura Hobbs ; Nellie is Mrs. Walter Husband, of 
Ava, Illinois ; and Matie, who became the wife of John DeVine, died in 
August, 1906, without issue. 

The Gilbreath home has been maintained at Chester since 1902 and 
the attractive residence, which was formerly the Anderson home, is 
situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi river and the lowlands 
of the Missouri in the distance. This residence in regard to location 
and modern remodeling is one of the most beautiful in Randolph county. 
In politics Mr. Gilbreath is a stanch supporter of the cause of the Re- 
publican party, and while he does not participate actively in local 
politics he is ever ready to do all in his power to promote the general 
progress and improvement. He is a member of the Masonic Order. 

HON. WALTER W. WILLIAMS, than whom no better example of the 
wide-awake, progressive and public-spirited American citizen could be 
readily found, had made his name one of the best known in southern 
Illinois through displaying exceptional business talent and marked legal 
ability, and his versatility is testified to by the various business and 
financial interests with which he is and has been connected. Mr. Wil- 
liams was born in Williamson county, Illinois, January 18, 1873, and is 
a son of John G. and Louisa M. (Harrison) Williams, the former a 
native of Posey county, Indiana, and the latter of Williamson county, 
Illinois. 

John G. Williams came to Illinois as a young man and engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, being also the manager of a milling business. 
He served for a short time as a private in Company A, One Hundred 
and Twenty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but was dis- 
charged on account of disability, and no doubt his army experience 
hastened his death, which occurred in 1875, when he was only thirty- 
eight years of age. He was an ardent Democrat in politics, and was a 
charter member and at the time of his death treasurer of Herrin Lodge 
of the Masonic fraternity. Louisa M. Williams, his wife, was one of 
the best-known and most highly talented business women of southern 
Illinois, wth her brother, D. R. Harrison, and Ephraim Herrin, de- 
veloped the Herrin coal field, now the most important coal field in Wil- 
liamson county. Little is remembered of the paternal grandparents of 
Walter W. Williams, but his maternal grandfather, George Harrison, 
was one of the very first settlers of Williamson county, whence he came 
from Tennessee and became a prominent farmer and merchant of his 
his daughter into valuable coal fields. He served in the Black Hawk 
day, owning large tracts of land which were afterwards developed by 
war, and died in 1846, respected and esteemed by all. 

Walter W. Williams received his early educational training in the 
common schools of Williamson county, and in 1890 entered in the com- 
mon schools of Williamson county, and in 1890 entered the Southern 
Illinois Normal University, at Carbondale, which he attended one 
year. He was then engaged in teaching for two years, when he went 
back to the university, and after spending two years in study again 
began teaching, becoming principal of the schools in Carterville, Illi- 
nois, later teaching history in the Greenville, Bond county, schools, and 
being superintendent of schools at Benton for a year. He then entered 
the law department of the State University at Champaign, from which 
he .was graduated in 1903, and in April, 1904, was admitted to the bar. 
He immediately returned to Benton, where he entered into partnership 
with W. H. Hart, an association which has continued to the present 
time, and has become one of the most prominent legal firms in Southern 
Illinois, as well as one of the wealthiest firms in coal operations. Mr. 



936 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Williams became interested in the coal industry on his mother's farm, 
and after he had formed the partnership with Mr. Hart began buying 
options on property and organizing different coal companies. This 
firm, together with Joseph P. Rend, of Chicago, have recently closed the 
largest deal in coal lands ever made in Southern Illinois, selling to the 
United States Steel corporation forty thousand acres of coal land in 
Franklin county. Mr. Williams assisted in getting the Leiter lands to- 
gether, which were sold to ' ' Joe ' ' Leiter, and when the Leiter estate was 
settled the firm of Hart & Williams acted as associate counsel for the vast 
fortunes of the Leiter estate and helped to invoice all of their properties 
in Illinois. This firm opened up Mine No. 11, at West Frankfort, Illinois, 
and then, with J. R. Williams and Judge P. A. Pierce, opened up the Ben- 
ton Coal Company. Subsequently they sold their interests in this firm 
and opened the Hart & Williams Mines, incorporated at two hundred 
thousand dollars. These mines have a daily output of two thousand, five 
hundred tons, employ four hundred and fifty men, ship their product 
to fourteen states, and have offices in Chicago, St. Louis and Memphis. 
Mr. Williams is president of this company, and also of the Pope-Jones 
Coal Company and of the Egyptian Southern Railway, and until he 
sold his interests was vice president of the First National bank of West 
Frankfort, which he and his partner, Judge Hart, organized. The firm 
of Hart & Williams owns a large general store in Benton, in addition 
to numerous town properties, and own and control three thousand acres 
of land in Franklin county. Mr. Williams has been a member of the 
executive committee of the Illinois Coal Operators Association for the 
past ten years. 

In 1904 Mr. Williams was elected to represent the Fiftieth Senator- 
ial district, comprising the counties of Williamson, Franklin, Union, and 
Pulaski and Alexander in the Illinois State Legislature, serving on the 
committees on banks and banking, Chicago charter and judiciary. He 
is a stalwart Democrat and has always been a hard worker in the ranks 
of his party, becoming widely known as a campaign speaker. For one 
term he was chairman of the County Democratic Committee of Wil- 
liamson county, and in order to secure a better Democratic organ pur- 
chased the interest of Judge Jno. Washburn in the Egyptian Press, at 
Marion, Illinois, and later bought a half interest in the Marion Post. 
He is a member of the school board, of which he served as president for 
a number of years. Fraternally he is a Mason and an Elk. 

On June 27, 1906, Mr. Williams was married to Miss Mary V. Moore, 
daughter of Carroll Moore, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this 
work, and she died in 1909, leaving two children, Margaret Eudora and 
Mary Louisa. 

Mr. Williams has frequently appeared as a public speaker, especially 
during political campaigns, and his style is of a character to command 
the respect and attention of his audience. As a public officer he has 
few superiors; as a coal operator he has a wide reputation for executive 
capacity and able management of affairs ; and it would be hard to find a 
man better adapted to organizing capital to promote such enterprises as 
he may become interested in, his foresight and sagacity in business mat- 
ters fitting him especially therefor. His power over men and hence 
his influence in social, political and business matters is of that quiet 
order that makes little outward show, yet is a potent factor in shaping 
the success of the community in which he resides. In every walk of 
life he has earned the right to be classed among Illinois' representative 
men. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 937 

ALBERT L. WILSON. It is vastly important to the continued wel- 
fare of any city that the leading spirits in its financial institutions and 
activities shall be men of sterling worth and essentially sound business 
principles. In Albert L. Wilson the city of Sparta, Illinois, has a man 
who fulfills to the last detail every requirement in the way of careful, 
conservative and yet progressive finance. For forty years Mr. Wilson 
has figured in banking circles in Southern Illinois, his early experience 
in that business being gained in Sparta, and there he has lived for the 
past ten years, as cashier of the Merchants Exchange Bank of Sparta 
for five years, holding the same responsible position with the organiza- 
tion which succeeded it, the First National Bank of Sparta, and is now 
vice-president of the First National. 

Albert L. Wilson is a representative of one of the oldest families of 
Randolph county, established there in the beginning of the nineteenth 
century. He comes of southern ancestry, and the family was founded 
here in 18.06 by his paternal grandfather, George Wilson, who came 
from Abbeville district, South Carolina, and settled upon land where 
the town of Baldwin now stands. He farmed the land to some extent, 
and upon it was built a rude fort in which the scattered settlers were 
wont to gather at such times as protection from the hostile Indians was 
necessary. There, amid the many privations and difficulties of early 
frontier life, he lived and reared a family of sturdy boys and girls; 
there he died and was buried at the old home place. His wife survived 
him a number of years, finally leaving their six children, George, James, 
William L., Andrew, Mrs. Jennie Nelson and Mrs. McDonald, to mourn 
her departure. 

Andrew Wilson, the father of Albert L. Wilson, of whom we write, 
was born at Baldwin about 1827. He was brought up amid the strenu- 
ous conditions of pioneer life on the frontier, and, consistent with the 
times, his education was extremely limited. He became a farmer on 
arriving at years of 'young manhood, but a few years previous to the 
opening of the Civil war he gave up rural life and went to Sparta, where 
he engaged in mercantile pursuits. With the breaking out of the war 
he immediately enlisted for service in the Federal army, and was com- 
missioned captain of Company G, of the Eightieth Illinois Infantry, 
with Colonel Rogers, of Alton, in command, as a part of the corps of 
General Thomas. After a preliminary service of two years his corps 
became a part of Sherman's army. He was captured at Rome, Georgia, 
and 'imprisoned in the old Libby prison at Richmond for almost one year 
after which he was transferred to the Confederate prison at Columbia, 
South Carolina, and variously at other places until near the close of 
the war, when his twenty-two months of prison life ended in exchange. 
After the war he resumed business again in Sparta, where he took an 
active part in politics as a Republican and was appointed postmaster 
and died in office in 1882. He was affiliated with both the Masonic and 
Odd Fellows fraternities, and was a consistent member of the Presby- 
terian church. Andrew Wilson early in life married Mary J. Hill, a 
daughter of Samuel Hill, also a pioneer of Southern Illinois. When 
Sparta was originally platted Mr. Hill bought the first lot sold by the 
town, paying six dollars for the property. His wife was Miss Elizabeth 
Thompson, and they were the parents of a family of twelve children, 
three sons and nine daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were the parents 
of a goodly family of children, their names being as follows : Elizabeth, 
the wife of Edward J. Murphy, warden of the penitentiary at Joliet, 
Illinois ; Albert L.. of Sparta ; Dr. Dora S. Wilson, of Collins, Montana ; 
Mrs. Amma M. Gemmell, of Sparta ; Ulysses G., of East St. Louis ; and 
Mrs. II. T. Matthews, of Fortress Monroe, Virginia, her husband being 



938 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

a captain in the regular army stationed at that point. Mrs. Wilson 
passed away at the family home in Sparta. 

Albert L. Wilson received a fair education in the schools of Sparta, 
and following his training thus received he entered the office of the 
Sparta, Plaindealer, where he was employed for about two years. His 
energy and careful application to his duties did not pass unnoticed, 
however, and at the end of his two years service in the printing office 
he was offered a vacancy in a bank in Sparta, and, beginning the duties 
of a clerk, he was carefully grounded in every detail of the banking 
business under the able tuition of one of its officers. In 1875 Mr. Wil- 
son had so far mastered the intricacies of the business that he went to 
Red Bud, Illinois, where he proceeded to organize a private bank. He 
was chosen a member of its board and an officer of the institution as 
well. In its organization Mr. Wilson included many of the best Ger- 
man and other settlers of that locality, and of the original organiza- 
tion he and one Herman Schrieber alone remain, all the others being 
deceased. In 1892 Mr. Wilson 'returned to Sparta and organized the 
Merchants Exchange Bank, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand 
dollars, with E. B. McGuire as president and himself as cashier. This 
was succeeded in 1897 by the First National Bank, chartered in that 
year with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, and the same officers 
were chosen to preside over the new institution : W. J. Brown, vice- 
president, W. F. Clendenin, cashier, and the board of directors is com- 
posed of Messrs. McGuire, Wilson, Brown, R. D. Granslet and Matt 
Sproul. The bank now has a surplus of twenty thousand dollars with 
deposits aggregating four hundred thousand dollars. 

On June 28, 1877, Albert L. Wilson was married in Sparta, Illinois, 
to Miss Amy Stevenson, a daughter of the late Captain John Stevenson, 
one of the old merchants of Eden, Illinois. He was born at Paisley, 
Scotland, famous as being the producer of the now practically extinct 
Paisley shawls, and he served in the Civil war, first with the rank of 
lieutenant of a company of the Tenth Missouri Infantry and later com- 
missioned a captain of an Illinois regiment. Mrs. Albert Wilson, one 
of the five children of her parents, was born in Randolph county, 
Illinois, and she and her husband are the parents and grandparents of 
a fine family. Their children are : Prentiss S., cashier of the Bank of 
Steeleville; he is married to Bessie Barker and they have two children, 
Margaret and Albert. E. Jerome Wilson is a merchant in Stafford, 
Kansas, He married Lucile Lovitt, of Saline, Kansas. Evangeline 
Wilson is the wife of Dr. W. F. Weir, of Sparta, Illinois, and the young- 
est child, Miss Ruth, is a student at the University of Illinois at this 
writing. 

Albert L. Wilson has passed through life thus far without evincing 
any political ambition. Like his father, he is a Republican in his con- 
victions, but his interest in those matters is only sufficient to impel him 
to exercise his right of franchise at intervals when important matters 
are at issue. He is also an adherent to the religious faith of the Wilson 
family, occupying a position of some importance in the direction and 
management of affairs of the Presbyterian church of Sparta. 

JUDSON E. HARBISS, although his admission to the bar. dates back no 
longer than February, 1911, is already making a name for himself as a 
brilliant young lawyer, and in his service as city attorney has made a 
reputation as a clean, straight-forward man. He has the valuable 
heritage of a fine home training, where he has been always surrounded 
by influences that would tend to give him the highest ideals and the 
strength to live up to those ideals. His future career will be eagerly 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 939 

watched by many eyes, for his father is one of the best beloved men 
in the county, and both for his sake and for that of the son himself 
the people of Perry county hope for his continued success and feel cer- 
tain that the insidious influence that undermine the characters of so 
many of our young lawyers today may find no crack in the moral armor 
of Mr. Harriss. 

Judson E. Harriss belongs to a family who have been closely identi- 
fied with the affairs of Perry county since the years immediately fol- 
lowing the admission into the Union of the state of Illinois. The family 
was founded in this state by Jordan Harriss, who was born in Laurens 
district, South Carolina, in 1800. Prom that state he went to Tennes- 
see, and about 1829 came further north to Southern Illinois. He settled 
down on a farm northwest of DuQuoin, and devoted himself to agricul- 
ture until his death, which occurred in 1874. Five sons and four daugh- 
ters were born to him. These sons were Johnson C., John H., Hiram 
M., Marion and J. Carroll, and the latter is the father of Judson E. 
Harriss. He was born in Perry county, Illinois, on the 8th of Septem- 
ber, 1840, and his long life has been filled with the most interesting and 
varied experiences. As a boy he attended the common schools and 
helped as much as his youthful strength would permit in the work of 
the farm, but when he was old enough to go to college his father de- 
termined that his son should have the advantage of this kind of an 
education, so he was sent to Shurtleff College, at Upper Alton, Illinois. 
He did not graduate from this institution, however, for before he had 
completed his course the Civil war broke out and with all the fervor of 
youthful enthusiasm he insisted on joining the army. He enlisted in 
the Eighty-first Illinois Infantry, Company A, Colonel Dollins, of Ben- 
ton, being in command of the regiment. His corps was commanded by 
J. B. McPherson, John A. Logan, division commander. His regiment 
was in many of the most serious battles fought in Mississippi and Louis- 
iana, including the battle of Guntown, Mississippi, and here with a part 
of his regiment Mr. Harriss was captured. It was his horrible fate to 
be taken to Andersonville prison, that dark spot on the pages of the 
Confederacy, and he spent about eleven months in that pen of filth and 
disease before he was released. 

After the war he entered politics and in 1866, running under the 
auspices of the Republican party, he was elected sheriff of Perry county. 
He served one term, acquitting himself so well in what was a trying 
position during the years following the war that the people elected him 
county clerk, in which office he served for four years. Turning from 
the political life to the world of business, he became a grain merchant, 
at the same time operating a farm near DuQuoin. He later went ex- 
tensively into farming, and followed this occupation for a number of 
years, also dealing in, and breeding fine stock. He .was as successful 
in these lines as in the others that he had followed, and by the time he 
reached middle life he found himself with a comfortable fortune. 

Having felt a call to enter the field of active religious work as an 
evangelist, he entered the ministry. He was made a member of the 
Missionary Baptist church when a young man and was ordained to 
preach. For thirty years he followed this calling, preaching in many 
different states and bringing into a communion with their Maker many 
people. He was known everywhere as a forceful speaker, and his sin- 
cerety and real spirituality gave him dominion over the forces of evil. 
His own and other churches are indebted to him for scores of their mem- 
bers. His long life having been a strenuous one, he felt that after he 
had passed his seventieth birth day he might resign the reins to some 



940 HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

one else, so a few years later he gave up his work and retired to his 
quiet home in DuQuoin. 

Rev. Harriss first married Valeria Thornton, a daughter of Rev. 
William Thornton, who came to Illinois from Kentucky, follow- 
ing the occupation of a farmer and minister till the end of his life. 
Mrs. Harris became the mother of Mrs. Aaron King, of Ewing, Illi- 
nois, and Clarence W., of the law firm of Webb and Harriss, of Mount 
Vernon, Illinois. Rev. Harriss married for his second wife Eliza A. 
Strait, daughter of Judge H. H. Strait, and the children of this mar- 
riage are: Rev. Walter H., of Benton, Illinois; Herschel, who died at 
the age of seven years ; Alva, who died in infancy ; Grace, who is the 
wife of W. 0. King, of Blue Island, Illinois ; Willford C. died at the 
age of thirteen years; Judson E., and Earl B., a rancher in South 
Dakota. 

Judson E. Harriss was born on the 5th of November, 1884, near 
DuQuoin, Illinois. Here he grew up and received his early education. 
After having passed through the high school he attended the University 
of California, at Berkeley, for a year. He then returned to Illinois and 
entered the University of Illinois. In 1910 he was graduated from the 
law department of the above institution. In February, 1911, he was 
admitted to the bar at Ottawa, Illinois, and opened an office at Du- 
Quoin the same year. The people evidently had no doubt of his quali- 
fications for office, for he was elected city attorney in April of that 
year. 

Having been a close thinker on political and economic questions, he 
has concluded that the Republican party holds the views that will soon- 
est bring out of the chaotic condition into which the public affairs of 
the country seem to have fallen, so he holds allegiance to the above 
party. He is a candidate for the office of representatives in 1912 for 
the Forty-fourth district. He is a member of the Elks and of the 
Modern Woodmen, while his religious beliefs are naturally those of 
his father, and he is a member of the Baptist church. He is an active 
fraternity man, belonging to Beta Theta Pi and to Phi Delta Phi, the 
former a college fraternity and the latter a law fraternity. He is not 
married and his time is very fully taken up with his numerous profes- 
sional engagements, his studies and the active aid that he gives his 
father in the care of the family interests. 

THOMAS LYLE WALLACE has been a resident of Pinckneyville for 
practically the whole of his life, and his interests are very closely bound 
up with those of his home town. He has been hampered from his birth 
almost, for he was early left fatherless, and as soon as he was able he 
undertook the responsibility of the care of his widowed mother. He 
comes of an old South Carolina family that is famous throughout the 
South for the integrity and uprightness of its men and the nobility of 
its women, and Mr. Wallace has very evidently inherited the qualities 
which brought honor and fame to his forebears. As one worthy of 
trust he is well known among the people of Perry county, and they 
have shown their confidence in him by the offices which they have 
showered upon him. 

The father of Thomas Lyle Wallace was William Wallace, who was 
born in South Carolina. His calling there was that of a shoemaker, and 
he migrated with his family to Illinois in 1868 and here became a 
farmer. His wife was Sarah A. Simpson, and when the death of her 
husband, which occurred on the 15th of December, 1870, left her a 
widow with three little babies, she showed the strength of character 
and the courage for which her race was famous. Her husband was a 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 941 

man in the prime of life, and she had no one to whom she could turn, 
but by constant industry and almost painful frugality she not only 
succeeded in rearing her children but in educating them. These chil- 
dren were Nettie, who died in Pinckneyville on the 21st of October, 
1892, having never married ; Thomas L. ; and Dr. William S. Wallace, 
D. D. S., of Sparta, Illinois. The faithful mother died on the 21st of 
May, 1909, having lived to witness the success of her two sons. 

Thomas Lyle Wallace was born in Chester county, South Carolina, 
on the 10th of August, 1868, and when he was a babe of a few weeks 
his parents moved to Illinois. The sudden death of his father occurred 
only two years later, so he early knew the stern realities of life. He re- 
ceived a good education, and when he started out to make his fight for 
existence he was well equipped for the struggle. He began as a clerk 
in the Pinckneyville postoffice under Dr. Guy Morrison, who was then 
postmaster of the city. 

After a time he left the government service and entered the store 
of Gieser and Company, soon becoming a valuable clerk. He next held 
a position with Murphy, Crawford and Company, and from them went 
to W. H. Hincke and Brother, with which firm he remained for several 
years. In 1899 he joined Robert Roe in a mercantile venture which 
resulted in the establishment of the present drug company of which Mr. 
Wallace is the active head. 

In 1894 Mr. Wallace was chosen treasurer of the Perry County 
Fair Association, which is one of the oldest agricultural associations in 
southern Illinois, having held an annual fair since it was founded in 
1856. He has served his city as clerk as well as custodian of the public 
funds and_ has been honored by being made clerk of Rosewood Camp, 
No. 2090, of the Modern Woodmen of America, of which organization 
he is an active member. 

Politically Mr. Wallace is a Democrat, and in his religious beliefs 
he is a Methodist. He is a very prominent member of the Methodist 
church, being one of the trustees and a member of the building com- 
mittee that had in charge the erection of the new house of worship 
which was completed in 1908. He was also treasurer of this committee. 

Mr. Wallace was married in Pinckneyville, Illinois, on the 10th of 
September, 1891, to Jennie J. Roe, a daughter of the well known pioneer 
Charles H. Roe, who for many years was circuit clerk of Perry county 
and was for more than half a century identified with the public records 
of the county. 

JOHN BENNETT, M. D. Holding a high position in his profession, 
known as a leader of his political party in his section, popular with all 
classes and holding the respect and esteem of all who know him, Dr. 
John Bennett, of Ava, Illinois, is worthy of a place among Jackson 
county's representative men who have worked their way to places of 
prominence through the force of their own merit. Dr. Bennett was 
born at Rockwood, Randolph county, Illinois, August 30, 1869, and is 
a son of Charles William and Sarah Jane (Brewer) Bennett, and grand- 
son of Charles Bennett, a native of North Carolina, of English descent. 

When Charles William Bennett was a lad he was taken by his 
parents from his native state of Kentucky, where he had been born' 
January 13, 1837, to St. Louis, and in that city he acquired his educa- 
tion and learned the trade of millwright. During the 'fifties he located 
in Randolph county, Illinois, and at Rockwood engaged in the lumber 
business, but subsequently went to Wittenberg, Missouri. His death 
occurred March 14, 1877. In about 1858 he was married to Sarah Jane 
Brewer, of Jackson county, Illinois, daughter of Washington and Sarah 



942 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

(Woolrich) Brewer, one of the earliest-settled families of the Mississippi 
Valley, and four sons were born to this union : William, who resides 
at Jacob, Illinois; Lincoln, who is deceased;' John, of Ava; and Charles, 
who is deceased. The mother of these children died at the age of sixty- 
five years, in 1904, at the old homestead of her mother at Raddle. She 
was a Campbellite in her religious faith, as was her husband, and in 
his political belief he supported the principles of the Republican party. 

John Bennett spent his early life in Randolph and Jackson coun- 
ties, Illinois, and some time in Perry county, Missouri. He also at- 
tended the schools of Pinckneyville, Illinois, and after the death of his 
father made his home with his aunt until he reached manhood. On 
completing his education, in 1884, Mr. Bennett secured employment in 
the railway mail service, his first trip being made to Carbondale with 
Mr. George Bowyer, and during the six years that followed he care- 
fully saved his earnings, having from boyhood had a yearning to be- 
come a doctor. On leaving the service of the railroad he went to St. 
Louis and entered the Missouri Medical College (now Washington 
University), from which he was graduated in 1898, with the degree of 
M. D. Since that time he has taken a great deal of post-graduate work 
at Chicago while he has been engaged in practice at Ava, where he has 
a large clientele. Dr. Bennett is self-educated and self-made, and his 
success in his chosen vocation has been the result of years of study, 
faithful labor, persevering effort and conscientious application. He is 
a member of the Jackson County and Illinois State Medical Societies 
and the Association of the Southern Railway Surgeons, and has been 
appointed a member of the Board of United States Pension Examiners 
for Jackson county. Fraternally Dr. Bennett belongs to the Masons 
and the Modern Woodmen of America. Politically a Republican, his 
influence has been felt in local and county matters, and he has served 
as mayor of Ava and given the city an excellent administration. 

In 1898 Dr. Bennett was married to Miss Helen G. Miller, of St. 
Paul, Kansas, daughter of John and Mary Miller. 

FREEMAN KING is a fine old veteran of the Civil war and, while he 
passed the greater portion of his life time as an agriculturist, he has 
been a guard at one of the important stations of the Chester prison for 
the past four years. He is all but a native of Illinois, having been 
brought to this commonwealth from Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in 
April, 1841. His birth occurred on the 13th of September, 1840, and 
his life was spent in the pure air of the country about Murphysboro 
until his addition to the prison service at Chester in 1907. 

Mr. King's father was .Charles King, who died in Jackson county, 
Illinois, in August, 1842, at the early age of twenty-eight years. He 
was likewise a native of the old Keystone state of the Union, was of 
Pennsylvania German stock, and was married in Somerset county, Penn- 
sylvania, to Miss Mary A. Whipkey, also of German descent. Freeman 
King was the only child of his parents to reach years of maturity, and 
after his father's death his mother married Peter Bowlby. Of the 
children born to the latter union those surviving are : Winfield Scott, 
.of Jackson county, Illinois ; Emma I., wife of Benjamin Harris, a farmer 
near Murphysboro, Illinois; and Peter Grant, of Oklahoma. Mrs. Bowlby 
passed away in 1866, after seeing her children reach ages of personal 
responsibility and her oldest son acquit himself with honor and distinc- 
tion as a volunteer soldier in the preservation of the Union during the 
Civil war. 

Under the invigorating discipline of the old homestead farm Free- 
man King was reared to maturity and his early educational training 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN .ILLINOIS 943 

consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the subscription schools 
of the period and locality. When he had reached his majority and was 
thinking seriously of assuming his station in life as a citizen the rum- 
blings of a national war were to be heard. The politicians of the south 
had brought about the secession of states and the result was the call for 
volunteer soldiers issued by President Lincoln. Freeman King im- 
mediately gave evidence of his loyalty to the cause of the Union by 
enlisting as a soldier in Company K, Eighteenth Illinois Volunteer In- 
fantry, at Anna, Illinois, and was soon in the field upon the mission of 
enforcing peace. His captain was D. H. Brush and his colonel M. K. 
Lawler, of Shawneetown, and the regiment formed a part of the Six- 
teenth Army Corps, once commanded by General John A. Logan, with 
whom Mr. King was on "fishing" terms of intimacy. The command 
entered active service at Fort Henry, then helped capture Fort Donel- 
son and proceeded thence to Shiloh. After the latter engagement the 
Eighteenth Illinois returned to Jackson, Tennessee, where it received 
orders from the war department and was placed in the Mississippi Ram 
fleet, subsequently termed the ' ' Marine Brigade. ' ' Mr. King participated 
in all the activities of his regiment, and the little fleet to which he be- 
longed was standing by when the Federal fleet attacked Vicksburg. Mr. 
King had enlisted as a private but received his honorable discharge from 
service, at Springfield Illinois, in June, 18j64, as a sergeant. He had 
spent some three years in the service of his country and at the end of 
that time was ready to assume the responsibilities of civil life. He 
turned his attention to farming on the old parental estate, two miles dis- 
tant from Murphysboro. Illinois, and there continued to live and prosper 
until 1907, when he entered the service of the state prison at Chester. 
He holds the position of guard at one of the important stations of the 
prison and, while he is now somewhat advanced in years, his military 
experience and splendid constitution make him well able to cope with 
the responsibilities devolving upon him. 

In politics Mr. King has ever been allied as a stalwart in the ranks 
of the Republican party and for sixteen years he was a member of the 
Jackson county central Republican committee. He was elected a mem- 
ber of the boards of supervisors of two different townships of the 
county and served in that capacity for several years. He was also a 
delegate to a number of important county and' congressional conven- 
tions and so had a voice in the selection of candidates for public office. 
In a fraternal way he is -a Master Mason and an Odd Fellow. He re- 
tains a deep and sincere interest in his old comrades in arms and signi- 
fies the same by membership in Murphysboro Post, No. 132, of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, being past commander of his post. He 
is a man of sterling integrity and worth and no citizen of this Ac- 
tion of the state is more highly honored and esteemed than he. 

Mr. King has been twice married, his first union having been to Miss 
Catherine Butcher, who bore him two sons, Charles W. and E. Edward, 
both farmers near Oraville, Illinois. Mrs. King was summoned to the 
life eternal, and in 1879 Mr. King wedded Mrs. Rebecca Reno, who has 
also passed away. Two daughters were born to the latter union, namely, 
Lizzie, who is the wife of Harry Creath, a farmer in Jackson county, 
this state; and Ella, now Mrs. Joe Bastian, of the vicinity of Oraville, 
where her husband is a farmer. 

EDWARD MUSSELMAN, although he is now retired from active life, 
still exerts considerable influence on the business affairs of DuQuoin, 
for during his long career as a merchant and mine operator he had many 
opportunities to show his sagacity and wisdom, consequently his word 



944 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

is one that bears weight. He was one of the first to see the possibilities 
in the coal fields in this vicinity, and was one of the original exploiters 
of the "Little Gem." Although not caring for the emoluments of 
political power, he is deeply concerned in anything that effects the pub- 
lic welfare of the people of DuQuoin, and favors any reform that would 
benefit the conditions of his city. 

Edward Musselman was born on the 4th of October, 1853, in Ross 
county, Ohio. He came of a long line of millers, all of whom had oper- 
ated the old pioneer mill in Ross county. The first of the name to set- 
tle in the above locality was the great-grandfather, Michael Musselman, 
who leaving his home in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, went out to 
the Ohio frontier and established the first grist mill in Ross county, at 
a time when the settlers round about came for miles to have their corn 
ground and to have a bit of gossip with the miller. The grist mill in 
those days was the social center for the neighborhood. The son of the 
original old Pennsylvania Dutchman, Michael by name, was only a 
youth when his father left the Keystone state, and as soon, as he was 
old enough he started in the milling business, erecting a mill on the 
north fork of Paint Creek, where he lived for many years. He marched 
south with many of his friends and neighbors and was a soldier among 
some of the most stirring scenes of the Mexican war, and what part he 
took in politics was as a Whig. He lived to see the Civil war brought 
to a successful termination and died in 1868, at the venerable age of 
eighty. His wife was Rebecca Downs, and she was the mother of seven 
children: Henry, who moved to Edgar county, Illinois, and passed 
his life there; John, the father of Edward; William, who lived in Ross 
county all of his life ; Myra, who married C. D. B. Webster, and is liv- 
ing now in Athens, Ohio ; Albert, who died at the old home near the 
original mill in Ross county ; Levi came to Illinois soon after the Civil 
war and lived in DuQuoin for several years, later moving to California, 
where he died, while his sister Betty died in Ross county without having 
married. 

John Musselman was born in Ross county, Ohio, on the 12th of 
March, 1831. He grew up in his father's mill and learned the trade 
under his tutelage. He followed milling for many years in the vicinity 
where he was reared, then he decided to go west, so sold his plant and 
moved to Minneapolis, Kansas. There he bought a farm and operated 
it for several years, till heeding the pleas of his children he gave up 
the active life and, selling his farm, spent the remainder of his life 
with his children. He was first married to Angeline Hanson, a daugh- 
ter of Henry Hanson, of Ross county, Ohio, and by this marriage five 
children were born ; Edward ; Charles, of Leon, Iowa ; Minnie, of 
Lawrence, Kansas ; Chauncey, of Williamsport, Indiana ; and Zoe, who 
married Eugene Sankey and lives in Lawrence, Kansas. For his second 
wife Mr. Musselman married Martha Gibson, who died leaving one 
daughter, Ina, who became the wife of H. B. Browning, of Linwood, 
Kansas. Mr. Musselman died in Fayetteville, Arkansas, January 17, 
1909. 

Edward Musselman learned as much as the country school teachers 
were able to teach him, but to tell the truth he was more interested in 
his father's mill than he was in his books, so when his uncle Levi sug- 
gested that he join him in Illinois, he eagerly fell in with the sugges- 
tion and came to DuQuoin, in July, 1876. Following the traditions of 
his family, he engaged in the milling trade, as an employe of the Red 
Star Milling Company. He remained in this trade for ten years and 
then abandoning it he went into the grocery business with S. B. Eaton. 
He was highly successful, and this business laid the foundations for 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 945 

his future prosperity. While a merchant he saw an opportunity to go 
into coal mining, and with a few others formed a party to develop the 
"Jupiter," which was one of the earliest paying properties in this vicin- 
ity. He was later associated with Mr. Eaton in the development and 
operation of "Jupiter No. 2." In 1903 he disposed of his interest in 
this property, and also sold out his share in the general merchandise 
business, retiring from active business, except when he sees a chance 
to make a good real estate deal. On these occasions he often catches 
the younger real estate dealers napping, and all who happen to be "in :> 
on the deal have a good laugh at their discomfiture. Although he may 
not be in the business world in person, his mind is surely there. 

He had not cared for political office, and although he was reared as a 
Republican and held his allegiance to that party until 1881, he has from 
that time been a member of the Prohibition party, and has given that 
party a loyal support. 

Mr. Musselman was married in DuQuoin, on the 19th of May, 1881, 
to Mary Elizabeth Eaton, a sister of his partner, S. B. Eaton. Mr. and 
Mrs. Musselman have no children. They are members of the Methodist 
church, in which church Mr. Musselman has served in various capacities, 
having been district steward and also having held a trusteeship of the 
congregation. Mr. Musselman believed most firmly in the tenets of the 
Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, and has had an active part in the 
affairs of this order. He has occupied all the chairs of the Blue Lodge, 
has been an official of the Chapter and has sat in the Grand Lodge on 
several occasions. His home on the corner of Washington Boulevard 
and Franklin street is a beautiful and commodious one, and the hospital- 
ity dispensed from it is always a delight to the many friends who make 
this home a center of their gatherings. 

WILLIAM EBEES. The United States ranks today as the foremost 
nation of the modern civilized world. It has served as the melting pot 
of the best characteristics of all other nations, and the outcome is a 
fine, sterling American citizenship consisting of strong and able-bodied 
men, loyal and public spirited in civic life, honorable in business and 
alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with every measure tending to 
further the material welfare of the entire country. The great empire 
of Germany has contributed its fair quota to the up-building of this 
great nation, and among its representatives in this country are to be 
found successful men in every walk of life, from the professions to the 
prosperous farmer. William Ebers is one of the former sheriffs of Ran- 
dolph county and a retired business man of Chester. He is descended 
from one of the early German families of the county, his father and 
grandfather having come to Illinois about the year 1846. William 
Ebers, father of the subject of this review, and Frederick Ebers, his 
grandfather, joined the .settlers at Bremen when they arrived in Ran- 
dolph county, Illinois. A native of Zella, in Hanover, Germany, Wil- 
liam Ebers was born in the year 1827 and he was a lad of nineteen 
years of age at the time of his immigration to the United States. His 
father married Dorothy Stockenberg and reared a family of three chil- 
dren. Mr. Frederick Ebers was summoned to the life eternal in the 
year 1855, at.the age of fifty-five years, and his cherished and devoted 
wife, who attained to the patriachal age of ninety-one years, passed 
away in 1887. William Ebers was united in marriage to Miss Dorothy 
Rickenberg, a daughter of Frederick Rickenberg, also of Hanover, 
Germany. 

After his arrival in America William Ebers engaged in farming 
operations at near Bremen, Illinois, and there accumulated a valuable 



946 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

landed estate prior to his death, in 1889. His character was such as 
to commend itself to a sincere citizenship and during his life time he 
was one of the best and most favorably known of the German-Amer- 
icans in Randolph county. The social and sympathetic side of his na- 
ture was prominently developed and his services in behalf of the 
afflicted and unfortunate were freely offered wherever needed. His noble 
wife died in 1899, at the age of seventy-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Wil- 
liam Ebers became the parents of two children, namely, Doris, who is 
the wife of Fritz Dreyer, of Percy, Illinois ; and William, the immediate 
subject of this sketch. 

William Ebers was reared to the rugged and invigorating discipline 
of farm life and he acquired a good, liberal education in his youth. He 
passed his life as a farmer until he assumed the duties of the office of 
sheriff, in December, 1902. He was the Democratic nominee for that 
office at the time of his election and was one of the two successful can- 
didates chosen at the time. He succeeded Mr. Frank Moore in office and 
retired after the expiration of his term of four years. For a time fol- 
lowing his return to private life, Mr. Ebers was engaged in active busi- 
ness matters at Chester, but his present retirement from the strenuous- 
ness of former years is practically complete. He is a man of broad 
views and kindly sympathy and it has been said concerning him that the 
list of his personal friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances. 

On October 16, 1882, in Randolph county, Illinois, was solemnized the 
marriage of William Ebers to Miss May Buckmann, who was born and 
reared in Bremen, Illinois. The Buckmann family came to this country 
from Bremen, Germany, and Mrs. Ebers grew up on her father's farm 
and was one in a family of five children. Concerning the children born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Ebers, Dora is the wife of Dr. Hoffmann and Alma is 
the wife of F. B. Wolff, both representatives of well known 'families in 
Chester, where they maintain their homes. In his religious faith Mr. 
Ebers accords a zealous support to the cause of the Evangelical Lutheran 
church, and he is affiliated with a number of local fraternal organiza- 
tions of representative character. 

COKE BEICKEY WALLACE. To be a pioneer business man in a new 
community and to successfully cope with untoward conditions and guard 
against possible failure, and at the same time give encouragement to 
hundreds of others, requires a large degree of business capacity to- 
gether with many other qualities which the settlement of a new town 
demands. This distinction and the possession of these qualities belong 
to the history of Coke Brickey Wallace, who is cashier and one of the 
organizers of the Farmers Bank at Valmeyer, Illinois. He was born 
October 12, 1861, on a farm in Harrisonville precinct, Monroe county, 
Illinois, and is a son of Lewis and Mary Jane (Wood) Wallace. 

Lewis Wallace was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1836, and 
died in March, 1863. About 1850 he came to Illinois and then made 
the overland trip to California, and when he returned from the far 
West settled permanently in Illinois and became a farmer in Monroe 
county. In 1858 he married Mary Jane Wood, who was born also in 
Hamilton county, Ohio, and died in Illinois, September 23, 1911. To 
this union three children were born, two of whom 'died in infancy, Coke 
B. being the only survivor of the family. 

After securing a public school education Coke B. Wallace entered 
the St. Louis University, where he completed his course, graduating in 
1882, with his degree of B. S. For five years afterward he engaged in 
teaching school in Monroe county and then embarked in the mercantile 
business at Harrisonville, where he continued a merchant for ten years. 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 947 

Having capital .to invest, he became interested in the new town of 
Valmeyer, when the Iron Mountain Railroad was constructed through 
here, opening up a rich district to prospective investors and home-seek- 
ers. Mr. Wallace became one of the earliest settled residents and was 
the first one to engage in business, building the first elevator in 1903 and 
managed the elevator for the Nanson Commission Company of St. Louis, 
Missouri. As the town grew it soon became apparent that banking 
facilities must be afforded, and in 1909 Mr. Wallace, in association with 
several other capitalists, opened a private bank, known as the Farmers 
Bank, with a capital of ten thousand dollars. The officers of this in- 
stitution are: John Kline, president; A. C. Bollenger, vice president; 
C. B. Wallace, cashier ; Lewis Wallace, assistant cashier, with Dr. Paul- 
ter; H. P. Niebruegge and B. James as additional directors. The bank 
is in an exceedingly prosperous condition. 

In 1883 Mr. Wallace was married to Miss Mary C. Allen, a daugh- 
ter of James Allen, of Monroe county, and they have six children, 
namely : Nina, who is the wife of A. E. LaSorwe ; Mabel, who resides 
at home ; Lewis, who is assistant cashier of the Farmers Bank ; -and 
Marjorie, Robert and Ruth, all of whom are at home. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wallace are affording many advantages to their children. He was 
brought up in the Democratic political faith and has always adhered 
to the same, but has been too much engaged as a business man to find 
time to entertain political aspirations. He is identified with the dif- 
ferent Masonic bodies. 

CHARLES EDWARD MORGAN. A substantial and prominent business 
man of Cora, Charles Edward Morgan is identified with its mercantile 
interests as a member of the enterprising firm of Morgan Brothers, and 
performs his full share in promoting the advancement and prosperity 
of the city. He was born February 16, 1867, in Degognia township, 
Jackson county, Illinois, a son of R. B. Morgan. He is of pioneer stock, 
his grandfather, Cairy Morgan, having settled in Southern Illinois in 
the 'forties. He was, doubtless, the "Cairy Morgan" who served in 
the Blackhawk war. 

Born in Arkansas, May 6, 1841, R. B. Morgan was a small child 
when brought by his parents to Illinois. At the age of eighteen years 
he began working on the Illinois Central Railroad, and continued as a 
member of the construction gang until the completion of the road. He 
subsequently moved with his parents to Madison county, Illinois, and 
after the close of the Civil war bought land in Jackson county, where he 
is now living, retired from business, having accumulated a competency 
as a farmer, retaining his home, however, on the farm which he im- 
proved. He has supported the principles of the Republican party since 
old enough to cast a ballot, and all of his family are Republicans. 

R. B. Morgan married, in Madison county, Illinois, Mary Bishop, 
daughter of a well-to-do farmer of that county, and of the thirteen 
children born of their union eight are living, as follows : Maggie, wife 
of Harvey Clendenin, a farmer in Cora ; Lottie, wife of G. B. Tutor, of 
Degognia township ; Charles Edward, the subject of this sketch ; Min- 
nie, wife of Sylvester Montroy, of Pinckneyville, an engineer; W. H., 
who is in partnership with, his brother, Charles Edward ; Cairy A., a 
blacksmith in Murphysboro; Cora E., wife of E. L. Simpson, of Ches- 
ter; and Ethel Irene, wife of Zenas McMinn, who is engaged in farming 
at Kell, Illinois. 

Brought up on the home farm, Charles Edward Morgan was edu- 
cated in the public schools of Jackson county, and for several years 
after attaining his majority was prosperously engaged in agricultural 



948 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

pursuits. In 1907 he and his brother, W. H. Morgan, embarked in 
mercantile business under the firm name of Morgan Brothers, and have 
since built up an excellent trade, being among the leading merchants 
of Cora. 

Mr. Morgan married, September 28, 1888, Nellie Tutor, a daughter 
of the late John Tutor, a farmer of Rockwood, Illinois. She died July 
25, 1907, leaving a Heaven-made vacant place in the home circle. Nine 
children were born to their marriage, namely : May, who died in in- 
fancy ; Clarence ; Rollie, deceased ; Goldie ; Wesley ; Charles Frederick ; 
Hazel, deceased ; Howard ; and Roscoe H. Politically Mr. Morgan is a 
steadfast Republican. Religiously he is a member of the Presbyterian 
church, to which Mrs. Morgan also belonged, and when services were 
held in the Cora Presbyterian church he was one of the elders. 

CHARLES H. S. Ross, the circuit clerk of Perry county, has in the 
course of his life thus far seen a variation of experience in many lines 
of endeavor, and has been active in public life for many years. His 
nature -partakes of those stirring qualities which lead him to be found 
most frequently as the leading spirit in a new movement or organiza- 
tion, and his connection for many years past as an active leader in the 
local affairs of the American Federation of Labor is but one of the nu- 
merous evidences of that quality in his make-up. 

Charles H. S. Ross was born at old St. John, Perry county, on Oc- 
tober 15, 1865. His father, Silas J. Ross, was one of the ante-bellum 
settlers of the county, having entered therein after periods of residence 
in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, following his exit from Lawrence 
county, New York, where he was born on June 7, 1830. In the town of 
his birth and rearing he learned the trade of a miller, and when he set- 
tled in St. John followed that occupation through the Civil war period 
and until his removal to DuQuoin in 1870. There he 'continued the 
business as the proprietor of the old Red Star Mill on the west side of 
the town, and also engaged in the feed business on East Main street. In 
1887 Mr. Ross abandoned the mill and thereafter devoted his entire 
time and attention to the management of the feed store. The actual 
schooling of the elder Ross was limited to a country school training 
covering a few brief years, but that did not deter him from exercising 
to the utmost his traits of good judgment, reliability and general capa- 
bility, which made it possible for him to realize the success which was 
his in later life, and which commended him to the public as a suitable 
man for positions of responsibility. He was elected to the office of 
county commissioner for two terms on the Democratic ticket, serving 
from 1878 to 1884, and while the incumbent of that office he was called 
to fill the office of mayor, which position he held from 1878 to 1882, 
serving judiciously and capably in both offices. Mr. Ross was the old- 
est Odd Fellow in DuQuoin at the time of his demise, having been a 
member of the order for fifty-six years, and at the time of his death 
he was in charge of the lodge building and of the cemetery of the order. 
In St. John, Illinois, Mr. Ross married Mrs. Sophia Leavenworth, a 
daughter of Robert Gibson. She was born at Little Sandusky, Ohio, and 
died in DuQuoin on December 24, 1909, her husband surviving her 
until October 15, 1911. Their children were Flora, wife of C. C. Hat- 
field, of DuQuoin, Illinois, Charles H. S. and Louis J., both of DuQuoin. 

Charles H. S. Ross acquired his education under the tutelage of 
Professor John B. Ward, one of the ablest men ever in charge of the 
DuQuoin schools. His training in the book line was limited, as he be- 
gan to earn his own living when a boy of fifteen, drifting into the work 
of a stationary engineer, which trade he learned and was fourteen years 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 949 

employed in that capacity by the Red Hook mill. Following his retire- 
ment from that position he weighed coal at the old Browning mine for 
some time; he then became a car-repairer for the Illinois Central and 
later on was a night-watchman in their employ. During the World's 
Fair at Chicago he was in the employ of a concessioner in the Florida 
building, and in December of 1893 he returned to the Illinois Central 
people at DuQuoin as a baggage man. In May, 1894, he engaged in 
teaming, and from a single team he expanded his business to include 
a line of drays doing contract work. It was in this connection that he 
afterward became actively identified with the labor movement at the 
inception of the organization. When the Federal Labor organizations 
began forming unions Mr. Ross was one of the first men to become a 
member of it, and he was chosen the first secretary of the local order, 
performing the duties of that office for eight years. He was active in 
the labor of spreading interest in the organization, performing the du- 
ties of a district organizer, and was successful in bringing into the Fed- 
eration all the membership of labor unions in and about DuQuoin, with 
the exception of the mining organizations. He represented his district 
in 1898 in the National convention at Washington, D. C., and was ap- 
pointed from there as a delegate to represent the Middle states, being 
one of a committee of five to meet President Samuel Gompers, of the 
American Federation of Labor, and the Federation itself then in session 
at Washington, D. C., to recommend certain ideas concerning the de- 
fence fund to be inserted in the constitution of the American Federa- 
tion of Labor then being drawn up. After the teamsters separated 
from the Federal Labor Organization and organized a union of their 
own Mr. Ross was the local secretary for four years, but upon his elec- 
tion to public office his connection with organized labor ceased, in ac- 
cordance vfiih the terms of their constitutions. 

In 1904 Mr. Ross was elected alderman from the first ward of Du- 
Quoin, serving one term. He was later appointed superintendent of 
streets under Mayor Pope, filling the position capably and satisfac- 
torily, and in 1908 he was elected circuit clerk by a majority of fifty- 
six votes, succeeding James Pyatt to the office. Mr. Ross is an Odd Fel- 
low, as was his father, and sat in the Grand Lodge of the order in 1902. 
He is a member of the Order of Eagles, being its secretary for four 
years, and is a Modern Woodman. 

On December 31, 1885, Mr. Ross married Miss Minnie M. Hill, a 
daughter of Richard Hill and Harriet (Weeks) Hill, both of whom 
came to this country from England. Mrs. Ross was born at DuQuoin, 
on October 10, 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Ross are the parents of five chil- 
dren: Conrad S. is a locomotive fireman on the Illinois Central and 
is married to Miss Nettie Clark; Leila F. is a teacher in the public 
schools; Mary E., Tillie H. and Richard complete the family. 

NELSON RICKERT has been owner and editor of the Waterloo Times for 
a number of years, and he has ably demonstrated by his accomplish- 
ments in that time his peculiar fitness for a newspaper career. A grad- 
uate of several colleges and universities, and especially prepared for a 
career in the legal profession, he has given his attention to the publish- 
ing and management of a newspaper. His efforts have been attended 
by a degree of success which indicates in part his especial ability in 
that line. 

Born on July 10, 1879, at Waterloo, Nelson Rickert is the son of 
Joseph W. Rickert, long an honored citizen of Waterloo, prominent in 
the legal profession and conspicuously identified with the onward and 

Vol. n 25 



950 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

upward movements of the community of which he was a part. Of his 
life and work, Palmer's Bench and Bar of Illinois has to say: 

"Joseph William Rickert, whose life record is one of distinctive 
honor, was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on the 9th of July, 1840. His 
parents were Andrew and Margaret (Slund) Rickert, the former a 
native of Alsace, France, born November 8, 1808, and the latter born 
in Bavaria, Germany, in the same year. The father was a carpenter 
by trade. Immigrating to America, he took up his residence in New 
Orleans, Louisiana, and in 1832 cast his first presidential vote for 
Andrew Jackson. While the family resided at Vicksburg, Joseph W. 
Rickert, then but three years of age, was playing upon one of the hills 
of that city, when he slipped and fell, breaking his arm. An unskilled 
surgeon, who did not properly attend to the fracture, rendered him a 
cripple for life, but though this and other disadvantages were before 
him he has achieved a splendid success in his profession, and stands to- 
day as the peer of any member of the Waterloo bar. In 1845 he ac- 
companied his parents upon their removal to Monroe county, Illinois, 
the family locating on a farm eight miles south of Waterloo. His pre- 
liminary education acquired in the common schools was supplemented by 
a thorough and comprehensive course in the St. Louis University, at St. 
Louis, Missouri, which he entered in 1857. He spent seven years in that 
institution, completing the classical course, which embraced both literary 
and scientific study. He also studied the French, German and Spanish 
languages and was graduated in 1864, with the degree of Bachelor of 
Arts. Four years later his alma mater conferred upon him the degree 
of Master of Arts, and he is now a member of the alumni association of 
the university. From boyhood he cherished the desire to enter the legal 
profession, but the limited financial resources of his family necessitated 
his entering upon some work that would yield a moneyed return, and 
after his graduation he began teaching school, devoting five years of 
his life to that profession, in Monroe and Marion counties, Illinois. 
While engaged in teaching in Central City he also pursued the study of 
law under the supervision of the late H. K. S. O'Melveny, who was 
then a resident of that place, and who recently died in Los Angeles, 
California. In 1868 he permanently left the schoolroom in order to 
devote his entire time to his law studies, which he continued in the office 
of Johnson & Hartzell, at Chester, Illinois. 

"Upon examination by the late Judge Bryan he was found qualified 
for the bar, and accordingly was licensed to practice in the courts of 
Illinois. Locating in Waterloo, he has since been engaged in practice at 
that place, and by reason of his superior ability and his judicious in- 
vestments in various enterprises he has won a handsome fortune, and is 
now one of the wealthy men of his county. He is certainly deserving 
of great credit for his success. He started out in life in very limited 
circumstances and he has depended entirely upon his own efforts. 
Energy, enterprise and sound judgment have contributed to his prosper- 
ity and year by year he has added to his income until he has now a hand- 
some competence, that will abundantly meet all his wishes through the 
last years of his life. His professional career has been successful and 
brilliant and he is now one of Monroe county's most eminent attorneys. 
His legal attainments are of high order and insure his success and he 
has secured a clientele which has connected him with the most im- 
portant litigation in his section of the state. In addition to his law 
practice he is recognized as one of the leading business men of Waterloo. 
He is one of the original partners in the private bank which was or- 
ganized in 1882 and which is still in existence under the name of the 
Commercial Bank. He is one of the principal stockholders and a char- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 951 

ter member of the Waterloo Milling Company, which was organized in 
1887 and he owns a large amount of the stock of the Harrisonville 
Telephone Company, together with large tracts of land in Monroe 
county. 

' ' Through twenty-five years Mr. Rickert has been prominently iden- 
tified with every progressive or public-spirited movement of the city or 
county, and has been an active factor in advancing the educational, 
material, social and moral welfare of Waterloo. It was largely through 
his efforts that the city waterworks, now in successful operation, were 
established, and he was mainly instrumental in securing the trolley line 
to Waterloo. In 1869 he was elected county superintendent of schools, 
which office he held until 1873, and during that period he succeeded in 
raising the educational standard to a high degree. In 1874 he was 
elected a member of the twenty-ninth general assembly of Illinois, from 
the district comprising Monroe, Perry and Randolph counties, and ac- 
cordingly was a member of the last legislature to convene in the old 
capitol at Springfield. In 1876 he was elected state 's attorney for Mon- 
roe county and re-elected in 1880, acceptably serving in that capacity 
for eight consecutive years. In 1888 he was elected state senator for the 
forty-eighth senatorial district, and as a member of the upper house 
gave support to every measure which he believed would prove of general 
benefit to the commonwealth, and also voted with the famous ' ' one hun- 
dred and one ' ' who elected General Palmer to the United States senate. 
He has also served as a member of the school board of Waterloo for 
ten years and as a member of the city council for six years, and is alike 
faithful in local and state offices, his labors being for the general good. 
In politics he has always been a Democrat, and he is firm in his belief 
in the principles of the party. 

"Mr. Rickert was married in St. Louis, Missouri, May 22, 1873, to 
Miss Minnie Ziebold, a daughter of G. Ziebold, a prominent miller of 
Southern Illinois, now residing at Red Bud. To Mr. and Mrs. Rickert 
were born the following named children : Josephine L. ; Minnie E. ; Nel- 
son A. ; George P., who died December 4, 1880, at the age of eight 
months and eighteen days ; Luella C. ; Charles J., who died November 
5, 1897, at the age of ten years and twenty-four days; Isabel M., who 
died April 28, 1892, at the age of three months; Marie M. and Marguerite 
L. Rickert, of whom five daughters and one son still live. The dearest 
place on earth to Mr. Rickert is his home, and his greatest delight is in 
ministering to the welfare and happiness of his family. He takes great 
pleasure in the education of his children and in providing them train- 
ing in all the higher branches of study and artistic accomplishments. 
He is a man of very scholarly tastes and strong intellectual endowment, 
and his extensive and well read library indicates his familiarity with 
the best productions in literature. He is connected with no social or- 
ganization except the Waterloo Literary Society, which was incorporated 
in 1876, and of which he is a charter member. In religious faith he 
is a Catholic, but he is liberal in his views and tolerant of the beliefs of 
others. He is a man of kindly and sympathetic nature, true to his own 
honest convictions and fearless in their expression, but freely accords 
to others the right of opinion. Of undoubted integrity, untiring in- 
dustry, fine intellect and superior professional and business ability, he 
is known and recognized as one of the leading men of the state." 

Nelson Rickert passed the early years of his life in attendance at 
the public schools of Waterloo. Upon his graduation from the high 
school he entered Christian Brothers College and remained in that in- 
stitution for two years, following which he spent a year in the Univer- 
sity of Michigan. He then entered the law department of Washington 



952 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

University, graduating from the university in 1902. He was admitted 
to the bar in that same year, and he holds Missouri, Illinois and Federal 
Court licenses, although he has never practiced. In October of the year 
of his graduation he went on an extended tour of Europe, and he 
traveled for several months, finally locating at Geneva, Switzerland, 
where he applied himself closely to study for some time. Following his 
return home, he went to New York city, where he remained for a year. 
His family, were anxious to have him at home, and with that end in 
view he purchased the plant of the Waterloo Times, and since that time 
he has conducted the paper as owner, editor and manager. 

Mr. Rickert is popular both in a business and social way. He is 
affiliated with every society of note in Waterloo of a social nature, 
among them being the Masonic lodge, the Elks, and the Odd Fellows. 
He is also a member of the Missouri Athletic Club of St. Louis, in which 
he is active and enthusiastic. He is secretary of the Waterloo Com- 
mercial Club, and has done good work for that body since his connec- 
tion with it. He is also a member of the Evangelical church. Politic- 
ally Mr. Rickert is Democratic in his views, and The Times, which has 
the largest circulation of any newspaper in the county, is the exponent 
of the Democratic party in Waterloo. 

GUSTAVUS PAPE is a retired merchant of old, historic Kaskaskia, and 
he has resided in Chester since 1899. He is one of the few remaining 
pioneers of the early thirties of the Kaskaskia region and dates his con- 
nection with the county from 1834. The span of the citizenship here 
covers a multitude of events of historic moment, which began with the 
removal of the Indian tribe from which the first capital of Illinois took 
its name. Then came the great Mississippi flood of 1844, next the 
exodus to the gold fields of California and eventually the Civil war. He 
witnessed the high tide of navigation of the Father of Waters and saw 
it dwindle and die from a overdose of railroads; and last and latest 
he witnessed the encroachment of the Mississippi upon the Okaw, saw 
it cut through into the latter stream, leave its old channel and, in a day, 
move almost a township of Illinois to the Missouri side of the river, thus 
threatening and eventually swallowing up in its rushing waters Kas- 
kaskia, the French outpost and pioneer capital of the state. 

By birth Gustavus Pape is German. His native heath is Hersch- 
berg, Westphalia, and his natal day January 18, 1826. The Papes in 
Germany, grandfather and grand-uncle of Gustavus, were in the em- 
ploy of the Government, as was also Casper A. Pape, father of him to 
whom this sketch is dedicated. Caspar A. Pape was born in 1786, re- 
ceived a liberal education in his youth and as a young man entered the 
service of his king. He married first a Miss Pape a cousin, and later 
sailed with his family from Bremen, Germany, on the "Champion," to 
the United States. After a voyage of seven weeks the family disem- 
barked at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, took a boat thence to Baltimore, 
Maryland, and from the latter city started west on the first and only 
railroad then in operation in the United States. The track of this road 
extended out to Frederick, Maryland, and the Pape family of nine 
persons was found ample to fill one coach. From Frederick the family 
staged it to Cavetown, Maryland, where the father left the family with 
an old German friend and himself proceeded by stage to Wheeling. 
From the latter city he went by boat down the Ohio river, his destina- 
tion being Kaskaskia. When he had found a suitable location his family 
followed by the same means and route and joined him in the autumn of 
1834. Caspar A. Pape purchased a small tract of land from James 
Atkins, the same being situated nine miles west of Kaskaskia, on the 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 953 

Kaskaskia river, and he was there actively engaged in developing him- 
self a home when his death occurred, in 1851. Concerning his children, 
Theodore is deceased ; Sophia married John G. Ruehle and died in 1851 ; 
Henrietta became the wife of Charles Tillman and passed to the life 
eternal in 1909 ; Charles is deceased ; Theresa married Dr. Otto Kom- 
insky, of Chester, and passed away in 1872 ; Gustavus is the immediate 
subject of this review ; Edward is deceased ; William is deceased ; and 
Bertha, born in Randolph county, Illinois, is the wife of Henry Lortz 
and resides in St. Louis. The first two children were by his first wife. 
His second wife bore him seven children. Her maiden name was Theresa 
Hildebrandt, and she was a native of Germany. 

As Gustavus Pape passed his youth in a new country his chances for 
a good education were very slim. He resided on the old homestead 
farm in Williamson county until he had reached his twenty-fourth year 
and then began his mercantile career. For several years he clerked in 
a store at Kaskaskia and subsequently went to St. Louis, where he was 
similarly engaged for a short time. Returning to Kaskaskia about the 
time of the outbreak of the Civil war, he embarked in the mercantile 
business as a partner of his old employer and there continued to be 
identified with the general merchandise business until 1898, when he 
retired. He owned and remodeled the old capital building, used as the 
first meeting place of the Illinois legislature in territorial days, and he 
utilized the same as his business house. That historic building was 
erected in 1803 and was constructed from large, oldfashioned brick 
brought around from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in keel boats. It was 
nearing its one hundredth anniversary when it slid into the river in 
1899. Mr. Pape was well acquainted with old Kaskaskia, having dwelt 
there for some fifty years ; he knew many of the historic characters con- 
nected with its development, namely, the Chouteaus, the LaCledes 
and the Menards. 

In his choice of political parties Mr. Pape, on reaching manhood, 
selected the Democratic party and cast his first vote in 1848. He has 
never participated actively in public affairs except as postmaster of 
Kaskaskia, retaining that position for more than a quarter of a century. 
He has been a Mason since 1855 and has been treasurer of both the 
Blue Lodge and Chapter of Chester for many years. 

On November 30, 1867, at Kaskaskia, Mr. Pape was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Mary E. Feaman, a daughter of William Feaman, whose 
birth occurred at Shepherdstown, Virginia, but who passed the major 
portion of his life at Hardinsburg, Kentucky. Mr. Feaman married 
Elizabeth Jeffreys and Mrs. Pape was the third in order of birth of 
their ten children. Those living in 1911 are Mrs. Elizabeth McGeary, 
of Hardinsburg, Kentucky ; Mrs. Emma Wade, of Louisville ; and Mrs. 
Belle Warren, of St. Louis. Mrs. Pape is a niece of Captain Feaman, 
one of the pioneers of Kaskaskia, who, as a servant of the United States 
Government, had much influence in bringing settlers from the Old 
Dominion state, his native place, to Randolph county, Illinois. Mr. and 
Mrs. Pape have no surviving children. 

Although past eighty-five years of age, "Gus" Pape, as all his 
friends address him, is of vigorous constitution and of normal and active 
mentality. His wonderfully retentive memory is stored with a rich 
fund of information bearing on incidents and people of his old haunts 
during a mighty period of our national life. His feet were crippled 
when a child and thus his locomotion is impeded but he has faced the 
world without a hint of favors and has achieved results in the commercial 
world. His life has been exemplary in all respects and as a good citizen 



954 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

and man he commands the unqualified respect and love of all with whom 
he has come in contact. 

THOMAS B. STEPHENSON is one of the ablest financiers and most pub- 
lic-spirited citizens in Sparta, where he is secretary of the Sparta Build- 
ing & Loan Association and where he is likewise engaged in the fire- 
insurance business. He is connected with many of the city's enter- 
prises of a business and other character and is a part of the old regime 
in domestic trade. He was born in Lancashire, England, on the 20th of 
November, 1855, and at the age of three years he accompanied his 
parents to America, location having been made in the vicinity of Toronto, 
Canada, from which point the mother, with her second husband, came 
to the States and settled at Sparta, Illinois. 

The father of the subject of this review was Edward Stephenson, 
who died soon after his advent in Canada at the early age of thirty-two 
years. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Preston, was a 
native of the same locality as himself, and the issue of their union are : 
R. P., a Baptist minister at Lebo, Kansas; Christopher W., of Los 
Angeles, California; John H., of Sparta; Illinois; Dr. E. M., of Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania ; Thomas B., the immediate subject of this notice ; 
Elizabeth, who married M. S. Crawford and resides at Pittsburg, Kan- 
sas ; and Margaret, who wedded R. S. Burns, of Sparta, but who is now 
deceased. After a short widowhood Mrs. Stephenson married her hus- 
band's brother, John D. Shephenson, and in the year 1860 they be- 
came residents of the Sparta community. Mr. Stephenson was a farmer 
until late in life, when he engaged in the calling of house carpenter and 
eased up the long period of his quiet life as such. He did not affiliate 
with politicians but was a stanch Republican in his party belief, filling 
some minor positions of trust and responsibility. He was called to the 
life eternal in the year 1907 and is survived by his widow, who is 
eighty-two years of age. Concerning the children born to this mar- 
riage, James S. and "W. R. are business men at Sparta; Miss Sarah is 
superintendent of nurses at the Bethesda Home, St. Louis ; Mary P., of 
Jacksonville, Florida; and Alonzo J., a member of the mercantile firm 
of Stephenson Brothers at Sparta. 

Thomas B. Stephenson was educated primarily in the schools of 
Sparta, completing his education in the Southern Illinois Normal Uni- 
versity at Carbondale. He initiated his independent career as a teacher, 
followed that vocation in the country near Sparta for a few sessions and 
closed his work in the profession as one of the teachers of the Sparta 
schools. In 1892 he became interested in the general merchandise busi- 
ness in this city, beginning operations along that line with a stock of 
groceries and provisions, the store being conducted under the firm name 
of Stephenson & Beattie. Mr. Stephenson continued to be interested in 
this line of enterprise for the ensuing ten years, and during that period 
became identified with the Sparta Creamery Company, the first modern 
creamery in this section of the state. He was one of the prime movers 
in the establishment of the plant and was chosen its treasurer. During 
the same period he served as bookkeeper and assistant cashier of the 
Merchants' Exchange Bank, the successor of the bank of Crothers, Allen 
& Company. In 1902 Mr. Stephenson abandoned the mercantile busi- 
ness in order to devote his attention to financial matters in the city and, 
to some extent, industrial matters as well. He was one of the promoters 
of the Sparta Pressed Brick Company and was long general manager of 
that concern. He was a moving spirit in the organization of the Sparta 
Building & Loan Association, brought into existence in 1886, prior to 
his entry into commercial pursuits. The latter company has experienced 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 955 

a gradual growth and each year finds it a concern of more importance 
to the city than the year preceding. It has issued ninety-two series of 
stock, forty-seven of which have matured, and the assets of the associa- 
tion are three hundred and ten thousand dollars. Its first board of di- 
rectors comprised James Bottom, John Frohard, R. H. Rosborough; T. 
B. Stephenson; S. W. McGuire; P. H. Murphy; H. R. Guthrie; W. M. 
Brown and John A. Holdoway. The first officers were : James Bottom, 
president; W. J. Burnett, secretary; J. C. Simpson, treasurer; and T. 
B. Stephenson, vice-president. The present officers of the company are : 
J. C. Simpson, president; W. J. Brown, vice-president; T. B. Stephen- 
son, secretary ; and A. L. Wilson, treasurer. 

In addition to the preceding business connections, Mr. Stephenson is 
secretary and general manager of the Wilson Brothers Coal Company, 
of Sparta, one of the leading mining companies here and large shippers 
of coal. The capacity of the company's mines amounts to six hundred 
tons daily. Mr. Stephenson is possessed of splendid initiative and execu- 
tive ability and inasmuch as his fine success in life is entirely the out- 
come of his own well directed endeavors it is the more gratifying to 
contemplate. In politics he is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the 
Republican party and he cast his first presidential vote for James A. 
Garfield. Mr. Stephenson is a strong believer in the efficacy of the 
church. He is associated with Gospel Hall in Sparta, has served for 
fourteen years as county president of the Sunday-school association, 
is well known among the state workers, having attended a number of 
local and state conventions, and, in 1911, he was sent from Illionis as 
one of her delegates to the International Sunday-school Convention at 
San Francisco. 

At Sparta, Illinois, on the 8th of October, 1879, Mr. Stephenson was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Beattie, a daughter of Jacob Beattie, 
who came hither from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The Beattie family 
is one of old pioneer standing in Randolph county, having become iden- 
tified with the affairs of this section of the state as early as 1812. Jacob 
Beattie died at Sparta in April, 1899, at the age of eighty years, and 
his cherished and devoted wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Mc- 
Millan, is now in Sparta. Concerning the children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Stephenson the following record is here inserted, Edward B., a 
teacher of the sciences in the University of North Dakota, was educated 
in Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois, where he received his Master of 
Science degree, after which he entered the University of Illinois, there 
receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; Bertha Elizabeth, who 
became the wife of Hugh K. Wilson in 1910, was graduated in Knox 
College and for two years was a teacher of Latin in the Sparta high 
school; and Carl C., who was graduated in Knox College with the degree 
of Bachelor of Science, is associated with his father in business at Sparta. 
He married Miss Lela Dean, of Traverse City, Michigan. 

SNOWDEN B. NELSON. One of the rising young bankers of Jackson 
county, Snowden B. Nelson, of Fordyce, has been connected with the 
financial interests of this section for only a comparatively short time, 
but has already risen to a prominent place in his chosen vocation, and 
as cashier of the Farmers' Commercial Bank has demonstrated his abil- 
ity in the field of finance. Mr. Nelson is a native Illinoisan, and was 
born at St. David, Fulton county, February 9, 1888, a son of D. C. and 
Ella (Moran) Nelson. 

D. C. Nelson was born at Canton, Fulton county, Illinois, April 8, 
1855, and has been engaged in farming all of his life. He now resides 
at Hillsboro, Iowa, where he is the owner of the old Mathew Creswell 



956 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

ranch, which he has cut up into farms, and these he and his son now 
operate. In 1884 he was married to Miss Ella Moran, daughter of 
Richard Moran, of Canton, a pioneer of the Prairie state, and to this 
union there have been born seven children: Earl, Snowden B., Harry, 
Hazel, Leo, Caryl and Ralph. The family is connected with the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church, in the work of which several members have been 
active. Mr. Nelson is a Democrat, but has taken only a good citizen's 
part in political matters, preferring to give his entire time and attention 
to the operation of his farm, rather than to enter the political field. 

Snowden B. Nelson secured his education in the district schools of 
Fulton county and the public schools of Canton, and this was followed 
by three years in Westfield College, at Westfield, Illinois. Having chosen 
banking as his life work, Mr. Nelson attended the commercial de- 
partment and specialized in banking, and graduated from that institu- 
tion in 1909, fully equipped to take up his work. During that same 
year he became connected with the Farmers and Merchants Bank at 
Golden Gate, Wayne county, Illinois, as assistant cashier, but four 
months later resigned to accept a position which had been tendered him 
at Johnson City as assistant cashier of the Citizens State Bank. He was 
called to his present position January 4, 1911, and since that time has 
remained as cashier of the Farmers Commercial Bank. This is one of 
the solid and substantial institutions of this part of the state, and is a 
joint stock company, the officers being: State Senator W. O. Potter, 
president; John E. Carr, vice-president (Mr. Carr being also president 
of the State Bank of Dahlgren, Illinois) ; and Mr. Nelson, cashier. 

Like his father, Mr. Nelson is a Democrat in his political views, and 
he has followed his father's example in that he has not cared for public 
office. His activities outside of his business have been devoted to the 
work of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is now superintendent 
of the Sunday-school at Fordyce, and president of the Sand Ridge Town- 
ship Sunday-school Convention. Fraternally he is popular with the 
members of the Modern Woodmen of America. By his genial and courte- 
ous manner Mr. Nelson has served to make himself a general favorite 
with the depositors of the Farmers Commercial Bank and to strengthen 
their friendly relations therewith, and this is bound to make them feel 
that they have a personal interest in its affairs and thus establish public 
confidence. If his work in the past may be taken for a criterion of the 
future his success in banking will be but a matter of time. 

CYRUS H. ANDERSON, M. D., is superintendent of the State Hospital 
for the Insane at Chester, Illinois, and has been in charge of that insti- 
tution since September 20, 1907. Prior to his incumbency of this office 
he was engaged in the active practice of medicine at McLeansboro, Illi- 
nois, near which city his birth occurred on the 15th of September, 1869. 
The Anderson family was established in Hamilton county during its 
pioneer history by Edmond Anderson, a Kentucky settler, in whose 
residence the first session of court in this district was held. The senior 
Anderson was a modest farmer, and first in order of birth of his seven 
children was John T., father of the subject of this review. 

Major John T. Anderson was born in Hamilton county, Illinois, in 
the year 1836, and he passed his life as a farmer, stockman and dealer 
in real estate, his death having occurred June 18, 1911. His eagerness 
to defend the Union at the opening of the rebellion caused his enlist- 
ment under the starry banner and in time he became major of the 
Eighty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. His command formed a 
part of General Grant's army for the campaign against the Confederates 
along the Mississippi river and he took part in the movements leading 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 957 

up to the capture of Vicksburg. He was in many of the well known 
battles preliminary to the siege of the city and after its fall he served 
with the army of General Banks along the Red River in the latter 's 
Arkansas engagements. Major Anderson had acquired a liberal knowl- 
edge of mathematics as a school boy and this learning later enabled him 
to perform the duties of county surveyor, to which office he was elected 
as a Republican some time after the close of the war. He became a 
leader in county politics and was chairman of the Republican county 
central committee on various occasions. His keen interest and activity 
in politics gave him an acquaintanceship with prominent state leaders. 
His fraternal affiliations were confined to the Odd Fellows and his 
church connections were with the Presbyterian church at McLeansboro, 
in which he was an elder. He married Martha E. Patrick, a daughter 
of Rev. Hillary Patrick, one of the few classical scholars in the ministry 
of his day. Mrs. Anderson was born in Indiana in 1834, and she and 
her husband reared five children, of whom two survive in 1912, namely, 
Dr. Cyrus H., of this notice; and Harry, a prominent lawyer at Mc- 
Leansboro, Illinois. 

Dr. Anderson attended the Southern Illinois College, at Enfield, for 
the completion of his literary education. He prepared himself for 
teaching while a student in the public schools and was engaged in peda- 
gogic work for a few years prior to his matriculation in college. He 
finished the scientific course in his alma mater in 1890 and was gradu- 
ated in the classical course in 1892. For one year thereafter he was 
engaged as professor of physics in the Southern Illinois College and 
subsequently he was elected superintendent of the Ridgeway, Illinois, 
schools, serving in the latter capacity for a period of two years. Having 
decided upon the medical profession as his life work, he became a stu- 
dent in the Missouri Medical College, at St. Louis, and was graduated 
in that excellent institution as a member of the class of 1898, duly re- 
ceiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He initiated the active prac- 
tice of his profession at McLeansboro, where he built up a large and 
lucrative practice and where he continued to reside until September, 
1907, at which time he came to Chester as the successor of Dr. W. E. 
Songer, former superintendent of the Hospital for the Insane. In 1910 
Dr. Anderson was elected professor of cerebral surgery in the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons, at St. Louis, and he delivered lectures there 
during the college year. He holds membership in the Randolph County 
Medical Society and in the American Medical Association. 

In his political convictions Dr. Anderson is a stanch Republican and 
he has served as chairman of the Hamilton county Republican central 
committee and has attended both congressional and state conventions as 
a delegate. While a resident of McLeansboro he was a member of the 
board of education. He has ever manifested a deep and sincere interest 
in all matters affecting the welfare of his home community and of the 
state at large and is a liberal contributor to all measures forwarded for 
progress and improvement. 

On the 18th of August, 1893, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. 
Anderson to Miss Mary E. Williams, the ceremony having been per- 
formed at Norris City, Illinois. Mrs. Anderson is a daughter of Rev. 
G. W. Williams, an old settler in the vicinity of Walpole, Illinois. She 
received a college education in her youth and for a number of years 
prior to her marriage was a popular and successful teacher in the public 
schools at McLeansboro. She was also a teacher of instrumental music. 
Dr. and Mrs. Anderson are the parents of three children, Ruth, born 
m 1898 ; and Winfield and Anna, twins, born in 1900. 



958 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

BRUCE ALEXANDER CAMPBELL. Biographical sketches of those who 
have attained merited distinction in American law have a charm and 
force in them that commend them to every sound thinker. We naturally 
feel an interest in tracing the footsteps of those who have reached ele- 
vated positions in public confidence and have wielded their influence for 
public good ; who, loving truth and integrity for their own sakes, have 
undeviatingly followed their dictates, no matter what the personal con- 
sequences might be. Records of this kind are calculated to raise the 
ministrations of law in public estimation, and are guides for the junior 
members of the profession in their pursuit of reputation, distinction and 
position. 

Bruce Alexander Campbell, one of the leading members of the South- 
ern Illinois bar, is now engaged in a large practice at East St. Louis, 
whence he came from Albion in 1905, and has been prominently identi- 
fied with public matters for a number of years. He was born in Albion, 
October 28, 1879, a son of Judge Joseph M. and Amabel (Thompson) 
Campbell, and a grandson of an emigrant who came to Illinois from 
Kentucky in 1815, on the paternal side, while on his mother's side the 
family, of English extraction, located in this state in 1820. Mr. Camp- 
bell's great-grandfather was a member of the state legislature during 
the 'twenties, and his grandfather during the early 'fifties, while his 
father was defeated for the state senate in 1888. Judge Joseph M. 
Campbell was one of the leading attorneys and judge of the county 
court from 1873 until 1886, and since the latter year has been master 
in chancery. 

Bruce Alexander Campbell received a high school education in 
Albion, graduated from the Southern Collegiate Institute at Albion, 
Illinois, in 1897, and in 1900 received the degree of A. B. from the 
University of Illinois. In 1901 he was admitted to the bar and began 
the practice of his profession at Albion, and in 1905 came to East St. 
Louis, where he has continued in practice ever since. In 1904 he had 
been elected to the state legislature from the Forty-eighth district, serv- 
ing one term with much ability. In 1902 he was a candidate for the 
same position in the same district, but was defeated for the Democratic 
nomination. In 1910 he was the Democratic candidate for congress in 
the Twenty-second district, and ran ahead of his ticket by two thousand 
five hundred votes, but met with defeat at the hands of Congressman 
Rodenburg. During 1903 and 1904 he served as city attorney of Al- 
bion, and is now, by appointment from the governor, a member of the 
commission to revise the law relative to Practice and Procedure. He 
is a member of the County and State Bar Associations and was president 
of the East St. Louis Bar Association in 1912, and in May, 1911, was 
elected president of the Illinois Elks Association, belonging also to the 
Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and 
the Country Club. 

Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Beulah W. Campbell, of Marissa, 
Illinois, in June, 1906, she being the daughter of Dr. J. M. Campbell, 
a well-known physician, and one son has blessed this union: Joseph 
Bruce, who was born March 8, 1907. As a lawyer Mr. Campbell has 
been very successful, and has earned the highest esteem both as a mem- 
ber of the bar and as a public official, while his warm personal friends, 
drawn to him by his many sterling qualities of character, are legion. 

BENJAMIN BENNETT VARNUM. In naming the men of Jackson county 
who have been instrumental in building up their community, and have 
so conducted their affairs as to advance the best interests of their fellow 
citizens, prominent mention should be given to Benjamin Bennett Var- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 959 

num, through whose long and honorable career the city of Ava and the 
surrounding country has benefited hugely, and in whose retirement this 
locality lost one of its most sterling business men, one who had indelibly 
left his mark upon the commercial history of Southern Illinois. Born 
on a farm in Monroe county, Illinois, December 16, 1841, Mr. Varnum 
is a son of Justice Bradley and Sarah Ann (Dixon) Varnum. 

When Justice Varnum was only a. boy he removed with his parents 
from Belfast, Maine, where he had been born November 24, 1799, to 
Ohio, and there his father, Moses Varnum, engaged in farming in what 
was then the Northwest Territory. In 1818, when Illinois was admitted 
to the Union, Justice Varnum came to this state with his parents, locat- 
ing in Monroe county, where the family remained for some time. After 
about six months spent in the southern states, in 1821, on a bear hunting 
expedition, Justice Varnum became connected with a trading company 
and went on a trip up the Yellowstone river to trade with the Indians. 
On his return he remained in Monroe county on his farm and also en- 
gaged in the coopering business. According to Mr. Varnum "he had a 
few more wild oats to sow," and with a party of' "forty-niners" he took 
the trip to California. Accumulating a considerable share of the pre- 
cious metal, Justice Varnum returned to his family in 1851. and con- 
tinued to live on his farm until his death, September 22, 1861. He was 
an accomplished violinist, and was a great favorite among those attend- 
ing local gatherings of a social nature. He was first a Whig and later 
a Republican, but acted rather as an onlooker than as an office seeker. 
On October 31, 1830, Mr. Varnum was married to Miss Sarah Ann 
Dixon, of Jefferson county, Missouri, who was born December 31, 1808, 
and died April 4, 1882, and they were the parents of nine children, as 
follows: Virginia, who died in infancy; John Carlisle, born in 1833, 
who died in 1861 ; Christopher Columbus, born in 1835, who died in 
1839 ; Austin Dixon, born in 1837 ; Horace Addison, born in 1839 ; Ben- 
jamin Bennett, born in 1841 ; Margaret Isabel, born in 1844, who died 
in 1845 ; Leverett Decatur, born in 1846 ; and Justin Frederick, born in 
1849. 

Benjamin Bennett Varnum 's early life was spent in Monroe county, 
Illinois, and his education secured in the subscription schools. He re- 
mained on his father's farm until he became of age, at which time he 
was married and established himself on a farm of his own in the same 
county. His wife was Sarah Ann Barker, born December 13, 1843, who 
died February 11, 1878, daughter of Lewis and Sarah (Tolin) Barker, 
of Waterloo, Illinois. Five children were born to this union, all of 
whom are now deceased : Eleanor Elsie, Carrie Lois, Laura Ethel, Olive 
Isabel and Justice Warren. In 1882 Mr. Varnum came to Ava, Illinois, 
and became in time one of the most prominent agriculturists of these 
parts, owning twelve hundred acres of valuable land. In 1907 he gave 
up agriculture to engage in the lumber business, in which he was exten- 
sively engaged for some time, and with which he is still largely inter- 
ested, although now retired from business activities. Originally a Re- 
publican, Mr. Varnum changed his views during the administration of 
Rutherford B. Hayes, whose policy of keeping a standing army in the 
South did not meet with Mr. Varnum 's approval, and since that time 
his support has been given to the Democratic party. He has served 
two terms on the county board, and as a friend of the cause of educa- 
tion has done much, being at present president of the board of educa- 
tion. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic order. 

In 1880 Mr. Varnum was married to Miss Minnie Boedecker, of 
Waterloo, Illinois, daughter of Henry and Minnie (Spellmeyer) Boe- 
decker, and nine children have been born to them : Floyd Leslie, Edwin 



960 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Bennett, Grover, Horace Homer, James Addison, Blanchard Banks, Nel- 
son Carlisle, Noah Claude and William Jewett, of whom Floyd L., Hor- 
ace H., James A. and Nelson C. are deceased. In all movements calcu- 
lated to be of benefit to his community Mr. Varnum has ever taken an 
active part, and his career has been such as to stamp him a worthy rep- 
resentative of an honored family that traces its ancestry back to the 
year 1635, and in which may be found names of note in the military, 
the professions and the various honorable vocations of life. 

ALFRED C. C. WIEBUSCH, M. D. A rising young physician of Cora, 
Alfred C. C. Wiebusch, M. D., is rapidly winning for himself a prom- 
inent and honored name in the medical profession of Jackson county, 
his skill and success in the treatment of diseases of all kinds having 
gained him the confidence and respect of the community. A son of 
Gustave F. Wiebusch, he was born in Fountain Bluff township, Jack- 
son county, January 24, 1881. 

Born in Chester, Randolph county, Illinois, March 11, 1856, Gustave 
F. Wiebusch embarked in agricultural pursuits when young, for a num- 
ber of years being engaged in farming in Fountain township, Jackson 
county. Moving to Wagner's Landing in 1885, he was there engaged 
in business as a general merchant for about eighteen years, when, in the 
fall of 1903, he removed his stock of merchandise to Claryville, Perry 
county, Missouri, where he conducted a general store until the spring 
of 1906, when he sold out to Mr. Morgan, one of his clerks. The ensu- 
ing three years he spent in Colorado, and then settled in Wyoming, 
where he is now prosperously engaged in farming. He is a Democrat 
in politics, and a faithful member of the German Evangelical Lutheran 
church. 

Gustave F. Wiebusch has been twice married. He married first, 
February 5, 1880, Emma Schurenberg, who was born in Illinois, a 
daughter of Carl and Margaret Schurenberg, and died at Fountain 
Bluff township April 23, 1884. Five children were born into their house- 
hold, as follows : Alfred C. C., the special subject of this brief biograph- 
ical record ; Clara J. ; Emilie, deceased ; and Anna Catherine and Emma, 
twins, deceased. He married for his second wife Emma Bueckmann, 
of Chester, Illinois, who died in Claryville, Missouri, May 5, 1905. Five 
children, also, were born of this union, namely : Doris, deceased ; Ar- 
thur, deceased ; Edward, deceased ; Walter, of Schenectady, New York ; 
and Lydia, of Chester, Illinois. 

Left motherless when but four years old, Alfred C. C. Wiebusch 
spent the following five years with his grandparents, near Chester, Illi- 
nois, where he obtained his early education, being graduated from the 
high school at Chester in 1900 in which city he lived nine years. Going 
then to Missouri, he attended the Chillicothe Normal School in 1901 and 
1902, and subsequently entered the Homeopathic Medical College of 
Missouri, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 
1906. During his third year in college he took the state board examina- 
tions, and was honored with a life certificate. After completing his 
course of study Dr. Wiebusch passed the Illinois State Board examina- 
tions, and then removed from Claryville, Missouri, where he had begun 
his professional practice, to Cora, Illinois. Succeeding to the practice 
established by Dr. Carter, the doctor bought out the drug store which 
he is conducting in conjunction with his practice, and is meeting with 
well deserved success both as a physician and a merchant, his patronage 
being extensive and lucrative. He belongs to both the Jackson County 
Medical Society and the Illinois State Medical Society. In politics he 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 961 

is a stanch Democrat, and in religion, true to the faith in which he was 
reared, he is a Lutheran. 

Dr. Wiebusch married, August 20, 1908, Anna P. Fiene, a daughter 
of Henry Fiene, a liveryman of Steeleville, Illinois, and they have one 
child, Harold Wiebusch. 

W. GEORGE BEEVEE. Among the prominent and influential citizens 
of Chester, Illinois, W. George Beever holds prestige as an official and 
business man whose loyalty and public spirit in all matters pertaining 
to the progress and development of Southern Illinois have ever been of 
the most insistent order. At the present time, in 1911, he is the popular 
and efficient incumbent of the office of circuit court clerk, his headquar- 
ters being at Chester. 

W. George Beever was born in the vicinity of Coulterville, in Wash- 
ington county, Illinois, the date of his nativity being the 23d of March, 
1874. He grew to manhood on the old homestead farm and as a youth 
attended the public schools at Coulterville. His father, Ephraim 
Beever, was engaged in the great basic industry of agriculture during 
the greater portion of his active career and he passed to the life eternal 
in September, 1904, at the venerable age of seventy-one years. Ephraim 
Beever was born at Bedford, Indiana, his forefathers having been of 
stanch Holland stock. His father was George Beever, who died in 1889, 
in Clay City, Illinois. Although he was reared a Democrat, Ephraim 
Beever aligned himself with the Republican party after the close of 
the Civil war. He did not participate actively in political affairs but 
contributed in generous measure to all matters projected for the good 
of the general welfare. He married Rebecca Little, of Irish ancestry, 
and they became the parents of nine children, concerning whom the fol- 
lowing brief data are here incorporated, David H. is deceased; Alice 
is the wife of Alphonse Bouas and resides in Washington county, this 
state ; Emma is Mrs. J. R. Kennedy, of St. Louis ; John C. is postmaster 
at Coulterville, Illinois ; Ida is Mrs. E. F. Strahan, of Washington 
county, this state ; Clara is the wife of George Zeiver, of Coulterville ; 
W. George is the immediate subject of this review ; Elmer remains on 
the old home farm with his mother ; and Edna is Mrs. August Smithling, 
of Coulterville. Mrs. Beever survives her honored husband and main- 
tains her home on the old farm where her children were born and reared. 
She is a most gracious old lady and is beloved by all who have come 
within the sphere of her gentle influence. 

W. George Beever left home at the age of eighteen years for the 
purpose of learning the creamery business and he was engaged in that 
line of enterprise at different points for a number of years. About the 
year 1899 he launched out into the general merchandise business, and 
subsequently he became manager of a hardware store at Coulterville, 
Illinois, continuing as such until December, 1904, when he retired in 
order to assume the responsibilities of the office of circuit clerk of Ran- 
dolph county. This marked his first entry into county politics but he 
had paved the way for it with public service at Coulterville, where he 
was city clerk two terms and mayor of the town for two terms. He 
was reared under Republican environment and it was but natural that 
he aligned himself with that political organization when he reached his 
majority. He made his first race for the circuit clerkship against for- 
midable opposition from other candidates and after his four-year term 
had expired he was chosen to succeed himself as the Republican candi- 
date, without opposition. The election in the fall of 1910, in Randolph 
county, was a disappointment to the Republicans, as but two men on 
their ticket were elected. Mr. Beever was one of these two. He has sat 



962 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

as a delegate in congressional conventions, was a spectator in the con- 
vention which nominated President Taft, and in general has demeaned 
himself as a citizen deeply interested in the affairs and well being of his 
party. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen 
of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of 
Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a man 
who gives his undivided attention to his official duties and he is fair 
and straightforward in all his business dealings. 

At Coulterville, Illinois, on the 28th of February, 1893, Mr, Beever 
was united in marriage to Miss Mary D. McRill, a daughter of Osman 
McRill, a representative of an old pioneer family in this section of the 
state. Mr. and Mrs. Beever are the fond parents of one son, Homer, 
whose birth occurred in 1894, and who is now employed in his father's 
office at Chester. Mr. and Mrs.- Beever have lived exemplary lives and 
are honored and esteemed by all with whom they have come in contact. 

ROBERT JOHN MC!LKATH, a retired farmer and highly respected 
citizen of Harrisburg, Illinois, looks back to Belfast, Ireland, as the 
place of his birth. His remote ancestors were natives of Scotland, Edin- 
burgh being their home. It was March 30, 1844, that Robert John Mc- 
Ilrath was born, a son of James and Jane (McMurn) Mcllrath, by 
whom he was brought to this country in 1850, when a lad of six years. 
They came direct to Illinois and made settlement on the old Raleigh 
road one mile north of Harrisburg. This was all heavily timbered then, 
and here in primitive pioneer style, in a clapboard house, the new home 
was established and here the family, undivided, lived in peace and hap- 
piness until the Civil war cloud overspread the country. The father 
and son Robert J., then a youth of seventeen, offered their services to 
the Union and joined John A. Logan's regiment, the Thirty -first Illi- 
nois. While on the firing line beside his son at Fort Donelson the fa- 
ther was shot down and killed. His body was brought home and buried. 
Not long afterward the son was discharged on account of ill health, but 
his service was not marked by any wounds or captures. He resumed 
work on the home farm, and in time bought out the other heirs. He 
had seven brothers and sisters, of whom four are now living James 
H., a dairyman; W. D., a Baptist minister; J. H., a farmer; and Mrs. 
Mary Lewis Baker. Those deceased are Agnes, Sarah and Isaac. 

With the passing years Robert J. Mcllrath was prospered in his 
farming operations. He added to the old home farm until it comprised 
three hundred and seventy acres, and he also bought and sold other 
farms, one of three hundred and sixty acres. He gave considerable at- 
tention to stock, raising both horses and cattle, and some years fattened 
and shipped many cattle. He remained on the farm until about eight 
years ago, when he moved into Harrisburg, where he has since lived re- 
tired. For a number of years he was interested in the County Fair, of 
which for a time he was superintendent. He was one of the original 
directors and first president of the Harrisburg State Savings Bank, 
which was organized June 15, 1905. At the end of the first year he re- 
fused to serve longer as president of the bank, but he still remains one 
of its directors. 

In 1867 Mr. Mcllrath married Miss India Gloss, daughter of Sam- 
uel and Eliza Gloss, who came to Saline county, Illinois, from Peru, 
Indiana, where she was born. Mrs. Mcllrath was an invalid for a num- 
ber of years and died at Long Beach, California, December 4, 1906. 
They had no children of their own, but took into their home and cared 
for a little niece, who died at the age of twelve years. 

Politically Mr. Mcllrath has always affiliated with the Republican 




R. J. McILRATH 



*iERSITIf OF 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 963 

party, but never in any sense has he been a politician. The only pub- 
lic office he ever filled was that of member of the City Board. He is 
ex-chaplain of George Newell Post, G. A. R., and has been in attendance 
at a number of the National Encampments; and he is a thirty -second 
degree Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, having membership 
in Medinah Temple and Oriental Consistory, both of Chicago. 

FRANK PFLASTERER. It is but seldom that a man of the age of Frank 
Pflasterer is sufficiently courageous to assume the responsibilities attend- 
ant upon the successful conduct of a mercantile establishment such as 
is represented by the firm of Pflasterer & Schaefer; but it is still more 
seldom for such youth and inexperience to make the unqualified success 
of any business venture that this young firm has thus far realized. The 
store they own and operate is the largest in Valmeyer, and the firm of 
Pflasterer & Schaefer is regarded as one of the leading business organ- 
izations in the county. 

Frank Pflasterer was born in Harrisonville, Illinois, on February 
10, 1888. He is a son of Fred Pflasterer, a farmer of that section of 
the country all his life, and who, with his wife, Margaret Altes, were 
the parents of a family of several children, but two of whom attained 
years of maturity. They are Charles and Frank, the latter of whom is 
our subject. The father died in 1890, when Frank was but a babe, and 
the mother passed away two years later, in 1892. Frank was raised by 
an aunt, Mrs. Elizabeth Meyers, now deceased. 

The early life of the boy was spent on the farm near Valmeyer and 
such schooling as he received came through the avenues of the public 
schools of his home town. In 1911 he formed a partnership with Charles 
Schaefer, the son v of Christian Schaefer, and the business mentioned in 
a previous paragraph is the result of their alliance. Charles Schaefer 
has but little the advantage of his partner in the way of seniority, he 
having been born in November, 1887. 

Mr. Pflasterer has assumed the cares of a home in spite of his youth, 
having married Miss Lena Potoff on October 8, 1911. 

HENRY SIGMUND BURBES. A citizen who commands the unalloyed 
confidence and esteem of his fellow men in Randolph county, Illinois, 
is Henry Sigmund Burbes, sheriff of this county and a native of Ches- 
ter, where his birth occurred on the 6th of September, 1859. The Bur- 
bes family was established at Chester in 1838 by Peter Burbes, father 
of the subject of this review and a native of Hanover, Germany. As a 
youth Peter Burbes familiarized himself with the brick-maker's trade 
and he continued to be identified with that particular line of enterprise' 
during the greater portion of his active career. He had a plant at 
Pinckneyville, Illinois, for a number of years, having established him- 
self there about the year 1868. He married Mina Kramma, a lady of 
German birth, who died in 1874. The issue of this union were : Tina, 
widow of Jasper McCollam, of Pinckneyville ; Henry S., of this notice ; 
Dora, who died unmarried ; Carrie, wife of J. L. Davis, of Danville, 
Illinois ; Lillie, who passed away at the age of fifteen years ; and Charles 
Adolph, who left a family at his death, in 1904. , The father was sum- 
moned to the great beyond in 1903, at the age of sixty- four years. 

Henry S. Burbes passed the time from his ninth year until his ma- 
jority in Pinckneyville, where he acquired a public-school education. 
After leaving school he learned the cooper's trade, following that line 
of occupation for a period of eight years at Chester. He was eventually 
won away from the shop by election as constable of the precinct and 
was chosen later on to be justice of the peace. He filled the latter office 
for some twelve years and was then elected city clerk of Chester. Not- 



964 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

withstanding the fact that his party was nearly always in the minority 
in, his locality, the personal popularity of Mr. Burbes won him much 
support from Republicans. He was appointed deputy sheriff by Sheriff 
Prank Moore and served in that capacity for four years. In 1903 Sheriff 
Ebers appointed him deputy sheriff and jailer and he was thus occu- 
pied for the ensuing four years. He was then, in 1907, elected city 
marshal of Chester for a two-years' term and soon thereafter he began 
his preliminary work for his campaign for the office of sheriff. 

In 1910 Mr. Burbes was nominated by the Democratic party as their 
candidate for sheriff of Randolph county and he won the election by a 
majority of four hundred and thirty-nine votes, in a Republican county, 
this being the largest majority ever given for that office in the county. 
He was sworn into office in December, 1910, for the term of four years, 
as the successor of Henry E. Burns. 

Mr. Burbes was married in Chester, December 15, 1886, to Miss Hat- 
tie Hathaway, a daughter of John H. Hathaway, a representative of 
an old family in Randolph county. Mrs. Burbes was born near Chester, 
April 4, 1871, and she and Mr. Burbes are the parents of Edward J., 
the Prudential insurance man of Chester; Margaret H., a teacher in 
the Tilden, Illinois, schools; and Agnes J., who remains at the parental 
home. Charles S., the oldest child in the family, died at the age of 
fourteen years. 

Mr. Burbes' career as a public officer has been a decidedly success- 
ful one. His service has met the approval of his constituency when- 
ever the opportunity for a public endorsement has presented itself and 
he began his official life as sheriff with the confidence of all. He was 
made an Odd Fellow in Pinckneyville in 1884, and he has passed all 
the official chairs of his home lodge. He and his wife are popular in 
connection with all classes of people and they are prominent factors in 
the best social activities of their home community. 

P. J. KELLER. For many years actively identified with the advance- 
ment of the agricultural interests of Jackson county, P. J. Keller, 
through industry and good management, has acquired a fair share of 
this world's goods, and is now spending the sunset years of his long and 
useful life in pleasant leisure and true comfort, enjoying the fruits of 
his early labors. A native of Germany, he was born near the river 
Rhine and in close proximity to the border line of France, his birth 
occurring December 7, 1838. He is a son of the late Andrew Keller, 
and is of French ancestry, the Keller family having originated in 
France. His grandfather Keller served as a soldier in the army of 
Napoleon Bonaparte, his home having been on the French line. His 
great-grandfather on the paternal side, a refugee from France, fled from 
Paris to Switzerland, Frederick the Good having urged the refugees to 
populate his country. 

Andrew Keller was born, in 1812, in Germany, near France, on der 
Rhinefels, and there grew to manhood and married. With his family 
he afterwards immigrated to America, settling first in Waterloo, Illi- 
nois, where he lived a few years. Locating near Red Bud, Randolph 
county, in 1853, he was for a time engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
Disposing of his farm, he went from there to Jackson county, and later 
to Perry county. His first wife dying in 1846, he subsequently lived 
in various places, moving frequently. During the Civil war, although 
then an old man, he responded to the last call for volunteers, enlisting 
in the Eighty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and died while with his 
regiment, his body being laid to rest in the National Cemetery at Cor- 
inth, Mississippi. A man of strong personality, liberal-minded and pro- 
gressive, he invariably commanded the respect and regard of his 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 965 

neighbors and associates, and in whatever community he lived was al- 
ways a leader. 

Andrew Keller was twice married. He married first, in his native 
land, Elizabeth Hoch, who bore him six children, as follows: Philip, 
deceased; Barabara, deceased; Phoebe, deceased; P. J., the special sub- 
ject of this sketch ; John, deceased ; and Peter, a resident of Willisville, 
Illinois. She died in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1846. He married again, 
in 1847, Catherine Havel, a native of Germany, and of their union two 
children were born, namely : Henry ; and Elizabeth, deceased. Of his 
third marriage there was one child, a daughter. 

A lad of seven years when he crossed the ocean with his parents, P. 
J. Keller had but limited educational advantages, his book knowledge, 
with the exception of an attendance of three months at a subscription 
school, having been acquired by careful home study and intelligent read- 
ing. Through his own efforts he has become well versed in law, but his 
professional practice has been confined to the local justice courts. Soon 
after attaining his majority Mr. Keller, who had been brought up in 
Monroe and Randolph counties, came to Jackson county, and for a time 
followed the carpenter's trade. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil 
war he responded to a call for troops, and was mustered into Company 
C, Eighteenth Illinois Infantry, and at the expiration of his term of 
enlistment was mustered out, by consolidation of the companies, of Com- 
pany A, of the same regiment. He was listed to promotion from the 
ranks of his superiors, but having refused to join the Knights of the 
Golden Circle he was refused a commission. 

Returning home after the war, Mr. Keller embarked in agricultural 
pursuits, and was actively and prosperously engaged in general farm- 
ing until 1899, when, having accomplished a satisfactory work, he re- 
tired from business pursuits, although at times he still practices law to 
some extent. For many years he was one of the wide-awake, successful 
auctioneers of the county, and cried sales throughout a large territory. 

Politically Mr. Keller is a Democrat, but he has never been an aspir- 
ant for official honors, being, in fact, strenuously opposed to office 
holding. He is a true optimist, being firmly convinced that everything 
in nature and the history of mankind is so ordered as to produce in 
the universe the best possible conditions only, and the highest good. He 
is a friend of the people, and is held in the highest esteem, being looked 
upon by his neighbors as a sort of "patron saint." His religion, he 
says, is to do right as God has given him light to interpret the right, a 
doctrine that if followed surely adds to the betterment of the world and 
to the uplifting of mankind. 

Mr. Keller married first, March 8, 1860, Elizabeth Bradley, daugh- 
ter of Frank Bradley, a prominent farmer of Jackson county, and of 
their union six children were born, as follows : ~W. H., a school teacher 
in Idaho; P. Ferdinand, of Ava, Illinois; Kent E., ofl St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, a graduate of the Southern Illinois Normal and who read law in 
St. Louis and was admitted to the bar in Illinois; Harry Bradley, en- 
gaged in farming at Ava; Mrs. Effie Afton, of Idaho; and Elizabeth, 
who died in infancy. The mother of these children passed to the life 
beyond in 1874. Two years later Mr. Keller married Mrs. Martha Ham- 
ilton, and to them two children were born, namely : Mrs. Ida L. Finne- 
gan, living in Old Mexico ; and George A., deceased. Mrs. Martha Keller 
died about ten years after her marriage with Mr. Keller. He subse- 
quently married for his third wife Mrs. Charity Crews, who died in 
1891, leaving one child, Louise Keller. 



966 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

JAMES M. JONES has been actively identified with affairs in Coulter- 
ville for over half a century. He has been a positive factor in its busi- 
ness life and has contributed of his capital and his energy toward the 
substantial development of the community. It was his initiative that 
developed the first real industry of the place during and upon the heels 
of the Civil war. It was his yearning for achievement that prompted 
his burrowing down into the vitals of the earth in search of coal, and 
which resulted in uncovering a mineral deposit which gives Coulterville 
its real life throb today, and in a myriad of other minor ways he has 
become a powerful influence in the life of his locality. 

Mr. Jones was born in Jackson county, Illinois, on the 16th of Feb- 
ruary, 1839. While he was still a babe in arms his parents moved to 
old Eden, Randolph county, and there in the healthy atmosphere of 
country life he spent his youth. His father, Andrew Jones, was born 
in Randolph county, Illinois, in 1815, the son of an Andrew Jones, who 
had migrated to this part of the country during the early years of 1800. 

Andrew Jones, Sr., was a native of South Carolina, the date of his 
birth being near the close of the Revolution. He evidently had some 
education, for he served as justice of the peace, and his appointment 
by the Government as one of the commissioners to select a location in 
the west for the Cherokee reservation indicates clearly that he was a 
man of standing in the community and that he had an unusual knowl- 
edge of the country both geographically and economically. On first 
coming to Illinois the savagery of the Indians forced him to make his 
home in the old "block house" near Steeleville. While living here he 
held the relations of a trader with the tribes, learning their language, 
fighting them with both strategy and fire arms, able to don the dress 
and play the part of the red man when occasion demanded. His long 
and active life, came to a close during the Civil war. 

Among the children of this brave old fighter was his son Andrew. 
Like his father, the son was a tiller of the soil, and he also resembled 
him in his knowledge of the habits of the Indians. His wife was Martha 
Marshall, whose father, William Marshall, had braved the unknown 
dangers of the broad Ohio and had brought his family down the river 
in a box boat to Shawneetown, not knowing at what moment the uncer- 
tain craft might be caught in a fatal current or sunk on a hidden snag. 
On making a safe landing at last the father brought his family across 
the country to the old Eden locality. The mother of these brave pio- 
neers was Martha Marshall. 

His intimate knowledge of Indian lore made Andrew Jones a valu- 
able soldier during the campaign of the Black Hawk war. The campaign 
of 1832 proved to be fatal to him, for he died in 1842 from the effects 
of an arrow wound received during that year. His children numbered 
three. The eldest, Paul Jones, was captain of Company A, of the Eight- 
eenth Illinois Infantry, during the Civil war. He had been a blacksmith 
during the years previous to the war, and after its close he returned 
to his forge in Tilden, where he later died, leaving two sons. The sec- 
ond son went to Texas in the early part of 1861, and is there believed 
to have lost his life in conflict with the Southern forces. The youngest 
was James M. After the death of Andrew Jones his widow married 
George Brown, who was a native of South Carolina and had fought 
through the Revolution. His death occurred several years before the 
Civil war, and his widow continued to live in Coulterville until her 
death, in 1895. 

Because of the unsettled condition of public affairs and for domestic 
reasons James M. Jones' education was very limited. He was early in 
life selected for a blacksmith and was bound to one Joseph Bates. He 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 967 

subsequently had a disagreement with his master and left him, later 
going to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he had a thorough training in 
his trade while working in an edge tool factory. No sooner did he find 
himself equipped for the struggle with life than the outbreak of the 
Civil war called him back to Illinois to enlist in the ranks of the Blue. 
With others he was soon ordered discharged, but was later drafted into 
a regiment that was sent into Missouri in pursuit of General Price's 
army, which was then making one of its famous raids into that state. 
After some months his service ended and he returned to his trade at 
Coulterville. 

The trade of a blacksmith was a very profitable one during the years 
following, for the demand for war materials and later for the tools with 
which to again start the pursuits of peace made his shop pay from the 
start, and he was soon employing a force of assistants. He foretold the 
demand for plows and erected a small factory for their manufacture. 
He foresaw the demand for wagons and began their manufacture. He 
brought the first lathe for turning iron to Coulterville, and, endeavoring 
to meet the demands made upon him, equipped his factory, located upon 
the corner of his block, with the most modern tools of his craft. Until 
1870 he did a thriving business, but at this time he was forced into 
competition with the capitalized interests and with the installation of 
costly machinery, and these factors necessitated the closing of his shop. 

In 1872 Mr. Jones turned his attention to the mineral field. He and 
Hugh Kennedy, his father-in-law and a prosperous farmer, sank a shaft 
just east of Coulterville and found coal at the depth of about three hun- 
dred feet. With his partner, Hugh Kennedy, he worked the mine and 
became an operator of note in this district. After the death of Hugh 
Kennedy, J. Qi Nesbit bought his interest ; when the Consolidated Coal 
Company, of St. Louis, made overtures for purchasing the plant they 
sold out to them, and Mr. Jones then bought a farm of two hundred 
acres west of Coulterville, where he sank a shaft. Since that time he 
has been a mine owner and operator. He is also interested in agricul- 
ture, owning several farms adjacent to his town, but he is a farmer 
only by proxy. 

As has been pointed out, James M. Jones has led a busy and strenu- 
ous life. His success as a financier has commended him to the public 
as a safe and sane executor of public affairs, yet he has refrained from 
mixing in official matters, save for his service as justice of the peace. 
He has been three times elected to that minor office but has permitted 
his colleague to perform the bulk of the work coming before a magistrate. 

He was married west of Coulterville, Illinois, on the 8th of August, 
1861, to Miss Margaret J. Kennedy, a daughter of Hugh Kennedy. 
Their only son is Lewis Jones, manager of the Jones mining property. 
He married Miss Lizzie Dickey on January 22, 1896. 

In his spiritual beliefs Mr. James M. Jones is not orthodox. His 
fathers were of the strict Covenanter faith ; but he found it impossible 
to conform to the tenets of their creed and his practices and professions 
have deviated from the "straight and narrow way." In politics he is 
a Republican. He believes. in the survival of the fittest, as applied to 
men in the industries and the trades, and is jealous of no man because 
of his honorable business achievements. Whatever a man produces by 
his own skill or by his own capital is yielded to him for his own enjoy- 
ment and no human legislation should attempt to deprive him of its use. 
There is no temporizing with socialism, a mild form of anarchy with 
James M. Jones, and his doctrines are calculated to restore confidence 
among men, stifle the spirit of unrest in the ranks of labor and place 
the whole business fabric of the country upon a sound and healthy basis. 



968 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Mr. and Mrs. James M. Jones celebrated their golden wedding anni- 
versary August 8, 1911. They have lived in Coulterville over fifty years, 
and have the distinction of being the only couple who have lived con- 
tinuously in the city for over half a century. They are highly esteemed 
by their acquaintances. 

WILLIAM R. KAESTETER. Among the prominent and influential offi- 
cials who are most successfully conducting the business affairs of Ran- 
dolph county, Illinois, William R. Karsteter holds prestige as one whose 
loyalty and public spirit have ever been of the most insistent order. As 
a Democrat he was nominated and elected county clerk of Randolph 
county in the fall of 1910, being sworn into office in December of that 
year. 

William R. Karsteter was born in the Diamond Cross neighborhood 
of Randolph county, Illinois, on the llth of August, 1854. His father, 
Samuel Karsteter, was a young man of twenty-five years of age when he 
came into Illinois, where he resided from 1848 until 1875. In the latter 
year he removed to Whitesboro, Texas, where his death occurred in 
1897, at the age of seventy-five years. John Karsteter, father of Sam- 
uel, was a native of Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Illinois with 
his family in 1848. Samuel grew to maturity in his Pennsylvania home, 
and after his arrival in Illinois he turned his attention to agricultural 
pursuits, later becoming a merchant at Diamond Cross. He was twice 
married, his first wife having been Miss Martha Stipe, a native of Ohio. 
Mrs. Karsteter died in 1864, and concerning her children the following 
brief data are here incorporated, William R. is the immediate subject 
of this review; Mary, who is the widow of George Reisher, resides at 
Hillsboro, Oregon; John died at Portland, Oregon, and is survived by 
one son ; Adelaide was the wife of Thomas King at the time of her death ; 
Nettie is the wife of Joseph Wilkins and lives at Norman Oklahoma; 
and Belle, who married Will Thompson, lives at Stillwater, Oklahoma. 
For his second wife Samuel Karsteter married Julia Labrier, who bore 
him eleven children, eight of whom are living at the present time, in 
1911. 

On the old homestead farm in Randolph county William R. Karsteter 
was reared to maturity and he is indebted to the district schools for his 
early educational training. As a young man he was engaged for a time 
as a teacher, eventually abandoning. the school room in order to devote 
his entire time and attention to farming. About 1892 he came to Ches- 
ter, where he was engaged in the real-estate and insurance business for 
a number of years. In 1897 he was induced to become office manager 
of the Menard Manufacturing Company, at Menard, Illinois. He re- 
mained with the latter concern until 1903, when he established his home 
at Quincy, Illinois, there engaging in the insurance business and serving 
as deputy clerk of Adams county for three years. In 1907 he returned 
to his boyhood community at Diamond Cross and spent the ensuing three 
years on the farm. In 1910 the political situation throughout Randolph 
county foreboded evil for the Republican party. Democrats everywhere 
forecasted Republican defeat at the polls and put their ticket in the 
field, expecting success. Mr. Karsteter became the party's nominee for 
the office of county clerk and was elected by a majoirty of three hundred 
and sixty-nine votes in a county normally Republican. He was sworn 
into office in December, 1910, as the successor of Charles H. Thies, and 
his administration of the county's affairs thus far has proved that he 
is admirably suited for the office. 

On the 20th of October, 1875, Mr. Karsteter was united in marriage 
to Miss Amanda H. Harmon, a daughter of James Harmon and a de- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 969 

scendant of an old pioneer family in Randolph county. Michael Har- 
mon, grandfather of Mrs. Karsteter, came to Illinois from Tennessee in 
1811 and established his home in the locality named after himself, "Har- 
mon Settlement. ' ' He died in the following autumn, leaving seven sons 
to maintain the ground he had claimed. Among these sons were Joseph, 
Abraham, George, John and James. James Harmon married a grand- 
daughter of Jane Lively, concerning whom a bit of tragic history is 
here related. 

John Lively, the father of Jane, was a resident of Washington county, 
Illinois, about the year 1812. One afternoon, when all but two members 
of his family were gathered in the cabin, Indians attacked and brutally 
murdered the inmates of the place, burning the cabin down over their 
dead bodies. Those to escape the slaughter were William, who was 
searching for the horses, and Jane, who chanced to be visiting some little 
friends in the neighborhood. Jane grew up and married William Caudle, 
and through her posterity became the great-grandmother of Amanda 
H. Harmon, wife of the subject of this review. 

Mr. and Mrs. Karsteter are the parents of the following children, 
John married Clara Weinrich and resides at St. Louis, Missouri ; Mat- 
tie died single, at the age of twenty-three years; Samuel J. is chief 
accountant of the Iron Mountain Railway Company at Chester ; Albert 
is a civil engineer at Elizabethtown, Ohio; Clarence passed away at 
Quincy, Illinois, at the age of nineteen years ; William R., Jr., is in the 
employ of Buxton & Skinner, at St. Louis ; and Miss Emma resides at 
home with her parents. 

As previously indicated, Mr. Karsteter is a stanch Democrat in his 
political convictions and in religious matters he and his wife are devout 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Chester. In a fraternal 
way he is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, which order he has 
represented in the Grand Lodge. He is also a valued and appreciative 
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Karsteter is a 
citizen whose word is as good as his bond and whose sterling integrity 
of character commands for him the unalloyed confidence and esteem of 
his fellow men. 

CAPTAIN EDWARD J. COWLING. Familiar from his youth up with 
every phase of the domestic commerce of Southern Illinois, Captain Ed- 
ward J. Cowling, of Metropolis, is a dominant factor in promoting the 
Ohio river trade between that city and Paducah, having succeeded to 
the ownership of the Cowling Packet Line, which was established by 
his father, the late Captain George H. Cowling, in ante-bellum days. 
A native of Metropolis, he was born December 23, 1871, of Pennsylvania 
stock. 

Captain George H. Cowling, born July 21, 1841, in Pittsburgh, Penn- 
sylvania, received but meagre educational advantages, much of his very 
early life having been spent on the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. 
Leaving home in the days of his youth, he found employment with the 
Paducah and Cairo Packet Company, and after working several years 
as a wage-earner he had saved enough money to warrent him in engag- 
ing in business on his own account. Establishing the packet line now 
owned by his son Edward, he named his first river boat ' ' Metropolis, ' ' 
and gave to his second boat the name of the ' ' City of Metropolis. ' ' De- 
voting his attention entirely to his personal interests, he gave his time 
to the building up of the large commercial business which now stands 
as a monument to his energy, enterprise and good judgment. 

Captain George H. Cowling married, in Paducah, Kentucky, Mrs. 
Rebecca White. The children born of their union are: Sophia, who 



970 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

married Walter S. Conner and died in 1893, leaving no children; and 
Edward J., the special subject of this brief sketch. Captain G. H. Cow- 
ling, who settled in Metropolis in 1859, died in this city in 1894, while 
his wife survived him four years, passing away in 1898. 

Completing the course of study in the Metropolis high school in 1887, 
Edward J. Cowling continued his studies at the Hayward Commercial 
College, obtaining a practical knowledge of business management. Go- 
ing then to St. Louis, he was for fourteen months with the firm of Rice, 
Stix & Company, being employed in the office of the buyer for the gentle- 
men 's furnishing department of that store. In September, 1891, when 
twenty years of age, he became a clerk on the "City of Metropolis," 
his father's boat, continuing in that position until 1898, when he was 
made pilot. In 1904 he received his master's license. Captain Cowling 
inherited the substantial craft "City of Metropolis 1 ' from his father; 
in 1896 built the "George H. Cowling" ; and in 1904 he built the "George 
Cowling," his present river boat, with which he is devoting himself to 
the river trade. The Captain is vice president of the First National 
Bank of Metropolis, one of the strong financial institutions of Massac 
county. 

He is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Democrat party, but 
has no political aspirations. Fraternally Captain Cowling is an active 
member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, belonging 
to Metropolis lodge, F. & A. M. ; to Metropolis chapter, Royal Arch 
Masons; to Gethsemane Commandery, Knights Templars, of Metropolis, 
of which he is past eminent commander; and in addition to the above 
he is district deputy grand master for the Fiftieth Illinois Masonic dis- 
trict, composed of Hardin, Pope, Massac and Pulaski counties. He also 
belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star; and is a prominent member 
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to the Subordinate 
Lodge and to the Encampment. Religiously he is a member of the Con- 
gregational church. 

Captain Cowling married, in Pinckneyville, Illinois, in June, 1895, 
May Slimpert, and they have one child, Edina Cowling. 

JOHN C. SIMPSON. A native of South Carolina, born and reared 
in Chester county of that state, John C. Simpson is the scion of an old 
and honored family of the southland, which was founded many gen- 
erations ago in Scotland. He has spent the greater portion of his 
life in Southern Illinois, a resident of Sparta for the most part, and 
in the practice of the dental profession has become widely and favor- 
ably known of all men. He is now retired from professional labors, 
but is still an active member of Sparta's most representative business 
set, and many and important are the public positions which he has 
filled and is still filling. 

John C. Simpson, born December 3, 1845, in Chester county, South 
Carolina, is the son of Hugh Simpson, also a native of Chester county, 
born there on January 24, 1815. His mother was Janet (Lyle) Simp- 
eon, a native of Ireland, and born on that island January 20, 1820. 
Both parents were of the Covenanter faith, and were of Scotch-Irish 
descent. The maternal grandfather of John C. Simpson came to 
South Carolina from Ireland, accompanied by his family, in the old 
Colonial days, and for his services in the young colonies, then under 
British rule, he was granted a tract of land in South Carolina aggre- 
gating eight hundred acres, the title deeds being signed by King 
George III. The descendants of the Lyle family still live on the old 
plantation. No cloud against this title has ever been established or 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 971 

recorded, excepting deeds to the immediate family in the settlement 
of the estate. 

The education of Mr. Simpson was most complete and comprehen- 
sive. As a boy he was trained in private schools, and while in his 
teens he was a student in a military academy at Columbia, South Caro- 
lina. His professional studies were pursued in a Baltimore dental 
college, after his graduation from which he settled in Sparta and 
practiced his profession in that city until the time of his retirement. 
Ilis practice in that city is now carried on by his nephew, Dr. William 
Simpson Wallace, who was so fortunate as to receive some practical 
training and instructions in his uncle's office before he was actually 
launched in his profession. Dr. Simpson has ever been an earnest and 
conscientious citizen. His interest in matters appertaining to the wel- 
fare of the community wherein he made his home for so many years 
is almost paternal in its intensity. He has served his city in many im- 
portant offices, always with credit and honor to himself and the com- 
munity. He was mayor of Sparta during two terms; he has six times 
been elected to the board of aldermen of his city, aggregating twelve 
years of continuous service in that capacity; he has been a member 
of the board of education for three terms, being treasurer of the 
board at the same time. Aside from his civic duties he has always 
been prominent in business organizations, and he is now and has been 
for some time president of the Sparta State Bank, as well as a mem- 
ber of its directorate. He is also president of the Sparta Building 
& Loan Association, and has in various ways been a factor in the up- 
building of the city in a material way, as well as with reference to its 
civic betterment. 

On November 19, 1868, Dr. Simpson married Mary A. Gray, of 
Sparta. She was a daughter of John Gray and was born in Canada, 
where her father, a man of Scottish birth, had settled in early life. 
The mother of Mrs. Simpson was a native of Ireland. No children 
have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Simpson. 

Dr. Simpson is prominent in local Masonry, being a member of 
Hope Lodge, No. 162, A. F. & A. M., Staley Chapter, No. 103, R. A. 
M., and a member of Peoria Consistory, Scottish Rite Masonry, at 
Peoria, Illinois. He was master of Hope Lodge, No. 162, for two 
terms and secretary of the same for a number of years. Politically 
Dr. Simpson is an independent Democrat and votes accordingly. He 
is a member of the First Presbyterian church of Sparta. 

WILLIAM SIMPSON WALLACE. The city of Sparta, Illinois, has inti- 
mately known Dr. William Simpson Wallace for the past twenty years. 
Coming to Sparta as a young dental student, assisting in the office of 
Dr. Simpson, he succeeded his relative in the profession when he had 
fulfilled his college obligations and was ready to settle down to the 
steady routine of professional life. Since that time he has been a prom- 
inent and well known figure in Sparta. A quiet man and unambitious 
for public aggrandizement, yet his influence is felt in many quarters, and 
he is regarded in the community where he has lived for so many years 
as one of its dependable and most estimable citizens. 

William Simpson Wallace was born in Pinckneyville, Illinois, Janu- 
ary 6, 1871. His parents were South Carolina people, coming to Illi- 
nois in 1868 from Chester district, where William Wallace, the father, 
was born. William Wallace took part in the War of the Rebellion, bear- 
ing arms in the Confederacy, as became his southern blood and training 
After the war, when he removed with his family to Illinois, he engaged 
in farming in Pinckneyville, and he died there in December, 1870. His 



972 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

wife was Miss Sarah Simpson, a daughter of Hugh Simpson, to whom 
is due the credit of the movement of the Simpson and Wallace families 
out of the South. Hugh Simpson died in December, the same month of 
the death of his son-in-law. More extended mention is made of him in 
the biographical sketch of Dr. Simpson, to be found elsewhere in this 
work. The issue of the union of "William and Sarah (Simpson) Wallace 
were : Janette, who died unmarried in 1892 ; Thomas, who is engaged 
in the drug business in Pinckneyville, and Dr. William S., of Sparta. 
The mother died May 21, 1909. 

Dr. Wallace as a boy was given the advantages of the public schools, 
and he later attended the Pinckneyville high school, in which he was 
well equipped in the common branches of study. Thus prepared, he 
sought work as a teacher, and he taught successfully in the country and 
in the grades of the Pinckneyville schools during the four years follow- 
ing his graduation from the Pinckneyville high school. He had in the 
meantime decided upon dentistry as a profession for himself, and he 
took his elementary lessons and work in the office and under the tutelage 
of his uncle, Dr. Simpson, in Sparta. In 1893 he began a regular course 
of study in Washington University at St. Louis, completing the course 
in 1896, at which time he established himself in the office so long presided 
over by his estimable relative.- 

In his capacity as a citizen Dr. Wallace is without any ambition for 
political or social honors. He is well content to be a plain, every-day 
man about town, the respect of his fellow townspeople being sufficient 
glory for him. In his political opinions he is affiliated with the Demo- 
cratic party, and is sympathetic and active in its behalf. He is presi- 
dent of the Sparta Fair Association and vice president of the Sparta 
State Bank, of which he is one of the charter stock holders. Dr. Wal- 
lace holds membership in the St. Clair County Dental Society, in the 
Southern Illinois Dental Society, and in the Illinois State Society. 

In September, 1899, Dr. Wallace married in St. Louis Miss Ida 
Baird, of Pinckneyville, a daughter of Alexander Baird, one of the 
prominent business men of that place, but who passed away in recent 
years. He was a citizen of Chester, Illinois, in an early day, living 
there directly following his advent in Illinois from South Carolina, where 
he was born. His wife was a daughter of the Henderson family, natives 
of Pennsylvania and pioneers of Randolph county. Their daughter, 
Mrs. Wallace, was educated in the public schools and in the Southern 
Illinois Normal School at Carbondale, and also pursued a course in elo- 
cution in the Chicago University. 

NICHOLAS B. PAUTLER. The physician who would succeed in his pro- 
fession must possess many qualities of head and heart not included in 
the curriculum 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 to be 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 remunerative patronage. N. B. Pautler 
is county physician of Monroe county and has resided in Waterloo since 
1903. 

He was born in Evansville, Randolph county, Illinois, June 19, 1872, 
the son of Joseph Pautler, a native of Canton, Alsace, the subject being 
thus of German extraction. The father came to this country as a young 



:;:t LIBRARY 

OF THE 
8IWE8SITY OF ILLIK3R 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 973 

man on a prospecting tour for his father, his arrival on American shores 
being in 1846. He was so pleased with the new conditions that he never 
went back to remain permanently, marrying here and establishing a 
home. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Bayer. The elder gentle- 
man passed on to the undiscovered country, "Prom whose bourne no 
traveler returns," in 1877. 

Dr. Pautler spent his early life on his father's farm and through 
actual experience became familiar with the many secrets of seed-time 
and harvest. He received his preliminary education in the public 
schools and early became ambitious to adopt as his own the medical 
profession, for which he was naturally gifted. To obtain the necessary 
training he entered the Missouri Medical College and in 1893 took the 
degree of M. D. He first hung out his shingle in Evansville, where he 
remained for a decade and proved his ability in unmistakable fashion. 
At the end of that period he removed to Waterloo, where he has ever 
since remained, engaged actively in practice. He has received eloquent? 
proof of his standing in the community by his election to the office of 
county physician, to whose duties he has given faithful and efficient 
service. It is his constant aim and ambition to advance with the science 
to which he has devoted himself and to this end he has taken two post- 
graduate courses, one in the Chicago Clinical School and one in the Chi- 
cago Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat College. He has other interests of 
importance aside from his profession, among these being his stock in 
the bank at Valmeyer. 

Dr. Pautler was first married in 1893, Elizabeth Thummel, daughter 
of Stephen Thummel, of Evansville, becoming his wife. The death of 
this lady in 1903 left motherless four children, namely : Stephen, Syl- 
vester, Raymond and Ermin. The subject was again married in 1905, 
to Mrs. Mamie Payne, nee Crowe, daughter of Matt and Bridget Crowe. 
To this union has been born one child, a son named Roy Nicholas. By 
her first marriage Mrs. Pautler has two children, namely: Jefferson 
and Orion Payne, who make their home in the Pautler household. 

Dr. Pautler is allied with the medical organizations having for their 
object the unification of the profession, such as the Monroe County 
Medical Association, the Illinois State Medical Association, the American 
Medical Association and the South Illinois Medical Association. He is 
a member of the Catholic church and has fraternal connection with the 
Knights of Columbus and the Western Catholic Union. 

R. D. KIRKPATRICK. A man whose personality is indelibly stamped 
upon the history not only of Franklin county and southern Illinois, but 
that of the whole state is Mr. R. D.- Kirkpatrick, one of Benton's most 
distinguished and public spirited citizens. He wields a commensurate 
influence not only as an individual whose commercial interests are ex- 
tensive and of an important character, but is also recognized as a man 
of strength and high ability in political and economic bodies, his long 
membership in the Illinois state legislative assembly and on important 
committees of that body giving him an unusual degree of prestige and 
power. 

Franklin county is proud to claim Mr. Kirkpatrick as one of its na- 
tive sons, his birth having occurred near West Benton on March 30, 
1842. His parents were John F. and Hester Ann (Dial) Kirkpatrick, 
both of whom were natives of Tennessee and had the same birth year, 
1819. They came with their parents to Franklin county, Illinois, when 
they were children, were later married here and continued to live upon 
the farm throughout the remainder of their lives. The father's demise 
occurred in 1868, while the mother lived to a good old age, the date of 



974 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

her death being December 31, 1899. The paternal grandparents of R. 
D. Kirkpatrick were Edward V. and Clarissa (Farris) Kirkpatrick, of 
southern birth, who were early pioneers of Franklin county. Edward V. 
was a participant in the Black Hawk war. Our subject's maternal 
grandfather, Dial, was a Tennesseean who became a Franklin county 
pioneer settler. 

The common schools of Franklin county furnished the opportunity 
for R. D. Kirkpatrick to secure sufficient learning to enable him to 
pass the necessary examination for a teacher's certificate, and during 
the two years previous to the breaking out of the Civil war he followed 
the pedagogical profession. When the call was made for volunteers he 
patriotically responded to his country's need and enlisted in Company 
F, Sixty-third Illinois Infantry, and served as a non-commissioned of- 
ficer for three years during the conflict. He took part in numerous im- 
portant engagements, including those at Vicksburg and Missionary 
Ridge, and the battle at Bentonville, N. C., and was also a member of 
that army of Union men who made the famous March to the Sea led by 
General Sherman. His muster out of the service took place at Golds- 
boro, North Carolina, and a feature of his journey home was the fact 
that his passage through Washington, D. C., was the very night of the 
assassination of the martyred Lincoln. 

Upon reaching home Mr. Kirkpatrick entered high school at Benton, 
for a time wishing to add to his education, but soon discontinued his 
studies in order to engage in business, his uncle, LeRoy Kirkpatrick, 
having invited him to become a partner with him in the conduct of a 
store at DuQuoin, Perry county. This partnership continued for a 
number of years, when Mr. Kirkpatrick and his two brothers purchased 
the uncle 's interest in the business, the new firm pursuing the enterprie 
for two years. Later our subject entered the mercantile business at 
Benton, remaining there for a time, and subsequently he conducted a 
store at West Frankfort. This last venture, however, closed his career 
as a merchant, and from that time on he devoted his energies to other 
lines of endeavor. Having decided to engage in new work he likewise 
thought it best to make a change in location and he accordingly moved 
to Kansas, negotiating the purchase of a newspaper at Osage Mission. 
This paper he continued to edit and conduct for a number of years, 
achieving conspicuous success in this; as in all other commercial ef- 
forts he had made. Disposing of the Kansas paper Mr. Kirkpatrick re- 
moved to St. Louis and there became a manufacturer of linseed and cas- 
tor oil. This city furnished the field for profitable operations in that 
line for some years, but journalism again called him and returning to 
his native community he bought the Benton Republican and was its 
editor and proprietor for several years. In the meantime Mr. Kirk- 
patrick accumulated considerable property, and among his holdings is 
a valuable farm in Franklin county. His property demanding much 
attention, he sold the Republican and turned his attention to stock trad- 
ing and agricultural 'pursuits. Among his extensive land holdings also 
are vast coal rights and he, together with John T. Chenault and Robert 
R. Ward, are the promoters of the Benton, Franklin County, Coal Com- 
pany which it is expected ultimately will actively develop the coal mines 
owned by these gentlemen. 

Mr. Kirkpatrick 's political activities have been and are of an im- 
portant character. He is an enthusiastic worker in Republican party 
ranks and was elected to the Illinois State Legislature as a member of 
the house body in 1904, an office he has held four terms in succession 
and still occupies. In point of length of service he is one of the oldest 
members of the Legislature and this fact, combined with his pronounced 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 975 

ability and comprehensive information, have gained for him member- 
ship on many of the most important committees of the legislative body. 
Among these committees may be mentioned the senatorial apportion- 
ment, of which he is chairman; appropriation, claims, corporations, 
good roads, mines and mining, railroads, roads and bridges, soldiers and 
sailors home, and temperance. 

The marriage of Mr. Kirkpatrick occurred on August 6, 1865, on 
which date Miss Martha E. Penny became his wife. She was the daugh- 
ter of James Penny, a native of Tennessee who came to Illinois in the 
early days, in which latter state Mrs. Kirkpatrick was born. Of this 
union there are five living children: Guy C., an express messenger in 
a western state ; Terzie, the wife of Robert R. Ward, the well known 
banker of Benton; Beulah, wife of Carl D. Pope; Robert J., a graduate 
of the state university at Champaign, who is now a trusted employe of 
a large machine shop at Claremont, New Hampshire; and Olin P., at 
present a student of the Agricultural College at Columbia,' Missouri, 
Mrs. Kirkpatrick, who is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, 
is a woman of gracious and womanly character and is held in high es- 
teem by a host of friends. Mr. Kirkpatrick is a member of the Elks 
lodge and also of the Masonic order, serving in the latter as. master for 
about fourteen years. His ability as a leader and his many fine per- 
sonal traits, as well as his success in commercial fields and integrity in 
official life, entitle him to the highest respect of the entire community 
and state, throughout which he has a legion of friends. 

FINIS ELIHU BONE. The stock-raising industry of Jackson county has 
only been developed within a few short years, but during that time its 
progress has been remarkable. It is true that for a .number of decades 
farmers have, in a desultory manner, raised stock of an indifferent breed, 
but the genuine, thoroughbred, prize-winning animals which are now 
being raised in this section, and for which fancy prices are paid in the 
leading markets, made their advent here only comparatively a short time 
ago. The man to whom the credit for the present desirable condition 
of the stock-raising business may be given is Finis Elihu Bone, of Ava, 
who has stimulated interest in this line to such an extent that several 
stock shows have been largely attended here and have been voted unqual- 
ified successes. Finis Elihu Bone was born in Menard county, Illinois, 
December 12, 1855, and is a son of Robert Smith and Nancy (McCoy) 
Bone, and grandson of Elihu Bone, at one time a member of the Illinois 
state legislature. 

Robert Smith Bone was born in Tennessee, and as a young man left 
home to seek his fortune in Menard county. Engaging in farming and 
stock-raising, he became one of the successful men of his day, was known 
as a judge of cattle, and for years was engaged in raising fancy cattle 
for the market. He was just as well known as a leader in the work of 
the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and could always be counted to 
do his full share, both with his influence and means, in forwarding 
movements which had for their object the advancement of religion in 
his community. Mr. Bone married Miss Nancy McCoy, and they had a 
family of five sons and three daughters, Finis Elihu being the third 
son. The second son was David McCoy Bone, famous in his college days 
as stroke of the Yale 'varsity crew, and now a well known Kansas 
banker. Both Robert S. and Nancy Bone are deceased. 

Finis Elihu Bone spent his early life in Menard county, assisting 
his father in the work on the home farm and attending the public schools. 
His father was a great believer in the value of education, giving his 
children the best of advantages along this line, and Finis E. was sent 



976 HISTOKY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

to Lincoln University, Lincoln, Illinois, preparing himself for Yale. 
His health gave away, however, and instead of attending the famous 
university he returned to the home farm and continued to engage in 
agricultural pursuits. Becoming interested in the breeding of thorough- 
bred stock, Mr. Bone turned his attention to it, and after considerable 
study began to experiment. His success soon convinced him that the 
standard of cattle in this section could be raised considerably and soon 
began to demonstrate his views. In 1903 he came to Jackson county, to 
endeavor to interest the agriculturists of this section. The work was 
slow at first, and the farmers hard to convince, but when they had once 
seen the result of his work they became enthusiastic, and he soon had 
a following of no inconsiderable size. Several years ago he concluded 
it would stimulate interest in the business to promote a stock show, 
and largely on account of local capitalists being afraid to furnish the 
backing necessary to finance such a proposition, he went into the enter- 
prise almost alone, and the success he achieved fully justified his fore- 
sight. During 1911 the Ava Live Stock Show had become such an insti- 
tution that it created a great interest in the surrounding country, and 
in this, of course, Mr. Bone was very influential. He has himself been 
an exhibitor at the expositions, and has also won prizes for his Chester 
White hogs at the national stock shows, and is at present holder of 
the first prize for dressed hogs, which he won from several international 
shows. As a pioneer in this kind of work, Mr. Bone deserves the great- 
est credit, and his enterprise and progressive spirit have been the means 
through which a new and extensive industry has been opened up in this 
section. Thoroughly conversant with every detail of the business, he 
is being continually consulted as to the best methods to apply, and 
through his excellent advice has assisted others in becoming successful. 

Mr. Bone is a member of the Presbyterian church, in which he has 
been a faithful worker for a number of years, and at present has the 
largest Sunday-school class in Ava. His politics are those of the Re- 
publican party, but his private interests have demanded all of his time 
and attention and he has never entered the political field. 

i 

GEORGE WARD SMITH. One of the leading representatives of the 
Fourth Estate in Southern Illinois is George Ward Smith, editor of the 
Columbia Star, a progressive journal, enjoying high prestige far beyond 
the boundaries of Monroe county. The Star has done much toward 
moulding public opinion in the right direction, and its forceful and 
pleasing logic has ever been exerted toward the fuller acquisition of the 
general welfare. Mr. Smith is a native son of Waterloo and is exceed- 
ingly loyal to its institutions. Here his birth occurred on February 10, 
1858, his father being George Schmitt, a native of Bavaria, Germany. 
The elder gentleman was born in Bechtheim, in the aforesaid kingdom, 
on March 3, 1828, and when a young man he came to America, locating 
first in New York; going thence to Milwaukee, where he engaged in 
shoemaking; thence to St. Louis; and finally taking up his permanent 
residence in Waterloo. He survives in honored old age and still en- 
gages in his trade of shoemaking. George Schmitt was married to 
Caroline Schweig in 1852, shortly after his arrival in Waterloo, and to 
their union were born ten children, of whom the immediate subject of 
this review is the third in order of nativity. An enumeration of the 
sons and daughters is as follows : Philip, engaged in the shoe business 
in St. Louis; Mrs. Jane Schwartz, residing in St. Louis; George W. ; 
Frank, a grocer of St. Louis ; Mrs. Louisa Musbacher, of St. Louis ; Wil- 
liam and Mrs. Mary Bircher, also living in that city ; Henry and Adam, 
deceased; and Christina, of Waterloo. The subject's father has engaged 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 977 

in the shoe business in Waterloo for fifty-two years and continuously at 
the same stand. He is widely known as a man of honest business meth- 
ods and of honorable and public-spirited citizenship. His helpful and 
devoted life companion also survives, their married life having covered 
a period of more than half a century. He is a Democrat of stanch con- 
viction, and for many years served on the school board and as alderman. 
He is a member of the Evangelical church. 

Waterloo is particularly dear to George Ward Smith with all the 
memories and associations of childhood and youth. In the public schools 
of the place he received his education and he was active in all that 
interested the incipient voters of his day and generation. Believing 
with the Bard of Avon that "home-keeping youth have ever homely 
wits, ' ' he started out for Chicago at one time and resided for a period in 
that metropolis. There he attended the night schools and also became 
an assistant in the printing offices, an experience which has sometimes 
been declared to be in itself equal to a liberal education. He began 
his career as a printer in the home town, working as a boy on the old 
Advocate. He then traveled through the south and east as a journeyman 
printer, and worked in most of the principal cities of the United States. 
For sixteen years he was a member of the force of the Chicago Record- 
Herald. At the end of that time he went to West Point, Iowa, where 
he worked on the West Point Bee as editor and publisher for twelve 
years, his editorial work dating from his connection with that sheet. 
In 1906 he came back to Monroe county, locating in Columbia and 
establishing the Columbia Star, which he has since conducted and which 
under his able and enlightened direction has become the county 's lead- 
ing paper. In its political policy the Star is independent and it has 
worked valiantly for the accomplishment of many excellent things, 
among these having been instrumental in establishing a high school at 
Columbia and in the building of three miles of cement sidewalk. Colum- 
bia 's thriving condition at the present time, it is not to be gainsaid, is 
in no small measure due to the wise campaigns of the Star. Also it has 
persistently and continually advocated an electric railroad. 

Mr. Smith was happily married in 1887 to Miss Kate Carroll, of 
Milwaukee, daughter of John Carroll, and the two daughters of their 
household are Ernestine and Consuelo. 

In national politics Mr. Smith is Democratic, although in local mat- 
ters he has independent leanings. His church is the Evangelical and 
he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He is president 
of the Columbia Fire Department and also belongs to the Turnverein, 
to which his German paternal ancestry makes him eligible. He is one 
of the charter members of the Southern Illinois Editorial Association 
and is interested in all that pertains to the good of newspaperdom. 
He is especially to be congratulated on the success of the Star, which has 
succeeded when several other local papers have failed. 

CLAIN GRAIN. A man of varied and extensive interests, successful 
alike in business and public life, Clain Grain, of Fordyce, Illinois, is 
one of the leading capitalists of Jackson county, and a man whose influ- 
ence has been felt in all movements tending to advance his section. He 
belongs to one of the old and honored families of Southern Illinois, and 
was born in Ora township, Jackson county, Illinois, February 17, 1870, 
a son of George and Catherine (Arnold) Grain. 

Friend Grain, the grandfather of Clain, was born in Georgia, and 
when a lad of twelve or fourteen years came to Southern Illinois with 
his parents, Joel Grain and his wife, who were one of the earliest couples 
to locate in Perry county. Here Joel Grain reared a family, overcame 



978 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

the hardships and privations usual to pioneer life, and became a success- 
ful agriculturist, following that occupation throughout his career. 
Friend Grain grew to manhood in this locality, and was here married 
to Miss Elizabeth House, by whom he had five sons, of whom George 
was the second. Elizabeth House was born in 1816, in North Carolina, 
and came to Illinois in 1828 with her parents, John and Sarah House, 
the family locating on the east side of Four Mile Prairie, becoming the 
first settlers of that section, which was just inside of Perry county. 
There the family of five sons and two daughters was reared, of whom 
Elizabeth was the third child, and she was sixteen years of age when 
she married Friend Grain. 

When George Grain was thirteen days old, the day the volunteers left 
for the Mexican war, June 23, 1846, he was taken from the farm on 
which he had been born, and which stood on the line between Perry 
and Jackson counties, to a property near Vergennes, a farm situated 
about six miles northwest of the village, and there he grew to manhood. 
Purchasing a farm adjoining that of his father, he was married in 
1866, to Catherine Arnold, daughter of George and Sarah Arnold, eight 
children being born to this union : Friend, Clain, Mrs. Lura Schempff, 
Riley, Reuben, Mrs. Oma Rosch, Fred and Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Grain 
lived on the farm until 1883, at which time the Illinois Central Railroad 
was built through Vergennes to the town of Grub, and at the latter 
place Mr. Grain began buying wheat and timber and operating a general 
store. He remained at that point until 1892, at which time he returned 
to Vergennes and went into the piling and lumber business, and he is 
now the owner of a large lumber yard. For some years Mr. Grain was 
also engaged in the wholesale liquor business at Pinckneyville, and on 
first coming to Vergennes was engaged in business with his son, Clain, 
but for the greater part of the time he has carried on business alone 
and has been identified with the lumber interests. More than any 
other one man, perhaps, Mr. Grain has developed the resources of Ver- 
gennes where he is highly esteemed by his fellow townsmen. Frater- 
nally he is affiliated with the Odd Fellows, in which he is popular, but 
he has not identified himself with any other social organizations, and 
has kept out of politics. 

Clain Grain spent his early life on the farm in Ora township, and 
his education was secured in the public schools of that district. In 1890 
he came to Vergennes, where he engaged in a general merchandise 
business, but in 1896 sold his interests and moved to Johnson City, where 
he became identified with lumber. In 1897 he returned to Vergennes, 
where he again entered business, but in 1903 went to Sea Rock and for 
two years was engaged on a "timber job." At the time the Iron 
Mountain Railroad was put through. Mr. Grain recognized the fact that 
this locality would have a future as a commercial center, and purchased 
a number of building lots on the present site of Fordyce, to which city 
he moved in 1905, entering the general merchandise business. The year 
of 1907 was an unfortunate one for him, for, while his business had 
assumed large proportions and was progressing rapidly, he was both 
burglarized and burned out. His stock was replenished, however, and 
his store rebuilt, and he now has one of the finest business enterprises 
to be found in this section. On first coming to Fordyce Mr. Grain also 
engaged in the lumber business, which has steadily grown to the pres- 
ent time, and for three years he has operated the electric light plant 
here. Since the time when he built the first store and the first resi- 
dence here, Mr. Grain has engaged in the real estate business, and he 
now owns considerable property and has done much to build up and 
develop the interests of Fordyce. His political belief is that of the 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 979 

Republican party, in the ranks of which he is an active worker, and 
he has served as chairman of the village board, trustee of the village, 
and president of the school board of the township for several years. He 
has brought to his public service the same enthusiasm and wealth of 
progressive ideas that have made him so successful in his business ven- 
tures. 

Mr. Grain was married in 1890 to Miss Jane Pyatt, of Pyatt Station, 
Perry county, and four children have been born to this union, namely : 
Oscar, Ozie, Jessie and Burl. Mr. Grain is a popular member of the 
Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. 

HENRY E. BURNS is the present postmaster at Chester, and he has 
been identified with public service for nearly a decade. His life, like 
that of his father, has been passed in Randolph county and up to his 
twenty-fifth year he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, as his fore- 
fathers had been. He was born near Modoc, in Randolph county, Illi- 
nois, the date of his nativity being the 16th of August, 1868, and he is 
a son of Thomas H. Burns, who was born on the boundary line of 
Monroe and Randolph counties, December 8, 1841. 

James Burns, paternal grandfather of the subject of this review, was 
one of the early settlers of Monroe county, this state, having removed to 
that section from Missouri in 1840. He was a native of the state of Mis- 
souri and had lived for a number of years in the Mississippi valley. He 
traced his ancestry to stanch Scotch extraction and as a young man he 
married Lucinda Brewer. The children of this union were: Thomas 
H., who is now at Modoc ; James P., who lost his life in battle at Fort 
Donelson as a Federal soldier; B. K., a resident of St. Louis, Missouri; 
and Teresa, who died as the wife of William Harrell. The conditions of 
the times made it impossible for Thomas H. Burns to acquire anything 
but a limited education and when the Civil war came on he joined 
Company B, of Colonel W. R. Morrison's Forty-ninth Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, and served with General Grant's forces from the battle of 
Fort Henry to the siege and capture of Vicksburg. He was a private 
in the company in which his brother was a lieutenant and when the 
trouble at Vicksburg was settled he accompanied his regiment into 
Arkansas to aid Banks in the latter 's Red River and other expeditions 
against the Confederates. He had spent four years in defense of the 
flag when the surrender at Appomattox ended hostilities. Resuming 
the dress of civilian, Thomas H. Burns engaged in farming at Modoc 
and he has continued to be identified with that line of enterprise dur- 
ing practically his entire life time. He is a Republican in his political 
convictions but does not participate actively in public affairs. He was 
married, in 1866, to Miss Mary Ann Hull, who was a daughter of Samuel 
Hull, a representative of the Hull family of Raleigh, North Carolina. 
Mrs. Burns was summoned to the life eternal in 1903, and at the time 
of her demise was survived by two children, Henry E., of this notice ; 
and Sarah, wife of David Van Pelt, of St. Louis. 

Henry E. Burns gained his rudimentary educational training in the 
common schools of his native place and subsequently he was a student 
for one year in the Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. As a young 
man he engaged in farming operations near Modoc and continued as a 
tiller of the soil until 1894, which year marked his entry in the general 
merchandise business at Modoc. In 1901 he disposed of his mercantile 
stock and in the following year entered the political race for the office of 
county treasurer. He was elected as the successor of W .W. Collier, and he 
served as treasurer of Randolph county for a term of four years, at the 
expiration of which he decided to run for the office of sheriff. He was 



980 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

elected sheriff in 1906 and succeeded William Ebers in the office, hold- 
ing the same for four years. In January, 1911, he received the appoint- 
ment of postmaster of Chester and was sworn in immediately as the 
successor of E. J. Allison. As a public official Mr. Burns has proved 
himself both capable and reliable and in discharging the duties of the 
various offices of which he has been incumbent he has acquitted himself 
with all of honor and distinction. In fraternal orders he is a member of 
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Modern Wood- 
men of America. 

Mr. Burns has been twice married. At Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, 
on the llth of July, 1894, he wedded Miss Emma Mudd, who died in 
May, 1902, survived by one son, Robert Vincent. On December 31, 
1906, Mr. Burns married Miss Mary France at Sparta, Illinois. Mrs. 
Burns was born in Randolph county and for five years prior to her 
marriage she was a popular and successful teacher in the common 
schools of this county. One daughter, Mary Elizabeth, has been born 
to this union. 

JOHN CALVIN BEEVER. The postmaster of Coulterville and one of its 
citizens most deeply interested in public affairs is John Calvin Beever. 
He is a man active in the service of his fellow townsmen, and has held 
several offices of public trust. 

John C. Beever was born in DeWitt county, on the 24th of February, 
1867, and passed his youth in Washington county, upon the farm owned 
by his father, Ephraim Beever. An account of the Beever family is 
given more fully elsewhere in this work. Ephraim Beever married 
Rebecca Little, a daughter of David Little, who was a representative of 
one of the pioneer families of Randolph county. The head of this 
family was William Little, a native of Georgia. He later moved to 
Tennessee, and from there migrated to Kaskaskia, Illinois, in 1818. This 
old path-finder was a man of splendid attainments. He possessed a 
good education, had the advantage of a charming manner, and having 
a naturally fine mind he made a very interesting speaker, his talks on 
religious subjects being almost equivalent to sermons, although he was 
not licensed to preach. He cleared a farm in the Plum Creek neighbor- 
hood and became a powerful leader in the civic and social life of the 
community. It was in his house at Kaskaskia that the first sacrament 
of the Lord's Supper was administered, and he is supposed to have 
been the founder of the Covenanter church in the state of Illinois. He 
made his final home in the Bethel Creek district and this settlement 
also received the benefit of his active religious life. He died in this 
community at the age of eighty-four, but the influence of his remark- 
able personality was felt long after he had passed away. His wife was 
a Miss Edgar, and their son was the grandfather of John C. and W. 
George Beever. 

David Little moved to Washington county, Illinois, in 1850 and 
here he lived the quiet life of a farmer on his place near Tilden. At 
the age of seventy-nine his long life came to a close in Grove township, 
in 1882. His wife was Nancy Linn, and their family comprised the 
following children: Mrs. Nancy Elder, of Coulterville; Rebecca, who 
was born in 1840, the wife of Ephraim Beever; Maria, who married 
Captain S. L. Coulter, of Oakdale ; Mrs. John Piper, of Oakdale ; John 
C., of Los Angeles, California ; James R., who lives in Girard, Kansas ; 
W. R., living at the old homestead in Tilden ; and Mrs. Martha Edmis- 
ton, who is dead. 

John C. Beever remained on the farm where he passed his youth until 
he reached his majority, when, deciding that he was better fitted for the 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 981 

pursuit of a trade than for farming, he came to Coulterville and learned 
the carpenter trade. The capable young carpenter soon had all the ' 
business he could handle along the lines of contracting and building, and 
for a time he entered into partnership with his brother George. Many 
of the cottages, fine farm residences, and a well-built school house 
through the surrounding country, as well as the Methodist church, exam- 
ples of the substantial structures which constitute the improvements in 
this section, are the work of his hands. When a vacancy occurred in 
the postmastership of Courterville, John C. Beever seemed good material 
out of which to make a new one, and he was appointed to the office on 
the 28th of February, 1907, as the successor of Rufus East. He has al- 
ways held to the principles of the Republican party, and has performed 
the duties which he considers he owes as a citizen by serving on the 
town board and at present is a member of the school board. 

During nearly two years, from January, 1910, to September, 1911, 
Mr. Beever was the owner of the only newspaper in the town, the 
Coulterville Republican. The paper was established in 1885 and has 
always been Republican in politics. It is a five-column quarto, issued 
weekly and under the management of Mr. Beever stood for rather con- 
servative principles. The interest that Mr, Beever evinces in a num- 
ber of the fraternal orders shows that he is a strong believer in all that 
the word fraternalism implies. He is a Master and Royal Arch Mason 
and is a member of the local chapter. He is also a Modern Woodmen 
of the World and a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America, and 
the Odd Fellows. 

On the 28th of October, 1890, in Randolph county, occurred the 
marriage of Mr. Beever to Louisa Favre, a daughter of Benoite Favre. 
The latter was born in France. The children of this couple were: 
Annie, of Coulterville ; Mrs. Claris Alston, of the same place, and Louisa, 
who was born in 1870. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Beever are four 
in number; Edmonde, Fannie May, Roy and Zelda. 

WILLIAM SONDAG. Born on a farm near the town of Valmeyer, 
where he has since lived and made his home and which is the scene of 
his business activities, William Sondag is one of the younger set of 
business men who are marked for success and prosperity in their busi- 
ness careers. Still under thirty years of age, Mr. Sondag has made 
steady and rapid progress in a business way, at the present time being 
manager and part owner in the hardware and lumber business which 
his firm carries on. 

William Sondag was born on August 20, 1883, near Valmeyer, as 
mentioned previously. His father, Theodore M. Sondag, came to Amer- 
ica from Belgium when he was a child, in the company of his parents. 
He was born in Belgium in September, 1848. The family located in 
Monroe county, where Theodore Sondag grew to young manhood. He 
married Margaret Wiersham, settled on a farm in Monroe county, and 
there they reared a family of ten children, eight of whom still survive, 
William Sondag being the fourth in order of birth. Those now living 
are: Celia, William, Clara (now Mrs. Harbaugh), Minnie, Frank, 
Emma, Armand, Augusta. Mr. and Mrs. Sondag are both living in the 
home they established in earlier years. They are members of the 
Catholic church and have reared their family in that faith. Mr. Son- 
dag is a Democrat in his political allegiance. 

William Sondag attended the public schools of his home town until 
he was sixteen, when he began teaching school. He followed the peda- 
gogic art for six years, but at the end of that period he saw a valuable 
opportunity to become established in a hardware, implement and lum- 

Vol. II 27 



982 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

her business, and he opened a store in Valmeyer, which he is still con- 
ducting most successfully. He is the manager and part owner of the 
business, and under his careful managership the firm is making steady 
progress. Mr. Sondag is recognized as one of Valmeyer 's most pro- 
gressive and careful business men. 

Like his father, Mr. Sondag is a Democrat and an adherent of the 
Roman Catholic faith. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, 
and is active and enthusiastic in the work of the order. While not of a 
political turn of mind, it has fallen to Mr. Sondag 's lot to serve his 
town as treasurer for some time, in which office he acquitted himself 
with credit to the town and himself. 

In June, 1908, Mr. Sondag married Miss Edna Heidger, the daughter 
of John Heidger, a veteran of the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Sondag are 
the parents of two children, Roger and William. 

CHARLES BROWN. Energetic, public-spirited and progressive, 
Charles Brown, postmaster at Cora City and one of the leading agricul- 
turists of this section of Illinois, is a man of integrity and honor, well 
worthy of the high regard in which he is held throughout the commu- 
nity in which Jie lives and toward the advancement and prosperity of 
which he is ever ready to lend a helping hand. A son #f James M. 
Brown, he was born in Randolph county, Illinois, March 17, 1853, of 
pioneer stock. 

Born in Virginia, May 26, 1811, James M. Brown was brought up in 
Kentucky, where his parents settled when he was a small child. As a 
boy he began work in a humble capacity on a river steamboat, and 
gradually worked his way upward until becoming engineer on one of the 
old line Mississippi river steamers. In 1840, while thus employed, his 
boat froze in the ice, and he made his way to the shore fully determined 
to give up life on the river. Buying a section of land lying on the line 
between Randolph and Jackson counties, he built Liberty mill, at 
Liberty, now Rockwood, Illinois, putting up what was at the time of the 
Civil war the largest milling plant in Southern Illinois. After the war 
he devoted his time entirely to the management of the farm which he im- 
proved, residing upon it until his death, January 14, 1874. He was a 
man of strong individuality, and was very prominent in promoting the 
upbuilding and growth of the town of Randolph. He was identified 
with the Democratic party throughout his life, and faithfully per- 
formed the duties devolving upon him as a citizen of worth. He mar- 
ried, in 1841, in Saint Louis, Missouri, Rebecca Simons, a daughter of 
Edward Simons, a cooper in Saint Louis, and to them six children were 
born, as follows: F. M., deputy postmaster at Cora, Illinois; S. D., of 
Pocahontas, Arkansas; H. C., of Cora; Charles, the special subject of 
this brief biographical sketch ; Mrs. Mollie G. Dean, deceased ; and a 
child that died in infancy. 

Charles Brown spent his early life in this part of Southern Illinois, 
around "Degogina Bridge," obtaining his education in the district 
schools. During the spring of 1869 he attended the old Southern Illi- 
nois College, and in 1871 pursued a course of study at Bryant & Strat- 
ton's Business College, in Saint Louis. He obtained a thorough knowl- 
edge of agriculture on the parental homestead, and still retains his 
interest in the old home farm, which has increased in value hundreds 
and hundreds of per cent, its original cost having been but four dol- 
lars an acre, while at the present time a hundred dollars per acre would 
be a modest price. Mr. Brown is an influential member of the Repub- 
lican party, and in addition to having served as township supervisor for 
ten years has been postmaster at Cora City for eight years, having held 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 983 

the position since 1903, a record of service bespeaking his ability, fidelity 
and efficiency. Fraternally he belongs to Murphysboro Lodge, No. 442, 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Brown's brother, F. M. 
Brown, a veteran of the Civil war, is assistant postmaster. 

On July 2, 1884, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Bella P. 
Richards, of Rockwwod, Illinois, a daughter of Benjamin and Margaret 
A Richards, and their only child, Cora, is the wife of Ralph Rollo, city 
engineer of Murphysboro, Illinois. 

ISAAC N. MCELROY is official farmer and gardener for the Southern 
Illinois penitentiary, at Chester. He was born in Johnson county, Illi- 
nois, September 13, 1859, and is a son of Stephen B. McElroy, a farmer 
who settled in Johnson county in 1854 from Crittenden county, Ken- 
tucky. His forefathers were of pure Irish stock, the original represen- 
tative of the name in America having come hither soon after the close 
of the War of the Revolution. The McElroy estate in Ireland is known 
as ' ' Manadobia ' ' and is located near Belfast. 

Stephen McElroy was born in the state of Kentucky, in 1808, and as 
a young man he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits. He came 
to Johnson county, Illinois, in 1854, and lived here until the time of his 
death, in 1862. Soon after the close of the Civil war Mr. McElroy 's 
widow married William Clayton, who was one of General Jackson's sol- 
diers in the war of 1812 and whose father was a colonial soldier in the 
great war for Independence. Mrs. Clayton was the mother of one son, 
the subject of this review, by her first husband, and she and her second 
husband became the parents of two children, a daughter, who died in 
childhood, and one son, Jesse T., who was born June 23, 1867, and who 
is now a resident of Willard, New Mexico. Jesse T. Clayton has the 
distinction of being the youngest son of a soldier of the war of 1812 and 
the youngest grandson of a Revolutionary soldier. 

Isaac N. McElroy is the only son of his father and grew up, as it 
were, an orphan. He received but very meager educational facilities 
in his youth but in order to acquaint himself with the sciences of phy- 
sics and botany he managed to pick up a smattering of Latin. At the 
age of nineteen years he hired out to a stock farmer for the small wage 
of ten dollars a month and he continued as a hand on the same stock 
farm for a period of seven years, at the expiration of which he was 
drawing a salary of twenty-six dollars per month. In 1885 he married 
and engaged in stock-farming on his own account, the scene of his 
operations being a small fifty-acre farm near Vienna. Having demon- 
strated his aptitude for both agriculture and horticulture, he was ap- 
pointed assistant farmer at the Southern Illinois Hospital for the In- 
sane, at Anna, in the spring of 1890. In this capacity he demonstrated 
unusual worth and in due time the manager of the institution made him 
florist and landscape gardener. He continued in the employ of the state 
for the next six years, but at the end of that time determined to again 
farm on his own account. In 1904, however, he was appointed farmer 
and gardener for the Southern Illinois Penitentiary, at Chester, and he 
has continued as the efficient incumbent of those positions during the 
long intervening years to the present time, in 1912. 

Mr. McElroy has accomplished most phenomenal results for the 
prison. During the last year of the administration of his predecessor 
the prison farm yielded a trifle over ninety-five dollars as its income. 
With the introduction of scientific knowledge, however, the farm pro- 
duced thirty-one hundred dollars worth of food stuff in 1904. A gradual 
course of building-up has been practiced and the yield has increased 
each year until eight thousand dollars worth of farm and garden prod- 



984 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

nets were gathered for the institution in 1910. Mr. McElroy is now 
serving his eighth year as prison farmer and gardener and during all 
that time he has not had a single vacation. This fact is ample illustra- 
tion of his devotion to his work. He is ever seeking for the ultimatum 
in the possibilities of the prison farm by experiment in the rotation of 
crops, by discovering ideal methods of cultivation, by hybridizing and 
developing better seed and by equipping the farm with spring germinat- 
ing houses of permanent material and of ideal design. 

In addition to his work on the prison farm Mr. McElroy is engaged 
in the raising of Jersey cattle on his little estate near Vienna. His is 
the best little ' ' Jersey ' ' stock-farm in Illinois, as the prizes taken by his 
herd have shown. The head of his herd is "Sassas Essau," registered 
as No. 81511, who has competed in many shows and own six blue rib- 
bons and a red one and who defeated "Prince Majesty," a son of 
"Royal Majesty," of the Council herd of Vandalia, and widely known 
among Jersey breeders in the state. Mr. McElroy is a Republican in 
his political convictions and while he does not participate actively in 
public affairs he is ever on the alert to do all in his power to advance 
progress and improvement in his section of the state. 

On October 25, 1885, in Johnson county, was celebrated the mar- 
riage of Mr. McElroy to Miss Arista Whitaker, a daughter of Captain 
Mark Whitaker, who commanded a company in the Federal army in the 
Twentieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war, and who 
served for a number of terms as sheriff of Johnson county. Captain 
Whitaker married Elizabeth Deaton, and they became the parents of the 
following children, Mrs. McElroy; Dr. Hall Whitaker, a resident of 
Mound City, Illinois and a member, of the state legislature; Dr. W. J. 
Whitaker, of Pulaski, Illinois ; Mrs. A. I. Brown, of Vienna, Illinois ; 
Mrs. 0. E. Burris, of Simpson, Illinois; Mrs. A. L. Compton, of Mound 
City ; and Mrs. J. P. Mathis, of Johnson county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. 
McElroy 's children are: William and Josephine, twins, the former of 
whom has charge of the McElroy farm near Vienna during his father's 
absence, and the latter of whom is the wife of C. A. Compton, of Mound 
City, Illinois; and Mark, Miles and Isaac N., Jr., who remain at the 
parental home. 



WILLIAM E. TRAUTMANN. It has been given Mr. Trautmann to at- 
tain to precedence as one of the representative members of the bar of his 
native county, and he has been engaged in the practice of his profession 
in the city of East St. Louis, the metropolis of St. Glair county, since 
1895. Here also he has built up a large and successful enterprise in the 
handling of real estate, and he is known as one of the alert, progressive 
and public-spirited citizens of the county which has been his home from 
the time of his birth to the present. He represented the county in the 
lower house of the state legislature for four successive terms, and he 
has added materially to his professional prestige through his able and 
effective service in the responsible office of United States district attorney 
for the eastern district of Illinois, a position which has brought him to 
the forefront in many important litigations and in which his versatility 
and admirable professional powers have been effectually proved. 

William Emil Trautmann is of staunch German lineage and is a scion 
of one of the sterling old families of St. Glair county. He was born at 
Caseyville, this county, on the 16th of August, 1872, and is a son of 
Frederick and Dorothea (Deck) Trautmann. After completing the cur- 
riculum of the public schools Mr. Trautmann was afforded the advan- 
tages of McKendree College. He gave most careful attention to pre- 



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HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 985 

paring himself for his chosen profession and was admitted to the bar of 
his native state in 1894. He forthwith established an office in East St. 
Louis, where he has followed the work of his profession, with unequiv- 
ocal success, during the intervening years and where he has also been 
actively identified with the real-estate business since 1895. 

Well fortified in his convictions as to matters of public polity and 
aligned as a staunch and effective advocate of the principles and pol- 
icies of the Republican party, Mr. Trautmann has given yeoman service 
as an active worker in behalf of the party cause. His eligibility for 
offices of public trust was early recognized, and in 1898, when but twenty- 
six years of age, he was elected to represent his native county in the 
state legislature. That he made an excellent record during his initial 
term in the lower house needs no further evidence than that given by 
the fact that he was chosen as his own successor in 1900, as was he also 
in the elections of 1902 and 1904, so that his service extended through- 
out four successive terms. In the general assembly he was a staunch 
supporter, of progressive policies, wise economy in appropriations and 
other fiscal affairs, and liberality in the furtherance of enterprises and 
measures tending to conserve the best interests of the state and its people. 
On the 24th of May, 1905, there came further and distinctive recogni- 
tion of the professional ability and sterling character of Mr. Trautmann 
in that he was appointed United States district attorney for the eastern 
district of Illinois, which office he still holds. In this important posi- 
tion his administration has amply demonstrated his selection for the 
office. In 1905 Mr. Trautmann was given significant proof of the high 
esteem in which he is held in his home city, as he was made the nominee 
of his party for the office of mayor of East St. Louis. He made an 
admirable record at the polls, but, owing to various political exigencies, 
was defeated, though this was compassed be only two hundred and forty- 
nine votes. 

Mr. Trautmann is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, is 
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of 
Pythias, and other fraternal and social organizations. He married on 
the 25th of November, 1910, Miss Evelyn L. Kinne, of Bloomington, 
Illinois, a daughter of Mary White Kinne. 

HENRY HORN, SB. Much of the credit for the growth and up-build- 
ing of DuQuoin may justly be attributed to the labors of Henry Horn, 
Sr., and as one of the makers of history in this section he takes prom- 
inent rank. He is one of the few men who are today identified with 
the commercial, industrial and financial interests of DuQuoin and 
vicinity who began their career previous to the Civil war period, and 
from the beginning of his business career until the present time his 
position has been pre-eminent and his influence and activities have been 
strong factors in the life of DuQuoin. The development of the rich 
coal properties in and adjacent to DuQuoin is due in great measure to 
the business enterprise and foresight of Mr. Horn, and he was a leader 
in the establishment of wide-reaching commercial interests at various 
times, while to his wisdom and initiative is due the credit for the found- 
ing of the pioneer banking house in the city. 

Henry Horn was born in the village of Schwadorf, about three 
hours walk from Cologne, Germany, on August 2, 1831. He is a son of 
Henry Horn, the first, a laborer whose antecedents had formed a part 
of the life of that community for many generations. His mother was 
Catherine Gottschalk, and he was one of a family of twelve and was 
also the mother of twelve. As might be expected, the chief characteris- 



986 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

tic of the Horn family in the Fatherland was unfailing industry. 
Economical conditions there existing made it necessary for all German 
folk not possessing financial independence to work in and out of season, 
thereby inculcating traits of thrift and industry which account for al- 
most invariable success of the German immigrant to the United States 
in a financial way. As a boy in the homeland Henry Horn attended 
the schools provided for the youth of his class until he reached the age 
of twelve years, at which he went to live with an uncle who conducted a 
high class saloon in Cologne, and there he worked for eight years. This 
fact explains why, when in recent years he was asked by a friend 
where he was educated, he replied " In a beer saloon. ' ' At any rate, he 
occupied the menial position of a waiter in his uncle's establishment, 
and later in a hotel at Broel. He saved enough money from his wages 
in his position in the latter named place to bring him to America, and 
he sailed from Antwerp on a two master, being thirty-seven days at 
sea without incident. His first work after landing was in a stove- 
brick factory, where he worked for a pittance of seventy-five cents per 
day, remaining in that place for eighteen months. It was then he de- 
cided to come west and visit his uncle, John Horn, at La Salle, Illinois, 
and in that city he secured work at his old trade, that of a waiter in a 
hotel. Subsequently he came to Dixon and Princeton, looking the 
ground over for a suitable opening, it being his intention to get into 
some business of his own which would yield him more than a bare liv- 
ing. It was in this location that he met the man who was directly re- 
sponsible for his first success in business life. The acquaintance who 
played so important a part in his life was a young Jew then engaged in 
the brewing business, and he urged his young German friend to come 
to DuQuoin and open a liquor house. Mr. Horn was persuaded into 
making the venture, and when he first stepped into DuQuoin it was 
the merest country town. He had been but three years in the United 
States, and spoke scarcely enough English to make himself understood, 
but his courage was high and his belief in himself and the future would 
not be shaken. For a man, a stranger in a strange land at that, to es- 
tablish a business without a penny of available capital required two 
things: First, that he have a goodly amount of ".nerve," and second 
that he be the sort of person who will inspire confidence. Henry Horn 
fulfilled both conditions. He arranged with a shoemaker already lo- 
cated in DuQuoin to buy a lot and erect a small building, better de- 
scribed by the word "shack," for their combined use; one side to be a 
shoeshop and the other a saloon, or rather a retail and wholesale liquor 
house. His stock of liquors was furnished him on credit, and having 
learned the business under the careful eye of his uncle in Cologne, the 
young merchant was able to conduct the business from the first with- 
out any of the losses incidental to the beginner in any line of business. 
Lack of space does not permit of a detailed account of the rapid strides 
he made in the matter of money-making in this one line of endeavor. 
It suffices to say that as rapidly as his fortunes would permit he en- 
tered other lines of business, branching out here and there until in a 
few years Henry Horn was the acknowledged head of the big business 
interests of DuQuoin, a position which he has steadfastly maintained 
since that time. In 1877 he engaged in the banking business in part- 
nership with P. N. Pope, as one of the firm of Horn & Pope, and when 
this firm was dissolved ten years later he became the head of the Du- 
Quoin Bank of Henry Horn, one of the chief financial institutions of 
the city today, and in which his sons took their early lessons in finance. 
The presence of coal in Perry county finally interested Mr. Horn to 
the extent that he made a substantial loan upon some property then 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 987 

being developed and operated at DuQuoin, and the failure of the com- 
pany to make good on the deal threw the property upon his hands. 
From that moment to the present time Henry Horn has been a power- 
ful factor in the coal mining interests of the district. Soon after he 
became the owner of the then unproven property upon which he had 
advanced money he opened the Brilliant mine upon the property, and 
the mine is today one of his principal assets. The merchandise busi- 
ness set in motion by him forty years ago is still a live asset, and in ad- 
dition to his commercial, financial and mining interests Mr. Horn has 
gone in to farming, both extensive and intensive, and on a purely scien- 
tific basis. In this connection his efforts with pure bred live stock as 
an adjunct to profitable farming has added another field to his al- 
ready broad list of enterprises. 

Wherever the eye reaches in DuQuoin may be seen the evidences of 
the handiwork of Henry Horn as a material developer of the city. As 
his family attained years of maturity and set up for themselves in life 
new homes were necessary, and these form a considerable item in the 
collection of handsome residences to be seen in the city. At frequent 
intervals the Horn interests have brought into existence fine brick busi- 
ness blocks, and Mr. Horn was a party to the erection of the St. Nicho- 
las hotel some years ago. In earlier years Mr. Horn was an adherent of 
the Democratic party, but when James G. Blaine became a candidate 
for office he supported that administration and since that time has acted 
with the Republican party. He was an intimate acquaintance of Gen- 
eral Logan, as well as many of the leaders associated with "The Black 
Eagle," and his intimate knowledge and fund of incidents touching the 
lives of men of this section who made important history and have passed 
on is one of the many pleasant features of association with him. 

In April, 1862, Mr. Horn married Miss Mary Flauaus, formerly of 
Ashley, Illinois, and of German extraction. Thirteen children were 
born to them, seven of whom are still living and have been reared to 
positions of worth in the activities of life. They are Frank, Mary, 
Thomas, Kate, Lottie, Minnie and Henry, Jr., named in order of their 
birth. Mr. and Mrs. Horn have fifteen grandchildren. 

Frank Horn, the eldest son of Henry Horn, Sr., was born at Du- 
Quoin on February 19, 1863. He was educated in the parochial schools 
and in Christian Brothers College, St. Louis, and began his business 
career in the store of his father. This was followed by a season of train- 
ing in the bank of which his father was the head, and he later entered 
the coal business as an operator. His mining experience started with 
the Miller-Horn Mining Company and he has been active and prom- 
inent in the coal mining industry since the beginning of his connection 
with the business. He possesses many of the valuable and admirable 
traits of his father, and his success in life is mainly attributable to that 
fact. He was married on June 30, 1887, to Miss Maggie Kelley, a 
daughter of Timothy Kelley, and the children of their union are Lo- 
retta, Lottie and Frank Jr. 

The second child of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Horn, Sr., is Mary, the . 
wife of Emanuel Buerkle, of DuQuoin. They have four children, three 
sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Henry, is fifteen years of age 
and attending high school, as is also the second son, Frederick, four- 
teen years old. They both attended parochial school until their first 
communion. The daughter, Mary, is eight years old and the younsest 
son. Frank, is six. Both are attending parochial school. 

Thomas Horn, is the second son and third child of his parents. He 
was born in DuQuoin on May 4, 1866. He received his education in 
the public and parochial schools, and later took a comprehensive course 



988 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

in agriculture in the University of Illinois. He opened his business 
career by spending four years in the DuQuoin Bank of Henry Horn, 
where he was thoroughly trained in the mysteries of financial opera- 
tions. He then went with the Berry-Horn Coal Company, in St. Louis, 
Missouri, where he remained two years as a clerk. Returning home, he 
entered the coal business with his father as a mine operator, continuing 
in the business for two years, and in 1895 engaged in the merchandise 
business, conducting a business alone until 1904, when the firm became 
Horn & Grossman, which name it retained until in September, 1911, 
when Mr. Horn retired. During these years Thomas Horn engaged in 
the real estate business to a large extent, handling mining lands, devel- 
oping coal lands by prospecting, and in 1905 his company founded the 
town of Christopher, Illinois, and he still has large interests there. He 
helped in the organization of the First National Bank of that city, the 
first bank the town boasted, and he is a director of it. He later asso- 
ciated himself with Mr. Jesse Diamond, of Rockford, Illinois, in the 
real estate business and in the development of the Horn-Diamond Coal 
Company and the West-Frankfort Coal Company of Franklin county. 
The latter named, company came into existence in 1910, and a large 
tract of land under their ownership and control furnishes the basis of 
the industry. This company sold the first coal lands in that locality, 
and were the means of opening up a new district in the coal mining area 
of this section. The Brilliant Coal & Coke Company, which is owned by 
them, produces an average of a thousand tons daily, and employs one 
hundred and fifty men when running at its capacity. 

On May 10, 1893, Thomas Horn and Rosalie Zrotz, daughter of Mrs. 
Catherine Zrotz, were married in St. Louis. The Zrotz family were of 
Swiss birth, coming to America in early life. The children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Horn are Thomas, Sylvester and Ernestine. Mr. Horn is a Knight 
of Columbus, being of the accepted faith of his family, and is a Re- 
publican in his political adherence. 

Kate, the fourth child of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Horn, Sr., is the wife 
of Watt Parks of DuQuoin, a son of Judge Parks. Mrs. Parks has a 
daughter, Catherine, eighteen years of age. Since leaving the parochial 
school at her first communion she has attended the public high school. 
Miss Lottie is yet sheltered by the parental roof. Minnie married Theo 
Gill, and they have one son, Theodore, ten years old. 

The seventh child of the elder Horns is Henry Horn, Jr., born 
September 22, 1876, at DuQuoin. He was educated in the schools of Du- 
Quoin, completing the full course of study, and followed it with a busi- 
ness training in a Chicago college. When ready for business he en- 
tered the DuQuoin Bank of Henry Horn. He was nineteen years of 
age at that time, and has since then become so closely identified with 
the affairs of the bank and other interests of his father as to have be- 
come, in a large degree, the very life of the business. He shares in the 
responsibilities and benefits of the allied interests of the varied Horn 
estate, and has entered into the concerns of the business in a manner 
which has made him an essential part of the machinery of the combined 
'enterprises. His intense application to duty and his splendid ability 
mark him as the worthy son of a worthy father, and one in every way fit 
to carry on the family name. Like the other members of his family, he 
is without political ambition, taking but a cursory interest in affairs of 
that nature. On June 21, 1899, Mr. Horn married Miss Helena Beck, 
a daughter of Louis Beck, one of the old residents of DuQuoin and well 
known there as a market man and a butcher; the family are of German 
origin. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Horn are Helen, Adelaide and 
Rosalie. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 989 

JULIUS HENRY WARD. In every town there are a few men of whom 
the citizens in every crisis turn for advice and assistance, for it has been 
proved to them through past experiences that these men will follow the 
right course and will permit no moneyed interests or personal advance- 
ment to stand in the way of the good of the community. Such a one 
is Julius Henry Ward, known throughout the county as a business man, 
stock raiser, merchant, salesman and farmer. It is in the first capacity, 
however, that he has attained the greatest success, and as one of the 
firm of Ward and Brother his reputation for business sagacity and 
honesty has become widely known. One can not place the cause of Mr. 
Ward's success upon the shoulders of his ancestors and say that he in- 
herited his ability, for they do not seem to have had any taste in that 
direction, therefore we are forced to come to the conclusion that with 
a mind fitted to grasp large affairs and to deal with matters where a 
considerable risk only added to the interest of the case, by close obser- 
vation of people and things and by steady application to the business in 
hand, he has carved out his niche in the world all by himself. He is 
deeply interested in making DuQuoin a model city and has given his 
services in behalf of the public many times, believing that if men of his 
type, busy men of affairs, men who are too much absorbed in the daily 
routine of their business to pay any attention to politics and conse- 
quently leave the professional politicians to run things as they choose, 
if such men would take an active part in politics we would have a 
cleaner government. 

Julius Henry Ward was born at Hartford, Connecticut, on the 4th of 
August, 1846, the son of Henry Ward. The latter has been born and 
reared in the same locality, his birth occurring November 30, 1819. 
Henry Ward was one of four children, Nelson, who died in Benton 
county, Arkansas; Henry; Phoebe, who married George Roberts and 
died in Connecticut; and a daughter who also died in that state, never 
having married. 

The life of Henry Ward was not an extraordinary one. He spent 
his childhood amid country surroundings and early in life married Lucy 
Todd. Their home was that of a humble and industrious couple, who 
believed that in contentment was the only, true happiness to be found. 
Shortly after his marriage he gave up farming to take up the lumber 
business, but in 1857, when they came to Illinois, he abandoned this 
vocation. He located near Carbondale and again took up farming, in 
which occupation he spent the remainder of his active life. When he 
was well along in years he left the farm and came to live with his sons 
in DuQuoin, where he died at the age of eighty-three years. His wife 
passed away December 1, 1894, and of their children only two are liv- 
ing: Elmyra died in her youth in her native state of Connecticut; 
Julius Herfry; Dwight, who died in DuQuoin on the llth of January, 
1908, after having achieved one of the greatest business successes in the 
history of Perry county, and having been associated for nearly a third 
of a century with his brother, Henry, as Ward and Brother ; George F. 
N., a leading merchant of Mount Vernon, Illinois; and Samuel who died 
in East St. Louis. 

The country schools furnished the education for Julius Henry 
Ward, and as soon as he could escape from the birch rod and the blue- 
backed speller he joyfully went to work as a farmer. His father gave 
him "his time" at the close of the war of the rebellion and he began 
to farm on a place in Williamson county. The scarcity of cotton dur- 
ing the years following the war, owing to the ruin and devastation that 
had not spared an acre in southland, induced him to venture planting 
twenty acres of his land in cotton. He made a bumper crop, harvesting 



990 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

a thousand pounds to the acre, and he sold the staple to Mrs. John A. 
Logan at Carbondale for forty cents a pound. Mrs. Logan was then 
living in Carbondale, engaged in buying cotton, while the General was 
attending to his public duties in Washington. This first stroke of good 
fortune acted as a great incentive to the young farmer, and he con- 
tinued to devote himself to agriculture until he came into Perry county 
to join his brother Dwight in the livery stable business. They became 
the successors of Edward Hinckley, and extended their field of opera- 
tions so as to include dealing in live-stock of every sort. They shipped 
horses and mules to all parts of the country, were an important source 
of supply to the stock markets that desired cattle and hogs, and their 
operations extended far beyond the limits of Perry county. Mr. Ward 
remembers as one of the experiences of those old times how he took 
a car load of mules down to Tampa, Florida, expecting to get a good 
price for them, but found on his arrival that others had thought the 
same and that the market was overstocked, so he brought them by boat 
to New Orleans, and found conditions there unimproved, so there was 
nothing to do but ship the animals back to DuQuoin and wait for a re- 
turn of sane prices. It is in such circumstances as these that a man 
finds his mettle and Mr. Ward was not daunted by a few failures and 
unfortunate turns of luck. 

Ward and Brother branched out in various directions, whenever a 
new field seemed promising or an old one was made vacant they were 
the first ones on the ground. They engaged in the butcher business and 
in the grocery business, they had extensive interests in farming and at 
the opportune moment went into the lightning rod business. Henry 
Ward managed a force of men engaged in selling this article for some 
years. Whenever a financial or commercial enterprise in DuQuoin was 
in need of capital Ward and Brother were always glad to put some of 
their money into the combination, so that at the dissolution of the firm, 
by the retirement of Henry Ward in 1898 the firm, was ranked among 
the strongest of the business concerns of DuQuoin. 

Although no longer actively connected with a mercantile establish- 
ment, Henry Ward has about all he can handle in the managment of his 
big farm of nearly two thousand acres in Perry county. Planting, har- 
vesting and reaping his crops takes much time and the personal over- 
sight that he gives to every piece of work that is done on the place 
makes the task much greater. He understands men and knows how to 
make them work; perhaps that is the reason his farm seems to go so 
smoothly. He received a fine preparation for just such work far back 
in the time when all over this middle west the twin lines of steel were 
spreading a net work over the land, and he was a contractor, doing rail- 
road grading and handling gangs of men of every composition. It was 
at this time also that he operated a saw-mill and ran a cotton" gin. 

Next in importance to his farming interests come his interests in 
some of the important financial enterprises in DuQuoin. He was one of 
the organizers of the First National Bank of DuQuoin, and has been a 
member of the board of directors ever since the institution was founded. 
He has always been an ardent enthusiast in any move toward civic bet- 
terment, and when any step is considered that may place DuQuoin a few 
points higher on the roll-call of progressive cities he is always the first 
to urge that it be taken. He was one of the promoters of the ice-plant 
and is at present president of the company. He is also interested in a 
company of the same sort in Murphysboro, of which company he is a 
heavy stockholder. He has served the town a number of times as a 
member of the town council, his constituents being ever anxious for 
him to serve another term, for they feel so perfectly safe when their 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 991 

interests are in his hands. He is a Democrat, and as such was elected 
a county commissioner of Perry county, which is a rare event, his party 
being decidedly in the minority in that section of the county. He is 
now one of the commissioners of public utilities in DuQuoin, which 
board has in its charge the management of the water, ice and lighting 
plants. Recently Mr. Ward has acquired an interest in the coal mines 
around DuQuoin, having joined Harry E. Ross, Thomas J. Ho well and 
William Hayes in the purchase of the "Imperial Mine" from the Weaver 
interests. The mine is being operated under a lease, and is apparently 
living up to the expectations of its new owners. 

On the llth of May, 1876, Mr. Ward was married to Cephiese Slaw- 
son, a native of New Orleans and a daughter of Hiram Slawson and a 
niece of John B. Slawson, the street car magnate of New Orleans prior to 
the Civil war. Mr. Slawson was born in New Jersey in 1825, but went to 
New Orleans as a young man and was associated there with his brother. 
When the city was captured by the Federals under Ben Butler he 
slipped out under cover by a clever disguise and the darkness and thus 
managed to evade capture by the Union army. Since 1909 Mr. Slawson 
has resided in DuQuoin. He married Lucy Wright and Mrs. Ward is 
one of their seven children. 

The only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Ward was Hiram Henry Ward, 
who was born September 19, 1878. He was educated in the DuQuoin 
schools and later graduated from Bryant and Stratton's Business Col- 
lege in St. Louis. He was extremely popular, having great charm of 
manner and a keen intellect, and the result of this was his election as 
county clerk in 1902, when he was only twenty-four years old, being 
the youngest man ever elected to that office in the state. He was marked 
down as a sacrifice to the dreaded white plague and died at El Paso, 
Texas, where he had gone in search of health. The great consolation 
that his mother and father have in his loss is the presence in their home 
of his wife, who was Mamie Lemmon, and the two grandchildren, Hiley 
and Merrill. 

DEMPSEY WINTHROP. There is perhaps no man in Perry county pos- 
sessing a wider acquaintance or a greater popularity than Dempsey 
Winthrop, for ten years identified with the public affairs of the county 
and a resident of this section of the country since his birth. His first 
public office was that of deputy sheriff of Perry county, in 1902, and 
since that time his ascent in political fields has been rapid and con- 
tinuous. 

Dempsey Winthrop was born on a farm near Tamaroa, Illinois, on 
July 10, 1878, in which community his forefathers had established this 
old and honored family in previous generations. He is the son of Henry 
Rogers Winthrop, who, like his son, has been endorsed by the citizens of 
Perry county for public office and given worthy service in the office 
of which he has been incumbent in years past. He is now retired from 
public life and is passing the evening of his life on his farm near 
Tamaroa, in the vicinity of his birth. The founder of the family in this 
county was Charles E. R. Winthrop, who came here from New York 
state, and, settling near Tamaroa, passed his life as. a public official of 
Perry county and as a farmer. He filled the offices of county judge, 
county superintendent of schools and county commissioner, in every in- 
stance rendering valuable service to the county and establishing a rec- 
ord for efficient public service that the ensuing generations have lived 
up to in a worthy manner. The paternal ancestors of the subject were 
among the descendants of Governor John Winthrop, of the Colony of 
Massachusetts, thus branding the family as Americans of the purest 



992 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

type, with an ancestry of which they may well be proud. Charles E. R. 
Winthrop was a Whig and later a Republican, and a member of the 
Missionary, Baptist church. He married Miss Delilah Lipe, and both 
ended their lives in or near Tamaroa and there are buried. They were 
the parents of seven children, named as follows: John; Delilah, who 
married Richard Hampleman ; Ellen, who became the wife of Zebeded 
Hampleman ; Henry Rogers, the father of Dempsey Winthrop ; Charles ; 
Esther, deceased, who was 'the wife of W. D. Eaton; and Susan, who 
afterwards became the second wife of Mr. Eaton. 

Henry R. Winthrop 's life has been one round of activity as a farmer, 
save for one term spent as sheriff of Perry county. He served in that 
capacity from 1902 to 1906. since which time none but matters of a 
private nature have claimed his attention. He was married to Miss 
Martha Hutson, a daughter of Chamberlain Hutson, residents of the 
country about Tamaroa, and the following children have been born to 
them: Carrie E., who is unmarried; Dempsey, of Pinckneyville ; Han- 
Ian H., a farmer near Tamaroa and married to Grace Hampleman; 
Elsie E. ; Sylvia L. ; Henry B. ; and Claud H. 

Dempsey Winthrop was educated in the country and public schools 
of Tamaroa. He attended the Northern Indiana Normal University and 
finished a commercial course in that institution. He left the home farm 
in 1902 to take a deputyship under his father, who was elected sheriff 
of Perry county, and while in that office he acquitted himself in such a 
manner that the Republicans of the county recognized in him valuable 
timber for the party, and they made him their candidate for the office 
in 1906, electing him by a pleasing majority. This term of service com- 
pleted, he won the nomination of his party for representative to the 
general assembly and was elected in 1910, together with Messrs. Ether- 
ton and Stevenson, representing the forty-fourth senatorial district, 
comprising the counties of Monroe, Randolph, Perry, Jackson and 
Washington. Mr. Winthrop took part in the forty-seventh general as- 
sembly, was chairman of the committee on Federal relations, and a mem- 
ber of the committee on appropriations, building, loan and homestead 
associations, enrolled and engrossed bills, horticulture, penal and re- 
formatory institutions, and railroads and bridges. He was also a mem- 
ber of special committees for the inspection and investigation of the 
State's Eye and Ear Infirmary at Chicago, and for the investigation of 
the Industrial Home for the Blind. It will be seen that his activities 
while a member of the assembly were of a wide and varied nature, as be- 
comes a man of his ability and character. Mr. Winthrop is a director of 
the Murphy- Wall Bank and Trust Company of Pinckneyville, one of 
the strong financial institutions of the county and of Southern Illinois, 
and is a member of the Odd Fellow lodge and is a Master Mason. 

Mr. Winthrop took for his wife Miss Bess May Williams, a daughter 
of the late Ralph G. Williams, an ex-county clerk and ex-sheriff of Perry 
county, and one of the oldest settlers of this section of the state. His 
wife was Miss Emily T. Goodrich, and they are the parents of seven 
daughters. They are: Anna, the wife of A. S. Marlow, now deceased; 
Alta, who married Henry Duckworth ; Florence, now Mrs. Elias Kane ; 
Viola, who married E. R. Hincke; Lizzie, the wife of A. W. McCants; 
lantha; and Mrs. Winthrop. 

THOMAS N. KARRAKEB was born three miles east of the town of 
Dongola, on February 18, 1875. He is the son of Nathan Karraker, 
who also was born in the same community, December 26, 1826, and died 
December 24, 1897. at the advanced age of seventy-one years. 

The Karraker family was established in Union county, Illinois, by 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 993 

Daniel Karraker, father of Nathan Karraker, and the grandfather of 
Thomas N., the subject of this sketch. Daniel Karraker and his son 
Nathan lived quietly and modestly, devoting their time and energies 
to the careful operating of their farm, and manifesting no particular 
ambition beyond the desire to attain a fair degree of prosperity and to 
live blamelessly in the eyes of the community. They were men of much 
stability of character, of a religious temperament and were known as 
exemplary citizens, contributing always to the welfare of their home 
town as their circumstances would permit them. 

Nathan K., the son, married in Union county in 1854, taking for his 
bride Sarah J. Knight, who was born in 1834 and who still survives her 
husband, he having passed away in the year 1897. They were the 
parents of a goodly family of ten children, those who yet live being : J. 
F., J. A. and J. W. Karraker, all of whom are pursuing near Dongola 
the vocation in which they were reared ; Emma, who is the wife of John 
L. Cope, and Laura, who is the wife of Alonzo Keller, also farming near 
Dongola ; F. M. Karraker, who has for many years been the representa- 
tive of the Illinois Central Railroad Company at Dongola; and Thomas 
N. Karraker, first named in this review and the subject thereof, and 
who is the youngest of the family. 

The education of the household of Nathan Karraker was quite as 
liberal as his opportunities and the times would justify, and all of the 
family received such educational advantages as was consistent with their 
station. Thomas N. Karraker did his advanced school work in the Don- 
gola High school and in the Southern Illinois Normal University at 
Carbondale, Illinois. He lacked but three months of finishing his course 
in the Normal University when his ambition to get into business life 
overshadowed his desire to complete his education, and he accordingly 
entered upon a course of business instruction and training in a Jack- 
sonville, Illinois, Business College, taking his diploma in 1895. 

In the interim he had taught a successful term of school in what was 
then known as the Karraker District, where he had attended school as a 
care-free, bare-foot boy, and when his business course was completed he 
accepted a position as clerk and bookkeeper in the bank of Jonesboro. 
It was in the year 1904 that he came to Mounds, Illinois, as assistant 
cashier for the Bank of Beechwood, and when, in 1906, it was converted 
by charter into the institution now known as the First State Bank of 
Mounds Thomas N. Karraker was made assistant cashier and in 1907 
was made cashier. Dr. Boswell was elected president and Judge Wall, 
vice-president. 

The career of Thomas Karraker has been purely a business one. Be- 
lieving a division of energy was but little better than wasted, he never 
allowed himself to become affiliated in any manner with politics or other 
outside matters which might by any chance be calculated to conflict with 
his duties as cashier or detract from the dignity and conservatism of the 
institution with which he is connected, and where he has acquitted him- 
self so creditably. 

His life was not strewn with roses nor his success attained on flowery 
beds of ease. He started in his chosen line of business as a bank clerk 
on a salary barely meeting the necessary expenses of life, but with that 
characteristic determination kept on pursuing until a goodly portion of 
success was won. 

Mr. Karraker is a member of Cairo Chapter, number 71. On April 
3, 1904, he was married to Miss Elsie Dillow, a daughter of D. J. Dillow, 
a merchant of Dongola, and Mr. Karraker suffered irremediable loss in 
the death of his wife, September 21, 1909. Their marriage was with- 
out issue. 



994 HISTORY OF SOUTHEEN ILLINOIS 

NORMAN MC!NTYEE. Well equipped for a professional career both 
by education and aptness, Norman Mclntyre, superintendent of the 
public schools of Campbell Hill, has acquired a far more than local rep- 
utation as an instructor and is widely known among the successful 
educators of this part of Jackson county. He was born January 28, 
1882, in Nashville, Illinois, which was likewise the birthplace of his 
father, William Mclntyre. His grandfather, William Eobert Mclntyre, 
who located in Nashville, Illinois, in the early part of the nineteenth 
century, was one of three brothers who migrated from South Carolina 
to the west, one of the remaining two settling in Missouri and the other 
in Arkansas. 

Born on the home farm in Nashville, Illinois, December 12, 1854, 
William Mclntyre, whose father was a veteran of the Civil war, re- 
mained beneath the parental roof-tree until twenty-five years of age, 
when he moved to Perry county, Illinois, where he has since resided, an 
esteemed and respected citizen. He is a man of strong convictions, and 
in his political affiliations is a Republican. He married, in 1880, Mar- 
garet Redfern, a daughter of James Redfern, of Perry county, who was 
a drummer boy in the Mexican war and a brave soldier in the Civil war. 
Nine children blessed their union, namely : William, who died in child- 
hood ; Norman, with whom this brief sketch is chiefly concerned ; Mary, 
wife of Marion Haggert ; James R. ; George W. ; Lawrence ; William ; 
Clyde; and Margaret. Four of these children are now school teachers, 
and three more are preparing to enter upon the same profession. 

Living in Perry county until sixteen years of age, Norman Mclntyre 
there attended the primary and grammar schools, after which he was 
a pupil in the Coulterville high school for two years. Going then to 
Carbondale, he took a course of five years in the Southern Illinois Nor- 
mal School; being there graduated with the class of 1909. During his 
attendance at the Normal Mr. Mclntyre taught school, being employed 
in different places, for one year having charge of the schools in Ash- 
ley, Illinois, and at Campbell Hill for an equal length of time. He is 
now devoting all of his time and energies to the improvement of the 
Campbell Hill schools, of which he is superintendent, the high rank 
which these institutions, (which in addition to the grammar grades does 
three years high school work,) maintain among similar schools in the 
county being due to his wise and systematic labors. 

Mr. Mclntyre married, August 15, 1909, Laura P. Barrow, daugh- 
ter of A. J. Barrow, of Campbell Hill, and they have one child, Robert 
Norman Mclntyre. Politically Mr. Mclntyre is a Republican, and re- 
ligiously he is a member of the Missionary Baptist church. 

REV. WALTER S. D. SMITH. Sometimes one finds a man who unites 
in himself the fine moral sense of a minister of the gospel with the keen 
business sense of a man who lives his life among material things. Such 
a man is of great value to both his friends and to the community in 
which he lives, for he is, as a rule, one of the few truly normal men 
living today. This unusual combination is to be found in the person 
of Walter S. D. Smith, of Pinckneyville, Illinois. He comes of a long 
line of educated and cultured men and women, and it is no wonder that 
he has the ability to speak words of weight and influence from the pulpit, 
for the founder of his family in this country was a well known Scottish 
divine. It is less easy to see where he gets his fine business instincts, 
but he certainly has them, having held his present difficult position for 
upwards of twenty years. He has not allowed absorption in other 
things to keep him from observing closely the political and civic life of 
the community, and the services thati he has rendered as a public servant 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 995 

have been much appreciated by the people who repeatedly placed him 
in positions of trust. 

Reverend Walter Scott Dinsmore Smith, or ' ' Elder Smith, " as he is 
called, represents one of the earliest of the newer families that settled in 
Perry county, his father, Dr. George S. Smith, having settled here in 
1862, about the time of the real development of Egypt. This branch 
of the Smith family was founded in America about the middle of the 
eighteenth century, its founder being Reverend Samuel Smith, who was 
a native of Scotland. He had received a very fine education in the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh, Scotland, and on his arrival in America was made 
a tutor in Princeton College. After he had severed his connection with 
this famous old institution of learning he taught a select and very 
popular school at Rahway, New Jersey, and here he died about 1795. 
His wife was a Miss Baker, and Samuel B. Smith was the only child 
to perpetuate the family name, his sister, Mary, living and dying a 
spinster. 

Samuel Baker Smith was born near Princeton, New Jersey, where 
his father was engaged in both ministerial and educational work. The 
date of his birth was 1790, and he received his early education from his 
father. The atmosphere of his home while that of a Presbyterian minis- 
ter, of the old school, was yet full of refinement, and if a bit austere and 
straightlaced in many respects, yet furnished the lad with what to him 
was meat and drink, that is books. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. 
He was a man of rare intellectual gifts, which even the hard life of the 
backwood's man could not smother. His wife was also from a family of 
considerable mental attainments of the old German stock, being Martha 
Siegfried, a daughter of the Reverend George Siegfried, a Baptist min- 
ister and editor in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Settling in eastern 
Ohio prior to 1820, these two reared a family of ten children, of whom 
two are still living. Mr. Smith died in 1858, at the age of about sixty- 
eight, and his wife passed away at the age of sixty-two, in 1855. Their 
children were James M., who died in Erie, Pennsylvania; Dr. George 
S. ; Samuel, who did not live to maturity ; Sarah A., who became the wife 
of John C. Hess and died at Iowa City, Iowa ; Simeon B., who lost his life 
during the Civil war, wearing the uniform of the boys in blue ; Nathan 
M. was a doctor and is buried at Kirksville, Missouri ; Mary, who married 
Dr. A. C. Moore, and is now living in Cincinnati, Ohio ; Martha, who 
married Rev. Charles Kimball ; William Wilgus, who was one of the 
pioneer in telegraphy and went to the Pacific coast in 1849. Here he 
built numerous lines of telegraph under contract, and later went into 
the dreaded desert country of Nevada with the same purpose. Here, 
near Wilgus, a town that was named for him, he was murdered by a 
roving band of Indians, his horse being coveted by them. The two 
younger children were Benjamin F., who passed his life in California 
and Nevada, and Maria J., who became the wife of J. H. Arnold, of 
Beallsville, Ohio, where they still live, honored parents of a numerous 
family. 

Dr. George Siegfried Smith was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 
March 23, 1817, and received his literary education in Mount Pleasant, 
Ohio. He later received his professional training in one of the medical 
schools of Cincinnati, after a course of study under Dr. James Kirk- 
patrick. He began to practice as an exponent of the regular school, but 
in 1857 he became a converfto the eclectic system, and continued to up- 
hold the tenets of this school to the end of his medical career of more 
than sixty years. In 1858 he left Newport, Ohio (in which state, at 
Beallsville, his son Walter was born January 12, 1845), and went to 
Jefferson City, Missouri. He spent the next four years practicing his 
profession near that place, and in 1862 came to Perry county, Illinois, 



996 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

where, and in Jackson and Williamson counties he spent the remainder 
of his life. He married Rachel M. Garvin at Martin's Ferry, Ohio, 
March 3, 1840. She was a daughter of James Garvin and Jane Dins- 
more, who lived near Moundsville, West Virginia, all of the closing years 
of their lives. Her father was a farmer and she was brought up as a 
capable housewife, and became an able assistant to the doctor in his rather 
trying profession. Mrs. Smith died near Sand Ridge, Illinois, December 
22, 1866, leaving four children : Jennie, who is the widow of L. T. Ross, of 
Pinckneyville, Illinois; Adoniram Judson, of Sand Ridge, Illinois; 
Walter Scott Dinsmore; and Friend Smith, who was cashier of the 
Murphy- Wall Bank in Pinckneyville for seventeen years and at the time 
of his death. Dr. Smith was a Republican in his political beliefs, and in 
his religious creed was a Baptist. He died in Pinckneyville April 2, 
1902. 

The larger number of the boyhood days of Walter S. D. were spent at 
Newport, Ohio, and at Saint Mary 's, West Virginia, on the opposite side 
of the Ohio river. He recently had the interesting experience of return- 
ing to the haunts of his boyhood after an absence of fifty years. The 
old, well remembered scenes had changed much, but here and there a 
spot seemed to have stood still, and he could imagine himself a bare-foot 
boy again. Not so his old friends, the little girl whom he had gazed at 
timidly from behind the refuge of his speller was a grandmother, and 
the boy who always used to play Indian with him, and run faster than 
any of them, was all doubled up with rheumatism, but what fun it 
was to talk over old times with them all. 

The common schools gave Walter Scott Dinsmore Smith his early 
training and to this was added a course in Shurtleff College, Alton, Illi- 
nois. As a young man he engaged in farming, later turning to school 
teaching as a means of livelihood. Before he was of age he was con- 
scious of a call to the work of a minister, and at eighteen he was licensed 
to preach by the authority of the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist church, 
of which Rev. Josiah Lemen was then pastor. He has held different pas- 
torates around Pinckneyville, and is yet subject to a call from the Nine 
Baptist Association, of which body he served many years as clerk. He 
has been clerk of the First Baptist church of Pinckneyville for about 
forty years. 

At the age of twenty-one W. S. D. Smith entered the court house 
in Pinckneyville as deputy county clerk, under L. T. Ross, and remained 
in this position for eight years. He was then elected to succeed his 
chief and was repeatedly re-elected until he had spent twenty-five years 
in this office. He retired December 1, 1890, and on the 1st of January, 
1891, became bookkeeper and cashier of the Pinckneyville Milling Com- 
pany, a position which he still holds. He is a Republican, who holds no 
bitterness against those who do not think as he does, and in his public 
service was known far and near for his courtesy and kindness to every- 
one. 

Reverend Smith was married on the llth of September, 1868, in 
Pinckneyville, Illinois, to Laura Ann Gordon. She was a daughter of 
James E. Gordon, one of the early settlers of Perry county and a noted 
justice of the peace. Her mother was Lucy A. Jones, a sister of Hum- 
phrey B. Jones, the founder of Pinckneyville and first county and circuit 
clerk of Perry county, who was appointed in 1827. Of the Gordon chil- 
dren there were William G. Gordon, deceased; Mary L., the widow of 
Matthew Charlton, of Saint Louis; Lucy A., who married William E. 
Dunn, a volunteer in the War of the Rebellion, who after the war took up 
the shoe-making trade, and became the father of the Dunn Brothers, mer- 
chants of Pinckneyville ; and Mrs. Smith, who was born on the 8th of 
February, 1851. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 997 

The children of the Reverend Smith and his wife are Elmer Gor- 
don, cashier of the Southern Illinois Milling Company, at Murphysboro ; 
Arthur C., who is secretary and treasurer of the Bessemer Coal and Min- 
ing Company of Saint Louis ; Percy B., who is secretary of the Egyptian 
Coal and Mining Company, also of Saint Louis ; Elsie, wife of S. J. Harry 
Wilson, superintendent of the Pinckneyville schools ; Lucy, who married 
Charles F. Gergen, president of the Gergen Coal Company ; and Stanley 
U-., editor of the Searchlight, a weekly paper published at Marissa, Illi- 
nois. 

WILLIAM A. GRANT. Kind-hearted, affectionate, obliging, forgiving, 
strong of mind, but though willing to listen to reason, but never showing 
quarters to a business adversary ; willing to risk his own judgment in 
business affairs, and has shown by his success that his judgment is good, 
such is the record of William A. Grant. Having started with nothing 
but his good name at the age of thirty-three, he has attained some dis- 
tinction as a business man, being the leading jeweler of the city of Harris- 
burg and owning large tracts of farm and coal land in Saline county. Be- 
ing of a rugged type of citizen, he naturally enjoys outside life. He en- 
joys his farms and is greatly interested in stock raising, also finding 
pleasure in his elegant saddle horses and thorough-bred cattle. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Carmi, Illinois, June 24, 1870, 
the son of Alexander and Ruth Grant, and of Scotch ancestry. Born, 
bred and educated in Forfar, Scotland, Alexander Grant lived there 
until his first family were grown, when, in 1854, he sailed for America, 
landing in New York. He made his way westward, where he might have 
the benefit of the vast range for the raising of stock, in which he had al- 
ways been very much interested, and his principal business was rais- 
ing and dealing in stock, which he marketed in Evansville, Indiana, and 
Shawneetown, Illinois. At that time there were no railroads and he 
drove or hauled by wagon his stock to market. Of his first family there 
were thirteen children, one of whom, William, had preceeded him to 
America, but father and son never met after they reached America. 

A few years after Alexander Grant came to this country his first wife 
died, and he afterward married Ruth Brazier, to which union there were 
five children born: Ellen E., John, William A., James and David. The 
reason for this second son, the subject of this sketch being named William 
was that in as much as the father had never heard of the William who 
preceded him to America up to the time of the birth of the subject of 
this sketch he naturally concluded that he was dead and named this son 
for the lost one. The second William was one of twins, and the father 
named the other one James, in memory of another son of the first family 
who was killed in the Union army, in the battle of Shiloh. Many years 
after the death of his father the first William was found in Oregon, where 
he had lived for many years. After finding that he had a brother Simon, 
also of the first family, at Carmi, William visited Simon and it was the 
pleasure of the second William to introduce the two own brothers after 
they had been separated for more than thirty-five years. One of the most 
striking things about these two brothers after being separated for so 
many years was the fact that both had the same movements and swing in 
their walk, as if they had trained together every day of their life. 

Alexander Grant's long and useful life was brought suddenly to a 
close in 1875, by being thrown from a horse, he having been so injured 
that typhoid fever made him an easy prey. He died at the age of sixty- 
six, being up to the time of this accident one of the strongest men in the 
county and almost as active in every way as in his younger days. He was 
known as one of the strongest men of his day, and at the same time he was 

known as one of the kindest, most obliging and most fearless. There is 
voi. n as 



998 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

a record in Forfar, Scotland, of one of the most daring deeds in its his- 
tory of this gentle man rescuing two men from a caved well, where it re- 
quired three days' work without sleep or rest to perform the awful task, 
and when it was so hazardous that even the brother of one of the unfor- 
tunate men would not undertake it. It is a well established fact that he 
would leave his own affairs to minister to a neighbor in distress; such 
men are greatly missed by a community, and in the death of Alexander 
Grant the family lost a kind father and husband and the community a 
benefactor. The wife sustained this great loss only two years, leaving 
John, Ellen E. and William A., very small, to battle for themselves. 
John died at the age of fourteen, Ellen E., at the age of 29, and William 
A. is left as the only survivor of the last as well as the first family. 

Simon, of whom mention has been made in this sketch, was one of the 
younger of the first family. He was only seventeen years of age at the 
time he enlisted in the Union army, and he served to the close of the 
war, after being discharged he re-enlisted in the U. S. standing army and 
served five years. Being stationed in the West, he saw some hard ser- 
vice there as well as in the rebellion. After finishing his service with the 
army he went back to Carmi and became engaged in the manufacture of 
brick, at which he continued all his life, and at the same time he became 
interested in the affairs of the times and was quite active in political mat- 
ters and served two terms as mayor of the city of Carmi and in many 
other positions of trust. He also possessed many of the traits of his fa- 
ther, and was very kind, always seeking to help those in need of his as- 
sistance. He died in 1896, in the prime of his manhood, leaving the sub- 
ject of this sketch and William, the lost son, as the only survivors of a 
family of eighteen children. 

William who has been spoken of as the lost son, was a rather peculiar 
character never having taken the time to try to find his father in his 
younger days one would conclude that he cared little for friends, but the 
contrary is true ; he loved friends and, while he seemed to appreciate the 
friendship of the gentler sex, he never married and yet always had a nice 
home and for many years was proprietor of a large hotel in Corvallis, 
Oregon. He was a social man and liked Masonry, and many years before 
his death, which occurred in December, 1909, he had attained to the hon- 
orable distinction of being made a thirty-second degree Mason. With 
the death of the older William the subject of this sketch is left the only 
one of this large family of long lived people. William, the elder, was 
eighty-five years old at the time of his death and a vigorous man. 

William A. Grant, left an orphan at the age of seven, went to Ham- 
ilton county, near Broughton, and lived on a farm with Thomas J. Por- 
ter for eight years, where he had a very hard time as a boy. At the age 
of fifteen he left Porter and went back to Carmi and worked for his 
brother Simon in his brick yard in summer and went to school in winter. 
Up to this time he had had little advantage for schooling, being scarcely 
able to read or write, but after four years of hard study he was able to 
secure a certificate to teach school, which he did for some time and then 
attended college at St. Louis, Missouri, the Christian Brothers' College, 
from which institution he graduated on his twenty -first birth anniversary, 
standing second in a class of twenty-two, and he having accomplished 
three years' work in one, while all of the other members of the class had 
spent the full time on the course. 

After completing his studies he went back to Carmi and took charge 
of his brother Simon 's business, and afterward was a partner in the brick 
business with his brother for two years. From 1894 until 1903 he was 
engaged in the sewing machine business an as employe of the Singer 
Manufacturing Company, in which occupation he gathered a vast fund 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 999 

of business experience, and in 1903 he went to Harrisburg, Illinois, and 
engaged in a mercantile enterprise. 

In 1892 W. A. Grant was married to Eliza R. Brandt, of Carmi, Illi- 
nois, a daughter of Henry and Catherine Brandt, who came to America 
in 1856 and settled at Parkersburg, Illinois, where the daughter 
Eliza R., was born in 1871. To this union there is one child, a son, J. 
Glenard Grant, who is a sturdy, rugged boy, inheriting the strong physi- 
cal make-up of his Scotch father and German mother. 

Since 1905 Mr. Grant has been engaged in the retail jewelry business, 
having built up one of the largest enterprises of the kind in this section by 
his attention to business and the policy of dealing with all alike, dealing 
on the principle that one man's dollar is as good as the other's and insist- 
ing that in his store all shall be accorded the same treatment. At pres- 
ent Mr. Grant is also interested in farming and stock raising, having ac- 
quired a large tract of Saline county land. He takes great pride arid 
pleasure in his high bred cattle and horses and is a great lover of the 
standard bred horse, both harness and saddle types. One of his great 
pleasures is in his saddle horses. 

Politically Mr. Grant is a Democrat, and is proud of the fact that he 
has three times voted for the Hon. William Jennings Bryan for the presi- 
dency. He is also a fraternal order man, having membership in the 
Knights of Pythias, Elks, and Masonic lodges. Masonry is his favorite 
lodge, and he has attained the honorable rank of the thirty-second degree 
in the Scottish Rite and the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the 
Mystic Shrine, holding his membership in Medinah Temple at Chicago, 
Illinois. Mr. Grant is a Presbyterian in religion and takes great interest 
in the church to which he belongs and is also a ruling elder of his church. 
He has his faults who has not ? but when the last chapter of this sketch 
is closed may it be said, he lived to bless mankind, tried to be of some 
service to some one, and leaves the world some better for having lived in 
it. 

LEWIS B. PULLET. The scope of a man's usefulness is to be deter- 
mined by his own metewand ; his success in connection with the practical 
duties and responsibilities of life is determined by his intrinsic powers and 
the application of the same. Popular appreciation of the value of a man 's 
labors is given with no equivocal verdict. The pertinence of these state- 
ments is clearly shown in the career of Lewis B. Pulley, who is one of 
the well known and highly esteemed citizens of his native county and 
whose hold upon popular confidence and esteem in the same is evidenced 
by the fact that he is the only county official of Williamson county who 
has to his credit and distinction three successive elections to office. He 
is circuit) clerk of Williamson county and is now nearing the close of his 
third term in this important position, his administration of the affairs of 
which has been marked by carefulness, fidelity and distinctive executive 
ability. 

Mr. Pulley was born on a farm in East Marion township formerly Crab 
Orchard precinct, Williamson county, Illinois, seven miles east of Marion, 
the judicial center of the county, and the date of his nativity was Sep- 
tember 8, 1856. He is a son of Washington and Eliza (Owen) Pulley, 
the former of whom was born in Lunenburg county, Virginia, in 1818, 
and the latter of whom was born in the state of Tennessee. Washington 
Pulley was a son of William Pulley, who came from the Old Dominion 
state in an early day and numbered himself among the pioneer settlers 
of Williamson county, Illinois, where he secured a tract of government 
land and reclaimed a farm. Here both he and his wife passed the re- 
mainder of their lives and their names merit enduring place on the roster 
of the sterling pioneers of this section of the stafe. William Pulley died 



1000 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

several years prior to the inception of the Civil war, and the remains of 
both him and his wife were laid to rest near their old home in East 
Marion township. 

Washington Pulley was a child at the time of the family removal 
from Virginia to Illinois and was reared to manhood in Williamson 
county, where he had his full quota of experience in connection with the 
trials and hardships of the pioneer epoch. His educational advantages 
were necessarily limited, owing to the exigencies of time and place, but 
he became a man of strong character and well extended mental ken. He 
secured from the public domain a tract of land and with the passing of 
years succeeded in bringing his farm, which was not a large one, into such 
productiveness as to yield adequate returns and provide for the wants 
of himself and his family, the old homestead farm being now owned by his 
son Lewis B., whose name initiates this review. His sterling attributes 
of character ever commanded to him the high regard of his fellow men 
and he was one of the well known and popular citizens of East Marion 
township until his death, which occurred in the year 1880. In politics he 
was originally a Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party 
he allied himself therewith. He was a great admirer and strong supporter 
of President Lincoln, and though it was not permitted him to serve as a 
soldier in the Civil war he did all in his power to further the cause of the 
Union during that climacteric period of the nation's history. Both he 
and his wife were devout and consistent members of the Christian church. 
The devoted wife and mother survived her husband by nearly a quarter 
of a century and was summoned to eternal rest in 1904, at the vener- 
able age of eighty-two years. Her father, William Owen, came from Ten- 
nessee to Illinois in an early day and settled in Williamson county, which 
continued to be his home until his death. 

Washington and Eliza (Owen) Pulley became the parents of eight 
children, concerning whom the following brief data are given as a con- 
sistent portion of this sketch : Mary is the wife of William L. Hern, of 
Carbondale, this state ; John T. died in Williamson county, leaving a fam- 
ily ; Eliza is the wife of Thomas Davis, of Marion, Williamson county, 
where J. M., the next in order of birth, also resides; Amanda is the wife 
of James Hearn, of Marion ; Lewis B. is the immediate subject of this re- 
view ; Miss Susan likewise maintains her home in Marion ; and Eldridge 
S. is a prosperous farmer near the old homestead. 

Lewis B. Pulley passed his childhood and youth under the sturdy and 
invigorating discipline of the farm on which he was born, and his early 
educational discipline was secured in the, district schools. His higher 
academic training was secured in the Southern Illinois Normal Univer- 
sity, and as his sphere of manual activities was curtailed through an ac- 
cident which necessitated the amputation of his left arm, when he was 
nineteen years of age, he early formulated plans for entering a vocation in 
which this physical handicap would not figure. Alert and appreciative 
as a student, he prepared himself for the work of the pedagogic profession, 
and in this important field of endeavor he gained success and popularity 
of no uncertain order, as he brought to bear ambition, energy, self-con- 
trol and a well disciplined mind. He began teaching in the district 
schools soon after attaining to his legal majority and with this phase of 
educational work he continued to be successfully identified for a period 
of fourteen years, the greater part of his service having been in the 
country schools. 

During these years of earnest and effective endeavor Mr. Pulley had 
firmly entrenched himself in the confidence and esteem of the people of 
his native county, and in 1900 he first appeared as an aspirant for public 
office. He sought nomination as the Republican candidate for circuit 
clerk and in the nominating convention defeated two strong competitors. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1001 

He was elected to the office in November of that year and upon the ex- 
piration of his regular terra of four years this effectiveness and accepta- 
bility of his services were most emphatically shown in his nomination 
without opposition and by his election by a most gratifying majority. 
At the next election, that of 1908, candidates for the office seemed to 
spring up all over the county, like soldiers from the dragon-teeth sowed 
by Cadmus, and notwithstanding the spirited opposition thus brought to 
bear Mr. Pulley was decisively victorious in both the nominating conven- 
tion and the ensuing election, in which latter, as already stated, he had the 
distinction of being the first county officer of Williamson county to be 
elected for a third successive term. Under these conditions further words 
to mark the efficiency of his administration and the popular verdict 
passed upon the same are not demanded. In politics Mr. Pulley has ever 
been arrayed as a stalwart in the camp of the Republican party and he is 
well fortified in his convictions and opinions as to matters of public 
polity. As a broad-minded and loyal citizen he takes specially deep in- 
terest in all that touches the material and social welfare of his home city 
and native county, and he has resided in Marion since 1900, when he was 
first elected to his present office. He and his family are members of the 
Christian church and are active in the support of the various depart- 
ments of its work. 

On the 14th of October, 1886, in the neighborhood in which he was 
reared, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pulley to Miss Annie L. Tid- 
well, one of the eight children born to Dr. John F. and Martha J. (0 'Neal) 
Tidwell, who came from Tennessee and established their "home in William- 
son county in the pioneer days. In conclusion of this review is entered 
brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Pulley : Lula B. is 
the wife of Leslie 0. Caplinger, and both are deputies in the office of her 
father; Walter L., who was graduated in the department of pharmacy 
of the Northwestern University, is engaged in the drug business at Chi- 
cago ; Guy L. likewise is a druggist by profession and is identified with 
this line of enterprise at Murphysboro, Jackson county ; and Leamon T. 
remains at the parental home. Mr. Pulley is a member of the Elks fra- 
ternity, affiliating with Marion lodge, No. 800. 

ROBERT R. WARD. Prominent among the younger generation of capi- 
talists in Southern Illinois who are making this section one of impor- 
tance in the financial and industrial world may be mentioned Robert R. 
Ward, of Benton, who has displayed abilities that mark him as a man who 
must be reckoned with in banking and business circles. It is not every son 
of an illustrious father who is able to achieve success, but in the case of 
Mr. Ward it appears as though his father's mantle had fallen upon his 
shoulders. He was born August 9, 1879, in Benton, a son of William R. 
and Imogene (Snyder) Ward. 

The great-grandparents of Mr. Ward, Abel and Polly Ann Ward, 
where both born in South Carolina in 1800, were married in 1819, and 
died, respectively, in 1886 and 1893. Their son, John Ward, the grand- 
father of Robert R., was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, and when six 
years of age accompanied his parents to Franklin county, where he be- 
came a prominent merchant and mill man, building the first roller mills 
in the county, where he died in 1902, at the age of seventy-eight years. 

William R. Ward, the father, was born five miles north of Benton, 
in Franklin county, August 12, 1848, and came to Benton with his par- 
ents when he was four years of age, receiving his education in the com- 
mon schools of Benton and the State University at Bloomington, Indiana, 
which he attended for two years. On his return home he went into busi- 
ness with his father, a general store concern known as John Ward & Com- 
pany, and later formed a partnership with Captain C. Moore, un- 



1002 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

der the firm style of Ward & Moore. This business continued until 1875, 
when, with Captain Moore, Mr. Ward established the first bank in Frank- 
lin county, known as the Exchange Bank of Ward & Moore, and this was 
conducted by them until 1898, at which time Mr. Ward was taken down 
with an illness from which he never recovered, although he lived until 
March, 1905. In 1898 the Exchange Bank of Ward & Moore was incor- 
porated as the Benton State Bank, of which Mr. Ward was president un- 
til his death, and he was also interested in the milling and grain business, 
and for many years was known as the wealthiest man in Franklin county. 
He was a Democrat in politics, and during Governor Altgeld 's administra- 
tion served as trustee of the Southern Illinois Normal School. He was 
also a director in the St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute Railroad Com- 
pany up to the time it was absorbed by the Illinois Central. Mr. Ward 
was an early and prominent Mason, and a consistent member of the Chris- 
tion church. He married Imogene Snyder, daughter of Solomon and 
Mary (Russell) Snyder, natives of Franklin county, and granddaughter 
of Samuel T. Russell, one of the first settlers in Williamson county. 

Robert R. Ward received a high school education at Benton. He en- 
tered the Illinois State University at Champaign in 1893, from which he 
was graduated with the degrees of A. B. and LL. B. in 1903, and in 
1904 was admitted to the bar, although he never practiced, owing to the 
necessity of taking charge of his father's affairs, on account of the lat- 
ter 's feeble health. He at once took active charge of the bank's affairs, 
being elected vice president, 1904, and where he has since continued to be 
the leading factor in the transactions carried on by this substantial in- 
stitution, and has also had various other interests. He owns large farming 
properties, to which he gives a great deal of attention, and was the first 
to grow alfalfa in this part of the state. Recently he and his brother 
have erected a large business block in honor of their father's memory. 
He is a member of the Elks, and is high priest of W. R. Ward Chapter, 
which was named in honor of his father, and belongs to all branches of 
the Masonic fraternity, including the Knights Templar, Consistory and 
Shrine. 

In 1905 Mr. Ward was married to Miss Terzie Kirkpatrick, daughter 
of the Hon. R. D. Kirkpatrick, a Republican member of the State Legis- 
lature from this district, a prominent capitalist here, and a veteran of the 
Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Ward have had three children, born as follows : 
William R., in 1906 ; Russell D., in 1907 ; and Leroy Albert, in 1910. 

JAMES DONALY. Although now retired from business life, James Don- 
aly has borne an important part in the development of the resources of 
Southern Illinois, and his name is well known in the mining world of this 
section. He spent nearly forty years as an operator and miner at Car- 
terville, where he retired to private life in August, 1911. Mr. Donaly's 
childhood was spent in Carterville, he having been eight years of age 
when his father brought the family from Murphysboro to Carterville. 
He was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, September 27, 1865, where his 
father was a miner, and four years later the latter came to Illinois and 
established himself temporarily at the county seat of Jackson county. 
He is of Scotch-Irish blood, his father being a native of Beath, Scotland, 
and his mother of county Roscommon, Ireland. 

William Donaly, the father of James of this review, was born January 
3, 1839, and gave his whole active life to the occupation of a miner. He 
is now living a retired life, having witnessed an advance in the busi- 
ness of coal mining, the history of which, were it written, would furnish 
an interesting chapter among the great industries of the country. Mr. 
Donaly married Mary Ganley, who was born March 17, 1836, and they 
have had the following children : Ellen, the wife of Henry Phillips, of 



flft LIBRARY 

OF THE 
BWVERSITY OF ILUSOB 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1003 

Carterville ; Mary, the wife of Fred H. Koennecke, of this city ; Kate, 
now Mrs. George Phillips, of Carterville ; Mrs. Edward Myers, wife of a 
well-known merchant, of St. Louis ; and James. 

Beginning work as a child of seven years, James Donaly could not 
have profited much as a pupil in school. He got merely the rudiments of 
a few common branches and acquired the remainder of his education 
from actual experience. He began as a " trapper, ' ' in the Bryden mine, 
the first one opened at Carterville. After nearly ten years of application 
to his vocation, and having acquired complete knowledge of it, he relaxed 
his efforts and spent several -months touring the West and South, work- 
ing in mines at Trinidad, Colorado ; Cothridge, New Mexico ; Gordon, 
Texas; and Atoka, Oklahoma. He went on a prospecting tour of New 
Mexico for the Santa Fe Coal Company, extending his trip to points in 
California and returning home after an absence of nearly two years. 
Soon after resuming work in the coal field Mr. Donaly entered the service 
of Sam. T. Brush to do some development work, completed that and was 
made a mine manager by Mr. Brush. He became superintendent of the 
Brush property later on and in 1898 he began the coal business independ- 
ently. He joined Mr. Fred H. Koennecke under the firm name of the 
Donaly -Koennecke Company, opened a property near the Brush mine and 
subsequently sold it. He then transferred his interests in mining to a 
lease some two and one-half miles north of Carterville, where the Donaly - 
Koennecke Company opened another mine, and after nine years with it 
Mr. Donaly sold out to Mr. Koennecke and withdrew from the field. He 
has farming and financial interests, owning a number of business houses 
in Carterville and being a stockholder in the Carterville State and Sav- 
ings Bank. His modern home on Main street was erected by Mr. Donaly 
and there he and his family maintain their residence. 

On October 1, 1896, Mr. Donaly was married to Miss Dell Kirk, who 
died in 1900, leaving one daughter, Ruby. Mr. Donaly 's second marriage 
was to Miss Margaret Jeffrey, a daughter of Peter Jeffrey, a coal man of 
Murphysboro and a native of Ayrshire, Scotland. Mrs. Donaly was born 
in 1871, in Murphysboro, and grew up there. In 1908 Mr. Donaly and the 
members of his family took a trip to the old Jeffrey home in Scotland, 
and there the death of his mother-in-law occurred. Mr. Donaly has 
studied Free Masonry deeply, and has taken the thirty-second degree 
along the Scottish route. He is a member of Oriental Consistory and of 
Medina Temple. His political inclinations lead him to support the prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party. 

THOMAS ORVAL ELLIOTT, superintendent of schools at Harrisburg, 
Illinois, is well known as one of the leading educators in the southern, 
part of this state. 

Mr. Elliott is a native of Illinois. He was born in Hamilton county, 
October 19, 1878, a son of the Rev. J. C. and Mary J. (Hincks) Elliott, 
the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Tennessee. Grand- 
father Elliott was a Baptist minister. He came from Kentucky to Illi- 
nois at an early day ; spent a number of years in Coles county, and 
about 1870 moved from there to Hamilton county, where his death oc- 
curred before the birth of the subject of this sketch. It was in Coles 
county that J. C. Elliott was reared. Following in the footsteps of his 
honored father, he entered the ministry of the Missionary Baptist 
church, with which he has been actively identified in Southern Illinois 
since 1875, a period of thirty-six years. 

Thomas 0. Elliott spent his boyhood days on a farm in Hamilton 
county. At an early age he became self reliant, and at eighteen was 
employed to teach a country school. He spent three years under the in- 



1004 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

struction of Dr. Washburn, ex-president of Ewing College, and after- 
ward took a course in the normal school at Carbondale, Illinois, and for 
some time was a student at Valparaiso, Indiana. He alternated teach- 
ing country school in Hamilton county and attending college for five 
years, after which he was for three years principal of the Broughton 
graded schools. In the fall of 1902 he came to Harrisburg as principal 
of a ward school, and the next year he was made superintendent of the 
Harrisburg schools, the position he has since so efficiently filled. As 
showing the marked growth in schools and school work here, it may be 
stated that in 1902 only thirteen teachers were employed; at the pres- 
ent time there are thirty-two ; then there were six hundred pupils, while 
now there are seventeen 'hundred. During the past six years five new 
buildings have been erected, all modern and with first-class equipment. 
And with an excellent school board, alive to the needs of the town, and 
with a superintendent devoted to his work, the educational interests 
of Harrisburg are well protected. In addition to his regular work here 
Mr. Elliott is from time to time called upon to render service as in- 
structor in teachers' institutes, and among the teachers of Southern Illi- 
nois he is held in high esteem. 

In 1898 Mr. Elliott married Miss Virola Elder, who, like himelf, is 
a native of Hamilton county. They have one child, Ralph Elder Elliott. 
Mr. Elliott owns a farm in Hamilton county, and otherwise has some 
valuable investments. He and his wife are identified with the church 
in which he was reared, the Missionary Baptist church. His long serv- 
ice in the prominent and responsible position he fills is ample evidence 
of his high standing in the community. 

JOHN SIMON SCHORR. The oldest brewery in Southern Illinois is that 
situated at Waterloo, Monroe county, which has been in operation for 
more than seventy years. Its present owner, John Simon Schorr, has 
built up this large industry until it takes rank with the leading breweries 
of this section, and he is a man who is qualified to be at the head of a con- 
cern of this kind, his experience and training having been in this line of 
work. John Simon Schorr was born in St. Louis, Missouri, January 30, 
1875, and is a son of Michael and Magdalena (Storm) Schorr. 

Michael Schorr was born at Lonnerstadt, Bavaria, June 24, 1853, and 
in 1871 came to the United States and settled in St. Louis, Missouri. Ten 
years later he removed to Waterloo, where he has since identified himself 
with business ventures of a large nature, and since January, 1898, he has 
been a co-partner in the Commercial Bank. He is a prominent Mason, be- 
longs to the Odd Fellows, and is also a member of the Deutscher Orden 
Harugari. In 1873 he was married to Miss Magdalena Storm, an esti- 
mable young lady of St. Louis, and they had three sons: John Simon, 
Oscar and John Michael, all of whom are engaged in business in 
Waterloo. 

John Simon Schorr was educated in the public schools of St. Louis and 
Waterloo, and subsequently took a course in brewing in the Chicago Brew- 
ing School. On leaving the latter institution he associated himself with 
the Waterloo Brewery, which was founded about 1841 by Mr. John Koe- 
chel, and which has been in active operation ever since. Mr. Schorr event- 
ually became the proprietor of this establishment, and under his able man- 
agement the business has enjoyed a steady growth. The high grade of 
product for which this brewery has always been noted has been main- 
tained by him, and he has introduced new ideas in operating the plant 
and put in the latest machinery known to the trade. A ready market is 
found for the product in Southern Illinois and the South, and the firm en- 
joys a well-merited reputation for upright business principles and fair 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1005 

dealing. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons as a member of the 
Blue lodge at Waterloo and the Knights Templar at Belleville. He and 
Mrs. Schorr attend the German Evangelical church, and both are well and 
favorably known in religious and charitable work. Mr. Schorr is a Demo- 
crat politically, but his business has demanded so much of his attention 
that he has not found time to enter public life. However, he does his full 
duty as a citizen, and gives his hearty support to all movements planned 
for the municipal welfare. A man of pleasant personality, he makes nu- 
merous acquaintances and has surrounded himself with a host of friends. 
On January 13, 1897, Mr. Schorr was united in marriage with Miss 
Cornelia Bode, of Waterloo, Illinois, daughter of William and Mary (Lo- 
fink) Bode, of Waterloo, and four children have been born to this union, 
namely : Lydia, who is fourteen years of age ; Adolphus, who has reached 
the age of twelve ; Manilda, who is ten years old ; and Simon, who has had 
eight birthdays, and all are attending the Waterloo public schools. 

JUDGE W. FRANK SLATER. The bench and bar of Southern Illinois is 
an able one and ranks high in the character and attainments of its mem- 
bers, in its standard of legal ethics, in progressive and enlightened meth- 
ods, and in an inteligent and discriminating use of the experiences of 
other jurisdictions. A gentleman who combines in himself all these good 
qualities is Judge W. Frank Slater, county judge of Williamson county. 
He is a native son of the county and of the type which is indeed proud to 
claim as its own. His life record began on March 24, 1869, in Lake Creek 
precinct, now the township of that name, his parents being John W. and 
Nancy A. (Casey) Slater, the former having also been born in this county, 
but when it was a part of Franklin county. John W. Slater was born in 
1834, and a comparatively short life was terminated in 1872. He de- 
voted his energies to farming and married the daughter of Jesse Casey, 
who came to Illinois from Smith county, Tennessee, where Nancy A. was 
born. She was the eldest member of a family comprising the following : 
Leasy, who died as Mrs. James Weaver; Jesse Morgan, who died in this 
county in 1896, at the age of sixty-three years, and whose son, Samuel K., 
is one of the leading newspaper men of Marion, publishing the Marion 
Evening Post and the Egyptian Press; Henry passed away unmarried, as 
did also John ; Moses resides at West Frankford, Illinois ; and Mary mar- 
ried first a Mr. Hartwell and then a Mr. Goddard. Subsequently to Mr. 
Slater's demise Mrs. Slater became the wife of J. W. James and departed 
this life January 20, 1912. 

The Slaters came into Illinois early in its history as a state from North 
Carolina, and the family were founded here by Jackson Slater about 1820. 
Jackson Slater was sufficiently a pioneer to be able to pick and choose his 
land, and he passed his life in the domain of agriculture and lived long 
enough to see Williamson county made, settled, and its resources consid- 
erably developed. He married a Miss Finney, and their children were as 
follows : Didama, who became the wife of John W. Hartwell and resides 
in Williamson county; John W., the father of the subject; Lydia, who 
married a Mr. Rainey and is now deceased ; Henry, a Union veteran of the 
Civil war, a farmer residing in Lake Creek township and the father of a 
family ; and Ellen, now deceased, who married Riley Hartwell. The is- 
sue of John W. and Nancy Casey Slater were Thomas Sherman and Henry 
Leray, who died in early life, and Judge Slater, of this review. Mrs. 
Slater had no children by her second marriage. 

The common schools gave Judge Slater his education, assisted by a 
well-advised course of home study ; in truth, it is not unlikely that the lat- 
ter has rendered him even greater service than the former. When quite 
young he chose the law as his vocation and first attacked his Blackstone in 
the office of L. D. Hartwell and J. C. B. Smith, studying to such good pur- 



1006 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

pose that he was admitted to the bar in 1893 at Mt. Vernon, Illinois, 
before the appellate court. He entered the practice at Marion and sub- 
sequently formed a partnership with Senator Burnett, which was dis- 
solved by the death of the latter. A second partnership was formed 
later with Judge W. W. Clemens, which existed for three years, and 
then a partnership was formed with W. C. S. Rhea, which lasted a year. 

In 1898 Judge Slater was appointed county judge by Governor Tan- 
ner, to succeed L. D. Hartwell, and he was the nominee of the Republi- 
cans to succeed himself the same year, and was elected for a full term. 
In January, 1906, he was honored with appointment to the same office 
by Governor Charles S. Deneen and succeeded Rufus Neeley. At the 
election that fall he was the party candidate to succeed himself and was 
elected. He was again elected in 1910, and is serving his third full 
term, with credit to himself and honor and profit to his constituents. 

As early stated, Judge Slater owns allegiance to the principles of 
Republicanism. He grew up in that atmosphere and he has an 
abiding faith in the success of government through its instrumentality. 
His first vote was cast for president in 1892, when General Harrison 
was the unsuccessful candidate, and he has done service as judicial and 
congressional delegate from Williamson county to the conventions of 
the state. 

On October 2, 1895, Judge Slater married at Spillertown, Miss Zula 
R. Reid, a daughter of W. M. Reid and Bethany J., his wife, who were 
of the early settlers of this county. The Reids came to Illinois from 
Missouri and Mrs. Slater was born in Williamson county and is one 
of ten children, namely: Mrs. Slater; Edward and Carrie, twins, the 
latter now Mrs. (Dr.) Peas, of Montana, and the former a physician 
of Marion; Dr. Charles, of Denver, Colorado; Dr. Frank, of Warren, 
Ohio ; John, of Denver, Colorado, a lawyer ; Dr. George W., of Worces- 
ter, Massachusetts; Ella and Nellie, twins, the former the wife of Dr. 
Austin, of Benton, Illinois, and the latter now Mrs. Bert Stotler, of 
Devil's Lake, North Dakota. 

The children of Judge and Mrs. Slater are Magelle, Wiley, Herman 
and John 'William. The Slaters of the earlier times were primitive 
Baptists and the Reids are of the Christian denomination. Judge 
Slater belongs to only one fraternity, the Knights of Pythias. 

HARRY L. FRIER. The journalistic profession is one of the most hon- 
orable in which men possessed of the higher order of intelligence can 
engage, and it is one that usually appeals to one who has ambition and 
ability for leadership among his fellows. Newspapers are truly the real 
moulders of public opinion and their editors wield a powerful influence 
in directing the efforts and energies of the public into channels that are 
effective and redound to the general welfare of the people. A com- 
munity which boasts a bright, up-to-date newspaper conducted by a 
man of high intelligence and business and executive ability is fortunate, 
and. in this respect Franklin county, Illinois, may congratulate itself 
as the home of the Benton Republican, of which paper the editor and 
proprietor is Mr. Harry L. Frier, one of Benton 's leading and most 
highly respected citizens. 

Mr. Frier is a native of Shawneetown, Illinois, at which place he 
was born on January 20, 1871. His parents, both of whom are still 
living and are well known residents of Benton, are N. A. and Cornelia 
(Sanderson) Frier. The parents were born in Illinois, the mother at 
Equality and the father at Shawneetown, where the latter received 
his early education and learned the marble cutters' trade, at which he 
was employed for a number of years. His political beliefs embrace the 
tenets of the Republican party, in the councils of which he takes an 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1007 

active part, and he now holds the office of city judge, serving the com- 
munity faithfully and well in this capacity. He is a valued member of 
several of the leading fraternal organizations, including the Indepen- 
dent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, in both of which 
he has been honored by election to chairs. He and his wife are also 
leaders in church activities, being devout members of the Methodist 
Episcopal denomination. 

Harry L. Frier spent his early boyhood days in his native town, 
attending the schools at Shawneetown until sixteen years of age, when 
he gave up further study and embraced an opportunity to learn the 
printer's trade in the Neivs office there, that paper being then conducted 
by L. F. Tromly. It speaks highly of Mr. Frier's unfailing industry 
and faithfulness, as well as his ability, that he remained in this his first 
position for fifteen years, also working one year for Mr. Tromly at St. 
Louis. He early undertook editorial work in connection with the pub- 
lication of the paper and proved" himself a fluent and logical writer. 

After severing his connection with the News Mr. Frier filled the 
chair of assistant editor of the Poplar Bluff (Missouri) Republican 
for two years and then, in 1898, located in Benton, having negotiated 
the purchase of the Benton Republican from Chenault & McCreery. 
Since that date he has continuously conducted the publication, built up 
a large and prosperous business and having upon his list of subscribers 
the name of practically every person of any prominence in the county. 
As the name indicates, Mr. Frier's paper advocates Republican prin- 
ciples, and he has at all times been active in political affairs and a 
valued adviser in the party's councils. He was for several years secre- 
tary of the Republican County Central Committee. 

In connection with his publication business Mr. Frier also operates 
as a news dealer. Since 1905 he has served as postmaster of Benton, 
having received his first appointment to that post from President 
Roosevelt, and was reappointed in 1909 by President Taft. He has 
conducted the office in a way that has given popular satisfaction, at 
all times his administration of affairs being particularly efficient. 

In 1898 Mr. Frier was united in marriage to Miss Mollie C. Chap- 
man, daughter of Friend C. Chapman, an old settler of McLanesboro, 
Illinois, and a Civil war veteran. Mr. and Mrs. Frier are the parents 
of a family of four children, Pauline, Pearl, Florence and Wendell, 
all of whom are attending school. They have a happy, comfortable 
home, are generously hospitable and are active participants in matters 
of interest to the leading social and religious circles of the community. 
Mr. Frier is fraternally affiliated with the Masonic order, being a past 
master of Benton Lodge, No. 64, and he is also a Knight of Pythias, 
and a member of the Court of Honor and the Tribe of Ben Hur. 

FRED W. RICHART. The life and development of every community 
is dependent upon the resourceful energy of its leading men who, 
through their various enterprises, not only open up natural advantages, 
but bring into the locality outside capital and an influx of population. 
The Interurban Electric Company, of Carterville, is a corporation that 
has very materially developed the city and its contiguous territory, and 
its progress and present prosperity is largely due to the efforts of its 
president, Fred W. Richart. Mr. Richart was born near Carterville, 
February 21, 1867, his father, Hugh M. Richart, being a farmer and 
pioneer of Williamson county. 

Hugh M. Richart came to Illinois from Columbiana county, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1840. as a boy of thirteen years, and grew up and was 
educated in Williamson county. He became lieutenant of the Eighty- 
first Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, 



1008 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

serving at the assault of Vicksburg, where he was wounded four times 
within an hour. He was hit by a buckshot, a cannon ball and two 
musket balls, yet he lived to do further service in the army and to take 
part in civic affairs at home during a long life. He was a man of 
strong Republican convictions, took an active interest in public affairs 
and served as constable and county commissioner. For nearly a 
quarter of a century he was a member of the Presbyterian church and 
an elder therein from the time of its organization, and he was a faith- 
ful and popular comrade of the G. A. R. His death occurred near 
Carterville, in 1905, when seventy-eight years of age. His wife, who 
bore the maiden name of Rebecca Harrison, was a native of Ohio and 
a relative of the late Benjamin Harrison, and she died in 1902, when 
seventy-two years of age. They had two children : Frederick William ; 
and Bertha, who died when six years of age. 

Fred W. Richart was a country schoolboy in Williamson county 
while growing up, and then attended the Southern Illinois Normal 
University at Carbondale. He eventually took the engineering course 
in the Illinois University, graduating in 1891. For the first ten years 
in his work as a mechanical engineer he remained in the mining region 
of Williamson county, varying his profession and entering the domain 
of mining and electrical engineering as the occasion demanded. In 
1900 he associated himself with Messrs. Ingraham and Bellinger and 
built the light plant at Herrin, named the Herrin Light and Power 
Company, which they operated until 1910, when it was sold to a cor- 
poration which absorbed the Hope Electric Company at Carterville, the 
new firm style being the Interurban Electric Company. Mr. Richart 
was elected president of the new concern and established himself at 
Carterville, the headquarters of the company. 

In August, 1903, Mr. Richart was married in Williamson county to 
Miss Lizzie Watson. Her father, James Watson, was born in Scotland 
and passed his life as a miner and farmer. Three children have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Richart : Ralph, Christina Rebecca and Hugh M. 
Like his father, Mr. Richart is a stanch Republican, but he has not 
sought nor cared for office. Fraternally he is connected with the 
Modern Woodmen. He is one of the board of deacons of the Presby- 
terian church, is interested in all the auxiliaries thereto, and has en- 
couraged the work of the Sunday school and represented his congre- 
gation in Presbytery. 

JAMES A. WHITE. A continuous service of virtually fifteen years in 
the office of postmaster of Murphysboro, Jackson county, offers effective 
voucher for the executive ability and personal popularity of James 
Augustus White. He is known as one of the broad-minded and pro- 
gressive citizens of Murphysboro, the thriving and attractive metropolis 
and judicial center of Jackson county, and he has long been a potent 
factor in connection with political activities in this section of the state, 
where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances. 

James Augustus White was born at Fairfield, Jefferson county, 
Iowa, on the 25th of September, 1868, and is a son of James and Anna 
(Parkinson) White, both of whom are now deceased, the father 
having devoted the greater part of his active career to agricul- 
tural pursuits. He to whom this sketch is delivered was a child at 
the time of the family removal from Iowa to Southern Illinois, and he 
is indebted to the public schools of East St. Louis, this state, for his 
early educational discipline. As a youth he served an apprenticeship 
to the trade of machinist, in which he became a skilled workman and 
to which he devoted his attention from 1885 to 1897. He established 
his residence in Murphysboro in the year 1888, and here he continued to 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1009 

be actively identified with industrial enterprises in the line of his trade 
until 1897, when he was appointed to the office of postmaster, of which 
he has since continued the efficient and popular incumbent. His ad- 
ministration has been one of most progressive and circumspect order 
and he has done much to develop and systematize the work of the local 
postal service, in connection with which a corps of twelve assistants is 
retained, in addition to those connected with the seven rural free-de- 
livery routes. Mr. White was indefatigable in his efforts to secure the 
appropriation of eighty-five thousand dollars for the new postoffice 
building in Murphysboro, and none exerted more influence in this con- 
nection except the congressman from this district. Mr. White also 
served one term 1894-6 as representative of the Third ward in the 
city board of aldermen. 

In politics Mr. White has ever accorded unfaltering allegiance to 
the Republican party and he has been a zealous and effective worker in 
behalf of its cause. He was a member of the Republican state central 
committee of Illinois in 1910 and has served continuously since 1903 
as chairman of the Republican central committee of Jackson county. 
He is affiliated with the local lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity 
and is past master of the former, besides which he holds membership in 
the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, 
and the Modern Woodmen of America. Both he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian church. Murphysboro 's postmaster shows a 
most loyal interest in all that touches the welfare and progress of his 
home city and his aid and influence as given to those measures and en- 
terprises which tend to advance civic and material progress and pros- 
perity. 

ERNST FRED SCHULMEISTER. The demand for wholesome food sup- 
plies is constantly increasing, while recent national and state pure food 
laws have resulted in the placing upon the market a class of goods of 
a vastly better quality than have ever before been given to the public. 
For these and other equally cogent reasons the business of catering to 
this demand and giving out only first-class goods is proving one of the 
most profitable and satisfactory in the various lines of commercial en- 
deavor, and Monroe county has its full quota of responsible bakers. 
Among those who rank with the leaders in their class is Ernst Fred 
Schulmeister, whose well-appointed establishment is a reflection of all 
that is latest and best in all bakery goods, tastefully displayed with all 
due regard to sanitation. Combined with his excellent stock is a fair 
method of dealing, as well as good service, and consequently his volume 
of business shows a healthy and rapid increase. Mr. Schulmeister was 
born October 19, 1879, at Wildbad, (Black Forest), Wurtemburg, Ger- 
many and is a son of Fred Schulmeister, who came to America in 1900, 
and is now living at St. Louis. Mr. Schulmeister 's mother bore the 
maiden name of Caroline Weber, and beside himself there were four 
other children, Anna, Otto, Bertha and Dora. 

Ernst F. Schulmeister received educational advantages of an excel- 
lent nature in his native country, and after completing the prescribed 
course in the common schools took instruction in French. In 1893 he 
came to America and worked with his brother and other bakers in St. 
Louis until 1904, at which time he established himself in business at 
Waterloo. With characteristic German industry Mr. Schulmeister has 
endeavored to make his store the leader of its kind in this section, and 
each year has found him adding to its equipment and attractions. His 
success is only the well-merited reward that is granted to those whose 
aim has always been to please his patrons, but he has not gained his 
present position without effort. Sickness, discouragement and general 



1010 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

misfortune have been met and overcome, and it has only been the sturdy, 
persistent industry of his race that has enabled him to win a place for 
himself among the substantial merchants of his adopted community. 

On October 29, 1904, Mr. Schulmeister was married to Miss Clara 
Funk, who was born in his native place, daughter of Robert and Marie 
(Traub) Funk. Two children have been born of this union, Clara and 
Fred R. Mr. and Mrs. Schulmeister are members of the German 
Evangelical church, and are active in religious work. Although Mr. 
Schulmeister 's business activities have demanded the greater part of his 
attention, he has found leisure to take an interest in fraternal work, 
and is a valued member of the Masons and Odd Fellows. When he 
(has found time to indulge a hobby he has given it to music, and the 
G-erman Maennerchor has no more popular member here. His private 
interests, however, have always been subservient to the public welfare, 
and as a member of the Commercial Club of Waterloo Mr. Schulmeister 
has always been found in the ranks of those who strive to advance the 
city's prominence. 

WILLIAM OSCAR POTTER was born in the Crab Orchard community 
of Williamson county, February 17, 1871. In his youth he attended 
the academy at Crab Orchard, which was somewhat famous as an intel- 
lectual mecca and was organized and conducted by Professor Turner, 
and he was a member of the first graduating class of the institution. 
He finished his course there in 1891 and began teaching in the district 
schools. He was principal of the grammar department of the Gallatm 
schools in 1893-4, was principal of the Harrisburg high school in 1894-5 
and had charge of the schools of Johnston City in 1898-9. He con- 
cluded his school work there and took up the practice of the law, for 
which he had prepared himself in spare moments during his educa- 
tional work. He was admitted to the bar before his career as a teacher 
terminated and he opened an office and made his formal entry into the 
practice on March 13, 1897. He resided in Johnston City until June, 
1902, when he took up his residence in the county seat. He became in- 
terested and active in politics before coming to Marion, his political con- 
victions being Republican and of the most staunch and unswerving 
character. He had already given ' ' a taste of his quality ' ' as city clerk, 
city attorney and mayor of Johnston City. In June, 1901, he was ap- 
pointed master-in-chancery and served four years. In 1907 he joined 
Judge Neeley in a partnership, under the caption of Neeley & Potter, 
and in February, 1908, Robert T. Cook and J. L. Gallimore came into 
the firm, which is now known as Neeley, Gallimore, Cook & Potter. Mr. 
Cook is a resident of Herrin and Mr. Gallimore, of Carterville. 

Upon the death of Senator O. H. Burnett in August, 1906, Mr. 
Potter was nominated to fill the vacancy thus caused in the fiftieth 
senatorial district. He was elected in the November following and 
represents the counties of Franklin, Williamson, Union, Pulaski and 
Alexander. In 1908 he was re-elected for a full term of four years, 
and has attended three sessions of the general assembly. He was named 
chairman of the committee on contingent expenses and was more con- 
cerned in defending that state against unwise legislation than in originat- 
ing measures himself. He has devoted all his energies to the interests 
of his constituency and there is every promise that he will be able to 
accomplish much more in the future even than he has in the past. On 
all national questions he has been in accord with the principles of his 
party, and party and district have cause to be proud of him. 

Senator' Potter has written his autobiography, which is an intensely 
interesting human document and one which should be an inspiration to 
every youth who hopes to win success against fearful odds. The pub- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1011 

lishers of this volume are indeed happy to include within these pages 
so praiseworthy a record, as that which herewith follows. 

"My father and mother, Jacob Scott Potter and Margaret Mahala 
Carr, were married at Marion, Williamson county, Illinois, on August 
13, A. D. 1858. Father was born near Donovan, Ripley county, Mis- 
souri. Mother was born near Galatia, in Brushy township, Saline 
county, Illinois. Mother was one of a large family of children, viz: 
John Carr ; Sarah Hawkins, wife of David Hawkins ; Margaret Potter, 
wife of Jacob Potter; George Carr; Susan Potter, wife of Riley Potter; 
Wilson Carr; Mariah Reed, wife of William Reed; Mary Allen, wife of 
Jesse Allen; Carroll Carr; Adeline Carr; and Nancy Turner, wife of 
A. H. Turner. They are now. all dead, except Carroll Carr, who lives 
in Cleburn county, Arkansas, and Nancy Turner, who lives near Crab 
Orchard, Williamson county, Illinois. 

"My mother's parents were William Carr and Emeline Hale. They 
were married about the year 1825 and settled on the old homestead near 
Galatia, then known as Clapboard, where the post-office of Hartford 
now stands. The children above named were their only offspring. My 
grandfather Carr was born somewhere in Virginia about the year 1797, 
migrated through Tennessee to Illinois in the early part of 1800 and 
was married to grandmother either in Tennessee or after he came to 
Illinois. He had a brother named Robin Carr, and one of his sisters 
married a man named Barlow, who lived on the Fancy Farm in Frank- 
lin county and afterwards moved to Wisconsin. Another sister married 
a man named Simpson in Franklin county. I have been unable to trace 
his ancestors any further back. He died about the year A. D. 1850 and 
was buried in the family burying ground on his farm, which cemetery 
is now under the control of the Methodist church. 

"Grandmother Carr was the daughter of 'Grancer' and 'Granny' 
Hale, as they were commonly known, whose old homestead was near 
New Hope church in the northwestern part of Saline county, Illinois. 
She was one of a large family of brothers and sisters, among whom 
were the following: Marion Hale, John Hale, Emeline Carr (wife of 
William Carr), Kizzie Inghram (wife of Job Inghram), Susan Strick- 
land (wife of James Strickland), Mary Mason (wife of William 
Mason). She died about the close of the Civil war and was buried by 
the side of her husband. 'Grancer' and 'Granny' Hale came to Illinois 
at a very early date from northern Alabama. They were descendants 
of the royal colonists who settled Alabama and were of the southern 
aristocracy. I know nothing further of 'Grancer' Hale. 'Granny' 
Hale's maiden name was, also, Carr, and all I know concerning her was 
that she had a brother named James Carr (nicknamed 'Hoss Carr'), 
who was one of Jackson's squirrel shooters with the Tennessee riflemen 
and fought with him against the Indians at Horseshoe Bend, and 
against the British at New Orleans. From tradition, I have it, the old 
pioneer was of a nomadic or roving disposition. He transported his 
worldly effects on these migrations on the back of an old bull, named 
'Braddock.' On one of these trips the good old wife was, also, perched 
on the back" of 'Braddock,' and in going down a long hill 'Braddock' 
scented water and quickened his pace until he stampeded and ran away, 
throwing the old lady off and scattering the household effects all along 
the route to where he reached water. However, 'Granny' was not 
seriously hurt and uncle 'Hoss' was able to gather up his effects and 
proceed on his journey without serious interruption. This event was 
afterwards known in our family tradition as ' Braddock 's Defeat.' 

"I have now in my possession an old heir-loom consisting of a fine 
old polished brass candle-stick, which 'Granny' Hale brought with her 



1012 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

from Alabama. This is as far back as 1 have been able to trace grand- 
mother Carr's ancestors. 

' ' My father was one of seven brothers and sisters, viz : John Potter, 
Isiah Potter, Sarah Grissom (wife of Bill Grissom), Ephraim Potter, 
Jacob S. Potter, William R. Potter and Eliza Black, (wife of William 
H. Black), all of whom are dead except Eliza Black. My grandparents 
on my father's side were Willis Potter and Eliza Ann Littleton. They 
were married in the early part of A. D. 1800, somewhere near Donovan, 
Ripley county, Missouri. I have been unable to learn anything very 
definite as to the ancestry any further back. 

"Grandmother Potter was born in Virginia in an early day. Her 
father's name was Littleton and he was a native of Ireland. He called 
red elm 'Reed alum.' She died about A. D. 1860 and was buried near 
the old Spring Grove church in the east part of Williamson county, Illi- 
nois. My grandfather Potter was born in Ripley county, Missouri. 
He had two brothers, Jacob and Riley, who left home when they were 
young men, and were never heard from again. He had a brother 
Ephraim, who was murdered by Rebel sympathizers near Jackson, Mis- 
souri, during the Civil war. He left a son named Noah Potter. Grand- 
father Potter died about A. D. 1845 in Ripley county, Missouri, and 
was buried there. I never knew anything further back relative to 
grandfather Potter's people, except that his father came from Ten- 
nessee. 

"There is an old tradition, so the story runs, that back in colonial 
times four brothers from Scotland, named Potter, immigrated to New 
England. One of them wandered off to the Carolinas and his descend- 
ants migrated to Tennessee and Kentucky. If this story is true, I 
presume that my grandfather Potter descended from this pioneer 
brother 

' ' As the result of the marriage of my father and mother, in August, 
1858, there were born, November 17, 1859, Elizabeth Potter, who died 
November 18, 1859; Douglas D. Potter, born May 29, 1861; George 
Willis Potter, born April 18, 1863, and died July 5, 1864 ; John Leonard 
Potter, born October 23, 1867, and died July 20, 1898 ; I, William Potter, 
was born February 17, 1871, and is still on time's side of Eternity. My 
sister and two older brothers are buried in the old family burying 
ground on grandfather Carr's old homestead. My father, mother and 
brother Leonard are buried on my lot in Rose Hill cemetery, in Marion, 
Illinois. 

' ' I was ushered into the world under very peculiar circumstances and 
such as were calculated not to inspire much enthusiasm toward at- 
taining the top of the ladder of fame. I was born near Indian camp, 
in a log cabin in the southern part of Rock Creek precinct, near the 
village of Crab Orchard in Williamson county, Illinois. During the 
period of my gestation and at birth my father was developing that 
dread disease, insanity, and when I was only six weeks old he became a 
raving maniac and was sent to the Insane Asylum at Jacksonville and 
afterwards transferred to the hospital at Anna, where he died May 4, 
1904. When I was thirteen years old he was pronounced safe and was 
discharged from the asylum, but never was well balanced any more and 
had to be returned later. 

"My mother was left penniless in a very poor community with my 
brother and myself to raise and care for, but with the courage of a 
heroine and the faith of a Ruth she toiled through all those long, lone- 
some, dreary years of trials and hardships, and with that strong native 
instinct born of true motherhood she determined, early, to give us at 
least a moderate education and was at last rewarded by seeing us both 
grown to manhood and able to cope with the battles of life and make 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1013 

her days a little brighter by knowing that all of her efforts had not been 
in vain. 

"She was a woman of strong will and force of character, as was 
demonstrated through all the battles of life which she bravely fought 
through all the vicissitudes of a hard experience, and bravely bore all 
of her burdens without murmur or complaint, always trusting in the 
God of Israel to guide her aright in this life and give a just reward 
beyond the tomb. She was a consistent member and believer in the 
Methodist church, of which my brother, also, was a member. 

"She died strong in the faith that God would reward her for her 
trust in Him during all of her years of trials. She loved my brother 
and me with the strongest devotion that a mother can bestow on her 
children and died with a prayer on her lips expressed in her last words 
of 'God bless OscaT and his family,' and passed to her reward beyond 
the veil through which human vision has never penetrated. 

' ' My aunt, Susan P. Potter, who was a sister of my mother and who 
married my father's brother, William Riley Potter, was our best friend. 
We lived with her until we boys were big enough to work and then we 
built a log cabin of her farm. Her husband had died from diseases 
contracted in the army during the Civil war and she helped us in every 
way she could until her death, in June, 1892. She was a second mother 
and loved us almost as if we were her own children her children all 
having died in infancy. My brother never married, but lived with my 
mother until his death. He became one of the leading school teachers 
of Williamson county and was employed to teach the Johnston City 
schools at the time of his death." 

Senator Potter was married at Spillertown, Illinois, June 30, 1897, 
to Miss Myrtie Spiller, a daughter of the venerable William J. and 
Susan Spiller, the latter a daughter of the pioneer Joab Goodall. The 
Spillers were among the first settlers of Williamson county, coming 
into Illinois about the date of its admission to the union of states and 
now representing one of the most numerous families in the county. 
Four children have been born to Senator and Mrs. Potter, namely: 
Lucile ; Maurice R. ; Everett, who lost his life by accident in 1904 ; and 
Eloise. 

DR. JOHN SHELBY LEWIS. Although not a native of this state, Dr. 
John Lewis of Carbondale has been connected with the activities of 
Southern Illinois for the full term of a generation of human life, and 
during the last fourteen years with those of the city of his present 
home. He has lived in several localities in this portion of the state, 
and has left his mark broad and deep in each as one of the most re- 
sourceful and enterprising men they have ever known, and one of the 
most sterling and representative of their citizens wide-awake to the 
interests of every community, alert and capable in helping to develop 
the resources of each, and broad-minded and far-seeing in reference to 
the public affairs of all. 

Dr. Lewis is a Kentuckian by birth and ancestry, and was born in 
Crittenden county, in "the dark and bloody ground," on August 6, 
1851. His parents, George Slankard and Amy L. (Weldon) Lewis, 
were farmers, and the father was also a minister of the gospel in the 
Baptist church. He was a man of great usefulness at a time when the 
country was sparsely settled and facilities for religious services were 
few and it was far between them. His farming operations and other 
personal affairs received his attention, of course, but he never shirked 
a call to duty in his sacred character, and the people came to revere 
him for his fidelity to duty in spiritual matters as much as for his 
power and persuasiveness in attending to them. 



1014 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

The son began his scholastic training in the public schools and com- 
pleted it at the Normal Institute located at Normal in McLean county. 
He studied medicine at the American Medical College in St. Louis, 
from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1878. He 
had, however, been previously admitted to practice by examination 
under the provisions of the state law of that day. 

After his graduation he began practicing in earnest and regularly 
at Harrisburg in Saline county, this state. His practice was general 
and became extensive, but following the example of his father, he 
bought a farm, which he worked in connection with his professional 
duties. On this fam he lived until 1894, when he moved to Carriers 
Mills and started the Saline County Bank, a private institution belong- 
ing to him alone. This bank he still owns, but its seat of operations 
has been changed to Stone Port in the same county, where it is steadily 
increasing in patronage and influence. 

Dr. Lewis also founded the First National Bank of Johnston City, 
and was its first president. In this institution he also still has a con- 
siderable interest. The Doctor moved to Carbondale in 1897, and 
soon afterward became largely interested in the Bank of Carbondale, 
of which he was president three years. In association with the people 
he learned of other public conveniences of which they stood in need 
and which he could provide for them, and with the earnestness which 
has always characterized him in the prosecution of any project that 
seemed worthy of his attention, he immediately began to set forces in 
motion to gratify their wishes and supply their wants in these respects. 

He in connection with C. E. Hamilton, organized the Citizens 
"Water, Light and Power Company, and became its president. He also 
owns the controlling interest in the Carbondale Ice Company and the 
present local telephone company, known as the Carbondale Telephone 
Company, which he owns and to which he devotes a large measure of his 
time and attention. Prior to starting this enterprise he owned large 
interests in and operated the Ohio & Mississippi Valley Phone Com- 
pany, which he sold to the Bell corporation. In his own company he 
has in operation .for the services of the people five hundred phones, 
and, as has been stated, he devotes a considerable portion of his time 
and energy to the improvement of his plant, the extension of its busi- 
ness, the perfection of its service, and the betterment of the fine public 
utilities he has built up in every way. 

For some years the Doctor was superintendent of extensive coal 
mines and gave personal attention to the operation of them. He also 
has had mining properties of his own for a long time. He is now the 
largest land owner in Southern Illinois, and especially of coal lands, 
from which he receives large royalties, but he does not give the working 
of them his personal attention, being more immediately interested in 
his Carbondale industries and other business operations. 

Dr. Lewis was married on the 10th of October, 1878, to Miss Agnes 
Emily Rush, of Metropolis, Illinois. They have five children: Myrtie, 
the wife of J. W. Travelstead, a progressive farmer of Saline county ; 
Rosco, a physician, but engaged in the banking business with his father, 
having charge of the bank at Stone Fort ; Mabel, the wife of J. M. 
Cable, of Carbondale, an electrician and connected with his father-in- 
law in business; Fern, who is living at home with her parents; and 
Orman J., who is assistant cashier of the bank in Johnston City. The 
father is a Freemason of the Master Mason's degree. He takes a deep 
interest in everything in which the welfare of the community is in- 
volved, is open-handed and progressive with reference to all matters of 
public improvement and wise and energetic in his services in helping 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1015 

to promote them. The people of Carbondale regard him as one of 
their best and most representative men. 

JOHN W. VICK, M. D. The medical profession is one of the learned 
callings that requires of a man unswerving devotion, conscientious per- 
formance of duty and untiring pursuit of further knowledge. Dr. 
John W. Vick is a physician whose record is marked not only by skilled 
experiences, but by faithfulness to ambition, for although a score of 
years intervened between the beginning of his medical studies and the 
fruition of his efforts, he did not allow himself to be discouraged, but 
persevered, and for nearly twenty-eight years has been engaged in active 
practice. He has lived in Williamson county since 1852, in which year 
his father, the venerable Samuel S. Vick, of Marion, came hither from 
Logan county, Kentucky, where he had married Martha J. Newton, 
February 6, 1848. 

Samuel S. Vick was born in Davidson county, Tennessee, June 23, 
1827. His father was Josiah Vick, who followed his son to Illinois and 
died in Williamson county about 1868. He was born in one of the 
. Carolinas, of Scotch and Irish lineage, was a planter, and was descended 
from Colonial stock. Branches of the family scattered throughout the 
South, and historic Vicksburg, Mississippi, is named in honor of one of 
them. Josiah Vick married a Miss Fuqua, into which family Governor 
Beckham of Kentucky married, and this family is also one of the old 
and aristocratic French families of the South. Both Josiah and his 
wife passed away about the same date, and their children were Samuel 
S. ; Robert, who died in Kentucky, leaving a family ; Josiah, who moved 
to Texas and reared a family before his death; Mrs. Lydia Grayson, 
who died in Williamson county ; Wesley, who also passed away here, 
never having married ; George, who still resides in this county ; Monroe, 
who died at Anna, Illinois ; Nathaniel, who lives in Massac county ; 
and Susan, who died at DuQuoin, Illinois, the wife of Frank Roy. 

Samuel S. Vick married Martha J. Newton, daughter of John New- 
ton, her people being farmers of the Corncracker state. Their children 
were as follows : Dr. John W., bo.rn March 6, 1849, the day following 
the inauguration of President Zachary Taylor ; Rebecca, who married 
William Edwards, of Marion, Illinois; Joe, a druggist of Herrin, who 
married a Miss Eubanks; Paralee, the wife of Willis J. Aikman, vice 
president of the Marion State and Savings Bank and one of the fore- 
most men of the pioneer families of the county; Alice, who married 
John M. Cline, leading drug merchant of Marion, and also a member 
of one of Williamson county's pioneer families; and Dora, who married 
Dr. Evans and resides in Marion. 

John W. Vick obtained his literary education in the schools of 
Marion and began the study of medicine while serving as a drug clerk 
in that city. He served an apprenticeship there with Dr. A. N. Lodge 
and when ready for college entered the Missouri Medical College, now 
a part of the Washington University, of St. Louis. After a time he 
decided to engage in practice, secured a license from the proper board 
in Illinois, and located in Marion, then in Carterville, and did not re- 
turn to complete a medical course in school for nearly twenty years. 
He then attended Vanderbilt University at Nashville and graduated 
there in 1894. He came to Carterville in 1882, in time to plant the 
first shade trees set out on the townsite, and to take an interest in all 
that pertained to the making of a new substantial town. He was presi- 
dent of the school board for twenty years, of the board of health for a 
like period and is one of the early members of the Williamson County 
Medical Society and its president for several years. He is a member 
of the Illinois State and Southern Illinois Medical Associations, and 



1016 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

has served as president of the Carterville Building and Loan Associa- 
tion since its organization. Dr. Vick is a Democrat in politics, but he 
has never entered the public field, although his father has been promi- 
nently known in positions of honor and trust. Samuel S. Vjck was active 
in Williamson county 's political field during the years precedent and sub- 
quent to the Civil war. He was an overseer of slaves in Kentucky, as 
were several of his brothers, and he is said to have left the South because 
"a negro was considered of more value or consequence than a white 
man." He was brought up a Democrat and remained with that party 
in the face of its embarrassments of the period of the war. He was 
first chosen constable of his precinct of Williamson county and was 
subsequently appointed deputy sheriff and then city police judge of 
Marion. In 1868 he was appointed master in chancery and was next 
elected justice of the peace. In 1865 he took the third census of the 
county. 

Dr. John W. Vick was married in Jackson county, Illinois, May 8, 
1872, to Miss Mary A. Snider, daughter of the successful farmer and 
stockman, Ephraim Snider, who was a Southern man. Mr. Snider 
married a daughter of David Herrin, of Herrin's Prairie, which family 
is mentioned on another page of this volume. Dr. and Mrs. Vick have 
had the following children: Callie L., the wife of Monroe Colp, of 
Carterville, Illinois; Samuel Snider, M'ho is engaged in the drug busi- 
ness in Carterville, married Grace Davis and has a daughter, Mary 
Elizabeth ; Miss Kate H., a teacher in the Carterville schools ; and John 
W., now a student in pharmacy in the Northwestern University, Chi- 
cago. 

WILLIAM H. WILLIAMS. It has been said that the poet is born, not 
made, but the successful lawyer has to be both born and made made 
by close application, earnest effort, by perseverance and resolute pur- 
pose. The abilities with which nature has endowed him must be 
strengthened and developed by use, and only by merit can he gain posi- 
tion. William H. Williams is a lawyer of unusual ability, one of the 
best known in the state, in truth his practice being over all Southern 
Illinois. He is a leading Republican and in great demand upon occa- 
sions when eloquence is in order, particularly so in campaigns. He now 
holds the office of president of the Franklin County Illinois Bar Asso- 
ciation. He is a former county judge of splendid record and a veteran 
of the Civil war. 

Judge Williams was born in Princeton, Indiana, April 15, 1845, and 
is the son of Eli and Margaret M. (McKutchin) Williams. Both par- 
ents were the offspring of Southern families, the father having been 
born in Guilford county, North Carolina, in 1810, and the mother in 
South Carolina, in 1820. Eli Williams removed to the Hoosier state 
with his parents in 1822, their location being made in Gibson Bounty, 
that state, and there he made his home for the remainder of his days, 
his summons to the Undiscovered Country coming in 1882. He was a 
carpenter and joiner by trade. In his earlier life he was an enthusias- 
tic Democrat, but subsequently he transferred his allegiance to the Re- 
publican party. His father, Lemuel Williams, was born in Virginia, 
but removed thence to North Carolina and subsequently to Indiana. 
In the South he was a planter and slave-owner, but when he removed to 
Indiana it was a case of "Othello's occupation's gone" and he coura- 
geously adapted himself to new conditions and engaged in the carpentry 
trade, which he followed until his death, in 1863, at the age of ninety- 
four years. This fine old patriarch, whose mind and energy so long re- 
tained their pristine vigor, was a veteran of the Seminole war. The 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1017 

subject's maternal grandfather was a South Carolina farmer, who came 
to Indiana when the state was a wilderness and he was killed by a fall- 
ing tree when engaged in clearing his land. The Williams family is 
descended from Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island and apostle 
of religious toleration (born 1600 in England; died in Rhode Island 
about 1684). The mother of the subject was a devout member of the 
Covenanter church. 

William H. Williams was educated in the public schools of Gibson 
county, Indiana, and entered the Federal army at the age of sixteen 
years, his service extending throughout the period of the great conflict. 
He was a member of Company F, Thirty-third Indiana Volunteer In- 
fantry, and was in all the principal engagements of the Western Army. 
He was on the famous march to the sea and served first under General 
Gordon Granger and later under General Hooker. He was captured 
at Spring Hill, Tennessee, and was in Libby prison for nineteen days 
and was among the last troops exchanged in April, 1864. After the 
affair at Appomattox Mr. Williams, who was then only at his majority, 
returned to his Indiana home and completed his education in the acad- 
emy at Princeton, Indiana. In 1866 he came to Benton, Illinois, and 
there began his preparation for the profession which he was in after 
years to adorn. He first attacked his Blackstone under the able pre- 
ceptorship of S. E. Flannigan and then attended the law school of A. 
D. Duff, a noted law instructor of Southern Illinois. In 1867 he was 
admitted to the bar and he entered upon his practice in the United 
States Circuit Court in 1882. He has a very large practice and enjoys 
the esteem of laity and profession, his reputation not being limited by 
the boundaries of the state. As previously mentioned, he is president 
of the Bar Association of Southern Illinois and he has the distinction of 
being Nestor of the Franklin County Bar. 

Judge Williams has always taken a keen interest in politics and in 
all that concerns the public welfare. He is a tried and true Republican, 
since his earliest voting days having supported effectively the men and 
measures of the Grand Old Party. He is a logical and inspiring 
speaker and has made campaign speeches over all Illinois and Indiana. 
He was elected county judge of Franklin county in 1879, when the 
county had a nominal Democratic majority of over seven hundred, and 
he was re-elected in 1882, when the Democratic majority was over five 
hundred, the affair being a great personal victory. In this important 
office he served with distinction and satisfaction to all concerned. He 
has a fine legal mind and no one could be better fitted for his profession 
than he. 

In 1869 Judge Williams was united in marriage to Margaret Akin, 
deceased, daughter of Walter S. Akin. Two children were born to this 
union, namely : Walter H. and Lora, the latter of whom became the 
wife of James M. McGuire. On January 5, 1900, the subject took as 
his wife Bettie Whittington, daughter of Wiley Whittington, and her 
demise occurred in August, 1909. 

Fraternally Judge Williams belongs to the Odd Fellows and the 
Grand Army of the Republic, and finds great pleasure in renewing 
old memories with the comrades of the '60s. In both organizations he 
has filled all the offices. 

IRA T. ROBERTS, M. D. The modern physician is much better 
equipped when he starts into practice than members of the medical pro- 
fession of a half-century ago were after years of experience. No longer 
does the aspirant for a degree begin and carry on a practice before he 
has mastered more than the rudiments of his profession, as was so 



1018 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

often the custom in years gone by. Careful preparation in medical 
college, followed by hospital work, are now rightly required of every 
regular physician and never before has public health been so admirably 
conserved. One of the physicians of Williamson county whose training 
has been long and careful and who is imbued with the most modern ideas 
is Doctor Ira T. Roberts, of Johnston City, a native born son of this 
county. His birth occurred on his father's farm near Makanda, June 
3, 1879, a son of John T. Roberts, who is still a farmer and resides near 
Creal Springs. 

In the community of Lick Creek the family was founded by John 
T. Roberts, Sr., the grandfather of Dr. Roberts, who came from the 
state of Tennessee many years before the Civil war and spent his life 
in farming, his death occurring in 1862. By his first wife he had two 
sons, J. B. and William, who are both deceased, and a daughter, Sarah, 
who never married. He was married a second time and by that union 
had these children: John T., father of Dr. Roberts; Marshall C., a 
farmer of Williamson county ; Andrew J., a merchant of Lick Creek ; 
one daughter who married and died in young womanhood ; Mrs. Will- 
iam Fox ; and Mrs. Delvina Tedford, living near Carbondale. 

John T. Roberts, Jr., was brought up under rather primitive con- 
ditions, and began life as a farmer with but little knowledge of books. 
He married Cinderella A. Whitacre, daughter of Hiram N. Whitacre, 
of Jackson county, Illinois, and she passed away March 27, 1910, the 
mother of Dr. Roberts of this review and Iva M., the wife of Otie Reese, 
a teacher and farmer of Lick Creek. 

Dr. Roberts fared much better than his forefathers for an education. 
He finished the high school course in Creal Springs, entered the North- 
ern Indiana Normal University at Valparaiso, and graduated with the 
degree of B. S. in 1898, two years after his high school graduation. 
Choosing medicine as his life work, he entered the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons in St. Louis, and completed his work and graduated in 
April, 1902, and in June following established himself in Johnston City 
and has been a fixture of the place since. He is a member of the 
County Medical Society, of the Southern Medical Association and of 
the Illinois State Association; and is local surgeon for the Illinois 
Central Railway here and a member of the Joint Association of Sur- 
geons of the Illinois Central, Yazoo and Mississippi Valley and the In- 
dianapolis Southern Railroad Companies. Mr. Roberts served three 
years as a member of the board of health of Johnston City. 

On December 24, 1902, Dr. Roberts was married at Creal Springs, 
Illinois, to Miss Daisy Sutherland, daughter of W. P. Sutherland. Mrs. 
Roberts is one of nine children and was born in Williamson county. One 
son. T. Jean, was born to Dr. and Mrs. Roberts in 1904. Dr. Roberts 
comes of a family of Democrats, but has no part in practical politics. 
He is a Mason, and is one of the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal 
church at Johnston City. 

FRANK SCHAEFENBERGEK. Possessing unusually fine business quali- 
fications and judgment, Frank Scharfenberger is an able assistant in 
developing and advancing the industrial interests of Waterloo, where 
he is held in high estimation as a man and a citizen. It is safe to say 
that Waterloo possesses no more progressive and enterprising character 
than this gentleman, who is proprietor of the Waterloo Marble & Granite 
Works. He is a native son of the state, his birth having occurred July 
1, 1860, at Columbia, Illinois. He is a son of Benhard and Louise 
(Reininger) Scharfenberger, natives of Germany. He received his edu- 
cation in the public schools of the district of his nativity and in 1885 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1019 

established an independent household by his marriage to Miss Theresa 
Wamser, of Columbia, Illinois. 

Mrs. Scharfenberger, like her husband, represents a family long es- 
tablished here. Her parents were George and Mary (Stark) Wamser. 
They were both of German birth and came to this country about the year 
1840, at the time of the cholera epidemic, which spread terror and de- 
vastation throughout this section. She has three brothers and one 
sister. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Scharfenberger has been blessed by 
the birth of ten children, eight of whom survive, all being promising 
young citizens. Five of the number are boys and three girls. The 
eldest boy, who is twenty-four years of age, resides in St. Louis and is 
engaged in the printing business; and the second oldest is associated 
with his father in business. The youngest girl is five years of age. The 
subject owns a beautiful and commodious home, which is the center of 
a gracious hospitality, this being one of Waterloo's favorite gathering 
places. 

The Waterloo Marble & Granite Works, of which Mr. Scharfenberger 
is proprietor, was originally established in 1872 by M. C. Rodenberg, 
at Columbia, Illinois, but three years later, in 1875, it was removed to 
Waterloo. In August, 1899, Mr. Scharfenberger purchased the plant 
and has engaged in its operation to the present date. Under his splen- 
did management it has encountered the best of fortunes. He understands 
the business in all its details and knows exactly how to direct his men 
and to gain the best possible results. In short, the greater part of the 
business of this character throughout the length and breadth of the 
county falls to him, and his fair and honorable business methods have 
amply recommended him. 

Mr. Scharfenberger is a communicant of the Catholic church and is 
very active in Catholic church circles, being prominent in all the fra- 
ternal organizations which have the sanction of the Church of Rome 
and doing all in his power to advance its campaigns for good and its 
charitable and philanthropical enterprises. His membership is with 
SS. Peter and Paul church, and since early manhood his name has 
been on the roll of the church societies. He belongs to the Mutual Pro- 
tective League, the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Knights of Illi- 
nois and the Western Catholic League. He is also connected promi- 
nently with the Commercial Club of- Waterloo. He is widely and fa- 
vorably known and has attained to that highest type of usefulness, good 
and helpful citizenship. 

Mr. Scharfenberger confesses to no particular hobby or infatuation 
with any special sport. He is of a very domestic nature and finds his 
fullest pleasure at his own fireside, in the company of those nearest and 
dearest to him. 

MADISON G. NIXON, M. D. For the truly good and able man there is 
no calling in life which presents an opportunity for greater usefulness 
to mankind and which calls for greater self sacrifice than that of the 
medical profession. A physician who has ever realized the responsibil- 
ities of his position and whose ability is fully equal to its most difficult 
requirements is Dr. Madison G. Nixon, who for many years has prac- 
ticed at Columbia, and who, although no longer of the younger gener- 
ation, has ever kept in touch with the progress of science. He is indeed 
a highly revered and representative member of the Monroe county medi- 
cal fraternity. In addition to his general practice Dr. Nixon conducts a 
drug store and is surgeon for the M. & 0. Railroad. 

Dr. Nixon by the circumstance of birth belongs to Ohio, his life rec- 
ord having begun July 15, 1843, in the village of Richmond, in Jefferson 
county of the Buckeye state. His father, John Nixon, was born in 



1020 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Washington county, Pennsylvania, September 1, 1796, but removed 
from the Keystone state to Ohio when a young boy, accompanying his 
parents, John and Maria (Gregg) Nixon, who came to America from the 
north of Ireland soon after the Revolutionary war. He was ten years of 
age at the time of the removal to what was then "out west," and in 
June, 1822, he was united in marriage to Charlotte Steele, of Mifflin 
county, Pennsylvania. Twenty-one years later (in 1843) he left Ohio 
with his family and located on a farm north of Waterloo. The journey 
to the new home was made by boat, first down the Ohio and then up the 
Mississippi. The Doctor was an infant at the time. There were eight 
children in the family, the subject being the youngest and he and his 
brother Edwin, editor of a newspaper in Oklahoma, being the only sur- 
vivors at the present time. Those deceased are as follows: Andrew, 
Nathaniel, Margaret, Martha, William and Abraham. The father was 
a man of strong character and was one of those early citizens who laid 
the paths of civilization straight and clean for the coming generation. 
He was for many years a Democrat, but eventually transferred his al- 
legiance to the "Grand Old Party." He was a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. This worthy man, whose memory is still green 
with the members of the older generation, died September 13, 1879, at 
Waterloo, his wife surviving him some four years. 

The early life of Dr. Nixon was passed in Monroe county and his 
preliminary education received in the subscription and public schools. 
He obtained his higher general education in McKendree College at Le- 
banon and then prepared for his profession with a course in the old St. 
Louis Medical College, from which he received the degree of M. D. in 
1864. As soon as he was free from college walls he enlisted in the Fed- 
eral army, becoming assistant surgeon of the Sixth Illinois Cavalry and 
serving in such capacity until the termination of the conflict between 
the states. He then took up his practice and concluded to make Monroe 
county its scene, locating first at Hecker, where he remained for a year, 
and then coming to Columbia, where he has since been located. He 
soon occupied a position as one of the most enlightened of its physicians 
and his career has been wonderfully successful, both as a citizen and a 
practitioner. He opened his drug store in 1884. 

Dr. Nixon was married in 1871 to Emma A. Brady, and to this union 
two children were born, one dying in infancy. The other, John M. 
Nixon, now resides in Chicago. The demise of the wife and mother oc- 
curred in 1874, and in 1876 the Doctor was a second time married, Emma 
A. Warnock becoming his wife. Three children came to bless their home, 
of whom but one survives, namely : Minnie, now Mrs. F. H. Nash, of 
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. Dr. and Mrs. Nixon have hosts of friends and 
maintain a hospitable and charming home. 

The Southern Illinois, Monroe County, Illinois State and American 
Medical Associations all claim the membership of Dr. Nixon, who sees 
in them a means of advancing and unifying the profession. He is also 
a member of the Southern Railway Surgical Association. In politics 
he subscribes to the articles of faitli of the Democratic party. He has 
occasionally held public office and ever in unimpeachable fashion, hav- 
ing been president of the school board for some time and for several 
years post-master.. He finds great pleasure in his relations with the 
Grand Army of the Republic, and is post commander of the local post. 
He is a prominent Mason, wearing the white-plumed helmet of the 
Knight Templar upon occasion and also being affiliated with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, in both of these organizations standing 
as an ideal member and one who exemplifies their high ideals. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1021 

CHABLES HENRY MASON. The records of Southern Illinois show that 
a great majority of its most successful men are those who have been the 
architects of their own fortunes, who in spite of handicaps and discour- 
agements have won their way through to positions of influence and 
honor, overcoming the obstacles in their path and earning not only finan- 
cial independence but the esteem and respect of their fellow men. In 
this connection no better example could be found than the career of 
Charles Henry Mason, a prosperous farmer and stock breeder, drainage 
commissioner for the Belknap Drainage district, and county commis- 
sioner of Johnson county, Illinois. Mr. Mason was born on June 1, 1864, 
on a farm near Monmouth, Illinois, a son of Benjamin P. and Elizabeth 
(Campbell) Mason, and a grandson of Adam Mason, who was born De- 
cember 23, 1795, and reared in Pennsylvania, of German descent, and 
settled at Brownsville, Indiana, at a very early day. 

Benjamin Franklin Mason was born in Union county, Indiana, and 
migrated to Illinois in 1858, settling on a farm near Monmouth, where 
he resided until 1865, at which time he removed to Pulaski county, near 
America, Illinois, and there purchased four hundred acres of land. He 
engaged in the lumber and timber business, operating a saw-mill, and 
amassed considerable wealth; at the time of his death, in 1898, he was 
the owner of a great deal of land. He married Elizabeth Campbell, who 
was born November 19, 1832, in Franklin county, Indiana, and died Au- 
gust 3, 1908. They were the parents of a family of twelve children, of 
whom two died in infancy, while the others were as follows : Sarah C., or 
"Mangold," who became Mrs. Wilson; Mrs. Alice M. Full; Oscar M., a 
farmer in Pulaski county ; Hugh A. ; Charles H. ; John, who is now de- 
ceased; William C. ; Mrs. Mary E. Steers; Mrs. Rose S. Leidigh; and 
Ira, who is deceased. 

Charles Henry Mason spent his boyhood days on the home farm and 
attended the district schools until he was twenty-one yeears of age, and 
for a few years thereafter continued to assist his father in the farming 
operations. During the fall and winter of 1886-7 he attended Valpa- 
raiso College, and in the next year he cultivated his father's property, 
then renting land from him and raising several crops. In 1893 he en- 
tered into partnership with his father in the lumber business and in the 
fall of 1894 bought land and a tile factory at Belknap, which he oper- 
ated until the fall of 1895, when he failed in business and went into vol- 
untary bankruptcy, but emerged with his credit unimpaired and event- 
ually paid every dollar owing to his creditors. 

In 1895 Mr. Mason married .Oma B. Parker, of Vienna, Illinois, 
daughter of Rev. I. A. J. Parker, and during the fall of the same year 
she died. Mr. Mason then resided on the homestead until the fall of 
1896, and for a period of four months again assisted his father in oper- 
ating his lumber mills. Determined to complete his law studies, he re- 
turned to Valparaiso College in 1897 and remained for one year, spend- 
ing the summer of 1898 at home. He then returned to college and 
stayed there for a part of the school year, but completed his studies in 
the Chicago School of Law, graduating therefrom in the spring of 1899. 
During the remainder of the year he traveled through Illinois, Indiana, 
Michigan and Wisconsin on commercial business, and then returned 
home, his father having died in September, 1899. His share of the es- 
tate amounted to eight hundred and seventy -six acres, but much of this 
was considered worthless swamp land, and all but forty acres was in 
timber. Now five hundred acres are cleared, and he is the owner of two 
thousand one hundred acres of good soil, although five hundred acres are 
in swamp land and are awaiting draining by the Cache River Drainage 
Project, of which he was one of the originators, which will redeem thou- 



1022 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

sands of acres of rich land lying in Johnson, Massac and Pulaski coun- 
ties, the other original promoters of the project being S. B. Kerr, of Mas- 
sac county, and Robert Main, of Pulaski county. 

Mr. Mason ships much live stock, sending three carloads of hogs to 
the markets each year, and has about fifty head of horses and mules on 
his farm and sixty head of Hereford and other fine cattle, the assistance 
of from ten to twenty men being necessary for the care of this vast 
property. His place is known as the Alfalfa Stock Farm, and on it is 
situated the fine residence, Forest View, as well as modern barns and 
outbuildings of every description. This great property has been de- 
veloped through the untiring energy and perseverance of Mr. Mason, 
who, when he first engaged in agricultural pursuits, was the owner of a 
pair of mules valued at eighty dollars, a horse worth thirty dollars, and 
a few old and practically valueless farm implements. Starting with a 
handicap of four thousand dollars in debts, he persistently and steadily 
fought his way to the front. 

In political matters Mr. Mason is a Republican. He was elected 
county commissioner in November, 1910, and is probably the only can- 
didate ever elected in Johnson county who did not make a personal can- 
vass for election. Since 1902 he has served as drainage commissioner of 
the Belknap Drainage district. His religious affiliation is with the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally he is associated with Bel- 
knap Blue Lodge, Vienna Chapter and Cairo Knights Templar, of Cairo, 
Illinois. 

In 1897, while attending Valparaiso College, Mr. Mason met Miss 
Eloise Sabine Shanor, whom he married August 24, 1904. She is a 
daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth A. Shanor, of Rochester, Pennsyl- 
vania, the former a railroad engineer who died in 1881, while her mother 
passed away in 1876. Thus left an orphan at a tender age, Miss Shanor 
was taken to raise by her aunt, Mrs. Elizabeth Shanor, who lived in Al- 
leghany, Pennsylvania, and who several years after her husband's death 
married Joseph Brodnix, of Van Wert, Ohio. Mrs. Mason attended the 
Van Wert schools and entered Valparaiso College in 1897, where she 
spent one year and returned to complete her studies in 1899, the college 
romance developing into a marriage in 1904, when Miss Shanor was still 
a college student. Mr. and Mrs. Mason are the parents of one child, 
Charles Henry, born on June 21, 1908. 

The very obvious lesson to be drawn from the career of Mr. Mason 
is one that should encourage the youth of the present generation, or any 
who have met with discouragement or set-backs. In it they may see that 
the price of success is unfailing energy, strict integrity in business deal- 
ings and a determination to win at any legitimate cost, no matter what 
the obstacles or difficulties in the path. 

DEWITT TALMAGE HARTWELL is descended from a long and distin- 
guished citizenship of Williamson county, where his family forms a 
thread of the pioneer fabric of Southern Illinois. He was born at Ma- 
rion, Illinois, July 8, 1879, and here was reared to maturity and edu- 
cated. He is a son of Lorenzo Dow Hartwell, a retired lawyer, ex-public 
official and a member of an illustrious family of Union soldiers who 
served in the Civil war. The father was born May 6, 1843, in William- 
son county, Illinois, and reared on the paternal farm five miles north- 
east of Marion, Illinois. He was the eighth in order of birth and the 
seventh boy in a family of twelve children born to L. D. and Sicily H. 
Hartwell. At the time of the inception of the Civil war Lorenzo D. 
Hartwell gave evidence of his intrinsic loyalty to the cause of the Union 
by enlisting as a soldier in Company F, Thirty-first Illinois Volunteer 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1023 

Infantry, serving in that company and regiment until the 19th of July, 
1865. He was a lad of but seventeen years of age at the time of his en- 
listment and he received his honorable discharge from the service at 
Springfield, Illinois. He participated in the battle of Belmont, Mis- 
souri, November 7, 1861 ; Fort Donelson, Tennessee, February 15 and 16, 
1862; the battle at Thompson Hill, Mississippi, May 1, 1863; Raymond, 
Mississippi, May 16, 1863 ; Champion Hill, Mississippi, May 17, 1863, 
and was with his regiment during the entire siege of Vicksburg, which 
city surrendered July 4, 1863. He was on the march with his regiment 
to Meridian, Mississippi, in 1863 and he also took part in the battles in 
that vicinity on the 21st and 22nd of July, 1864. He was a participant 
in the skirmishes around Atlanta, Georgia, and was in the march with 
Sherman to the sea, arriving at Savannah December 24, 1864. At the 
close of hostilities he went to Washington, where he took part in the 
Grand Review. He was twice wounded, first at Vicksburg on June 27, 
1863, and later near Atlanta, Georgia. For meritorious conduct at and 
during the siege of Vicksburg and in the battles around Atlanta he was 
awarded a gold medal by order of General M. D. Leggett, division com- 
mander of the Seventeenth Army Corps. 

After being mustered out of the army Lorenzo D. Hartwell returned 
to his home at Marion, where he studied law and was admitted to the 
bar of Illinois in March, 1869. He immediately entered upon the prac- 
tice of his profession at Marion and was actively engaged therein until 
the encroachments of age sapped his vigor and made it necessary for him 
to seek a quieter life. He entered politics in 1866, as a Republican and 
was chosen to fill a number of public offices of important trust and re- 
sponsibility. He served for eight years as county judge and for two 
years was master in chancery. He began his public service as justice 
of the peace and subsequently was city attorney of Marion for four 
years. In 1900 he was elected state 's attorney and during his four-year 
term of office in that capacity he prosecuted Jerry Graves and Calvin 
Price for the murder of Nellie Reichelderfer. These two men were tried 
by a jury and a death sentence followed. They were later executed in 
Marion. This is the only case in Williamson county in which a death 
sentence was the result of a jury trial, the only other man hanged in 
this section being Marshal Cram, who was executed upon a plea of 
guilty. By appointment of the late President McKinley Mr. Hartwell 
served three years as postmaster of Marion. On the 30th of April, 1871, 
Mr. Hartwell married Miss Eola Calvert, to whom a son, Edward E. 
Hartwell, was born. On August 18, 1878, Mr. Hartwell was united in 
marriage to Miss Cora E. Simmons, a daughter of Levi Simmons, who 
came into Williamson county at the outbreak of the Civil war. The 
Simmons family was originally from Tennessee, where Mrs. Hartwell 
was born. To the latter union were born three children, namely: De- 
Witt T. (of this notice), Fannie and Morrill. Concerning the brothers 
and sisters of Lorenzo D. Hartwell the following brief data are here in- 
corporated, John, Riley, Jo W., George and Frank were all valiant sol- 
diers in the Union army during the Rebellion and all served in the same 
regiment as did Lorenzo D., with the exception of George, who was with 
Fitzpatrick's cavalry. All were in the thick of actual fighting and all 
came home with deep scars as evidences of their exposure to the enemy. 
Jo W. lost an arm and Lorenzo D. parted with a portion of one leg, yet 
all six returned home and were permitted by divine providence to take 
part in the civic affairs of their state for many years. The other chil- 
dren in this large family were William, Elizabeth, James, Harriet, Polly 
and Sallie. Mr. and Mrs. Lorenzo D. Hartwell are now residing at Ma- 
rion, where he is retired and they have reached a venerable age. 



1024 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

DeWitt T. Hartwell received his preliminary educational training in 
the Marion high school and subsequently he attended the Northern In- 
diana Normal College, at Valparaiso, for one year, at the expiration of 
which he entered Columbia University, at Washington, D. C., where he 
received instruction under the Illustrious Judges John M. Harlan, Da- 
vid J. Brewer and Willis Vandeventer, of the United States Supreme 
court. He was graduated in that excellent institution as a member of 
the class of 1902 and in October of the same year he passed the bar ex- 
amination at Springfield, Illinois. He now practices in all the courts of 
this state and in the federal courts. His first case was one which af- 
fected the whole community in which he lived. This was the notorious 
trial of Jerry Graves and Cal Price for the murder of Nellie Reichelder- 
fer at Herrin, March 16, 1903. His father was state's attorney at the 
time, as previously noted, and Mr. Hartwell assisted in the case. After 
practicing law alone for a number of years Mr. Hartwell entered into a 
partnership alliance with R. R. Fowler, the firm being known as that of 
Fowler & Hartwell. After Mr. Fowler's election as state's attorney, 
Mr. Hartwell formed a partnership with George B. White, under the 
title of Hartwell & White, an exceedingly well known law firm at the 
present time, in 1911. 

As a Republican Mr. Hartwell was chosen city attorney, serving in 
that capacity for two terms, during which time he made a legal campaign 
against gambling and, with the loyal aid of Mayor Denison, succeeded 
in ridding Marion of that vice and its abettors. In 1908 he was further 
honored by his fellow citizens in that he was then elected state's attor- 
ney for Williamson county to succeed his former partner, R. R. Fowler, 
in the office. Mr. Hartwell is a director in the Marion State Savings 
Bank and his firm is counsel for the Illinois Central Railroad Company 
and holds a conspicuous place upon the docket of all the courts of the 
county. In his fraternal connections he is a Scottish Rite Mason, a 
Knight of Pythias, an Elk and a Modern Woodman. He is recognized 
as one of the most capable lawyers and officials in Williamson county and 
as a man he is everywhere accorded the unalloyed confidence and esteem 
of his fellow citizens, who honor him for his sterling integrity and worth. 
He is unmarried. 

EVAN FITZGERRELL. Back in the early history of Virginia the name 
Fitzgerrell was a well known one, and like many other illustrious fam- 
ilies the sons gradually moved westward and became in their turn factors 
in the development of other sections of the country. One branch of the 
family of this name is now a prominent citizen of Benton, Illinois, Mr. 
Evan Fitzgerrell, who was born in Jefferson county, this state, on No- 
vember 10, 1844. His grandfather, James Fitzgerrell, was a native Vir- 
ginian who, when a young man, removed to Kentucky, where he met and 
married his wife, and from there he went to Indiana, settled on a farm in 
that state and continued to reside thereon until the time of his death. 

Evan Fitzgerrell's parents, James J. and Patsy Ann (Martin) Fitz- 
gerrell, both were born in Indiana, the father in 1812 and the mother 
in 1816. After their marriage the young couple moved west to Illinois, 
about the year 1840, settling in Jefferson county and they remained there 
throughout their lives. The mother died in 1861, the father surviving 
her many years, his death having occurred in 1889. The elder Fitzger- 
rell was one of the most successful farmers and stockraisers in Jefferson 
county. With quick perception he foresaw the great future in store for 
that part of the country and with great sagacity purchased a large 
amount of cheap land, which in later years became very valuable. He 
added to his acreage from time to time and finally accumulated holdings 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1025 

amounting to five thousand acres. During a part of his early life he en- 
gaged in the operation of a flat boat on the Ohio river, running to New 
Orleans, and was well acquainted with much of that country along the 
Mississippi river. He was a strong believer in Democratic principles 
throughout his life, and never voted any other political ticket. His in- 
terest in moral and religious affairs was also pronounced and he held 
membership in the Missionary Baptist church. He belonged to the Ma- 
sonic order and was always greatly interested in its affairs. 

Evan Fitzgerrell was the fortunate recipient of a better education 
than was received by most young men of his time. He first attended 
the common schools of Jefferson county, then went to high school at 
Owensville, Indiana, and completed his studies in a two-year course at 
McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois. 

The business world first knew Mr. Fitzgerrell as a dry goods mer- 
chant at Benton, at which point he soon built up a flourishing trade. He 
was also for nineteen years engaged in the milling business, in which line 
of endeavor he was likewise very successful. In 1885, however, he traded 
his mill for a Texas ranch, upon which he lived for four years. Not be- 
ing satisfied to remain there indefinitely, in 1889 he again became a citi- 
zen and business man of Benton, engaging in the dry goods business for 
a second time, in this instance becoming a partner of his son-in-law, F. 
H. Stamper. They disposed of the store in 1910 and since that date Mr. 
Fitzgerrell has devoted his time and attention to conducting his four 
hundred and fifty acre farm, his activities including the buying and sell- 
ing of cattle and stock. He is one of the large property owners of Ben- 
ton and is counted as one of the community 's most substantial and pros- 
perous men. The Fitzgerrell home is one of the largest and most beau- 
tiful here and is most graciously presided over by the wife and mother. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerrell were married in 1868. She was before her 
marriage Elizabeth Blake, a daughter of Aaron Blake. They are the 
parents of three living children, Anna being the wife of F. H. Stamper, 
a retired business man of Benton, while Nellie May and Inez are still 
members of their parental home. The family belong to the Christian 
church, in which they are willing and effective workers. Mr. Fitzger- 
rell is a member of the Masonic order and is a Chapter Mason. In poli- 
tics he has always taken a great interest and works enthusiastically for 
the success of the Democratic party. In 1874 he was elected and served 
one year as county clerk, but in later years has avoided official life, pre- 
ferring to exert his influence in private capacity. A man of comprehen- 
sive talents, unimpeachable integrity and the possessor of many admirable 
personal qualities, he is held in the highest esteem by the entire com- 
munity. 

M. WILSON SIZEMORE. As money, or any other medium of exchange, 
is the life-blood of business and commerce it is evident that bankers who 
manage and control the circulating medium stands related to the public 
as the physician who has his finger on the pulse of the patient and has 
the power of controlling his constitution for better or worse. No mem- 
ber of the business community has a greater responsibility than the 
banker, and any community or city is much to be congratulated that has 
at the head of its finances men of thorough training, stanch ability and 
moral dependability. To this class belongs M. Wilson Sizemore, cashier 
of the Carterville State & Savings Bank. In Williamson county he was 
reared and here has passed his life since coming here with his father in 
1864. The elder gentleman is William E. Sizemore, a venerable citizen 
of Carterville, who, full of years but yet vigorous, is in the quiet of re- 
tirement after a long career as a farmer. 



1026 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

William E. Sizemore was born in Henry county, Tennessee (Septem- 
ber 23, 1824), whither his father, William Sizemore, went from Trigg 
county, Kentucky. His father was born in Halifax county, Virginia, in 
1800 and was a son of George Sizemore, who came out of old England, his 
native country, and established himself in the Old Dominion. George's 
wife was a Miss Calicutt, and the issue of their union were Anderson ; 
Jordan, who died in Missouri ; Nelson, who was drowned as a young man ; 
John, who migrated to South Carolina from his native state ; Sarah, who 
married in Virginia and remained there ; and William, grandfather of 
the immediate subject. 

In 1816 George Sizemore 's widow took her family to Trigg county, 
Kentucky, her husband a short time previously having been accidentally 
killed in Virginia while rolling a hogshead of tobacco, as was the cus- 
tom at that time. In 1820 she and her husband removed to Henry 
county, Tennessee. There William Sizemore married Unity Canady, 
born in South Carolina in 1807, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. They went 
back to Kentucky in 1829 and a few years later left Trigg county and 
settled in Christian county, that state. William died in 1863, while his 
widow survived until June 24, 1887, passing away in Carterville, Illinois. 
Their children were William E., father of the subject; A. Perry ; G. W. ; 
J. C. ; James R. ; Jane, who married Jacob Colly ; Lydia, who became the 
wife of Leander Keys ; Rebecca, who married John M. Cruse ; and Susan, 
who became the wife of E. C. Jones. All the children save Mrs. Colly 
and Mrs. Keys, came to Illinois. 

William E. Sizemore grew up in Kentucky under such influences as 
the country then possessed ; obtained a smattering of education ; and mar- 
ried Lucinda Sizemore, a daughter of Anderson Sizemore, his uncle. He 
returned to Tennessee and there reared his children on a farm, finally 
leaving the state chiefly because of its secession sentiment and its rela- 
tion to the Confederacy. He sought the loyal community of the North 
and passed the first year of his residence in Franklin county, Illinois, 
near old Frankfort, and when he came into Williamson county he lo- 
cated a mile north of Carterville, where his residence has since been 
maintained. Here his wife died in 1885 and here he married again in 
July, 1886, Miss Sarah Edwards. 

In matters political Mr. Sizemore has never been active. He was 
reared a Democrat and espoused that faith until the issues of the war 
and the lining up of the Southern Democrats with secession, when he 
broke with his party and became a Republican. In 1860 there was no 
Republican ticket in his section of Tennessee and he cast his vote for 
Douglas for president. He volunteered for service in the Union army, 
joining the Seventh Tennessee, but before he was mustered in he 
was furloughed home, disabled, and when he returned his commander 
declined to accept him and his regiment was merged with another one 
and became the Sixth Tennessee Infantry. He returned home and soon 
afterward left the state. 

The children of William E. and Sarah Sizemore were as follows: 
Sarah A., who died at Creal Springs, Illinois, at the age of sixty-two, as 
Mrs. W. A. Roberts ; Cassie, who married E. B. Watson and died in Car- 
terville, Illinois, in 1902; Fannie, of Carterville, who is the wife of 
Charles Malone; William B., who died in 1879 and left two children, 
the surviving one of whom is Mrs. Augusta Cole ; M. Wilson, who was 
born in Weakley county, Tennessee, where his father removed from Ken- 
tucky in 1864 ; Victoria became the wife of Sherman Scoby and resides 
in Carterville ; Thomas H. died in 1886, unmarried ; and Frank is a resi- 
dent of the community where his boyhood was passed. By his second 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1027 

marriage Mr. Sizemore has two daughters, Eva, wife of Elmer Burk- 
holder, and Miss Ava, both residents at the paternal home. 

M. Wilson Sizemore was born October 7, 1856, and was just ready for 
school when he came to Carterville settlement. He was trained in the 
county district and confesses to having occupied a teacher's place in 
the school-room for a portion of one term of school. He was a farmer 
until prospects as a coal miner promised greater returns than labor on 
the farm, when he abandoned the la.tter and spent many years in and 
about the mines. He finally sought clerical work and was added to the 
station force of the Illinois Central Railway in Carterville and took 
charge of the freight and express business from 1897 to 1902. He then 
accepted the position of assistant cashier of the Bank of Carterville. 

At the organization of the Carterville State & Savings Bank in 1904 
he was chosen cashier and has retained the position since. This institu- 
tion was chartered with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, and S. H. 
Bundy was elected president. Eventually J. B. Samuel succeeded Mr. 
Bundy and Ben. L. Washburn is vice-president of the concern. Mr. 
Sizemore is one of the directors of the Carterville Building & Loan Asso- 
ciation. 

On October 25, 1878, Mr. Sizemore and Miss Florence Tranbarger 
were married in Carterville. She was a daughter of William Tranbar- 
ger, a German, and she died in July, 1900. The only living child of the 
union is William B., who is a bookkeeper for the Madison Coal Com- 
pany here and is married to Zella McEwan. For his second wife Mr. 
Sizemore took in marriage, in August, 1901, Mary A. Caplinger, a daugh- 
ter of L. K. Corder. A daughter, Zella, born in 1904, is the result of 
this union. 

Mr. Sizemore is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias; he is a 
Republican ; and a member of the Missionary Baptist church. 

Moss MAXEY, M. D., since 1910 connected with the Egyptian Hos- 
pital of Mount Vernon, is one of the prominent young physicians of 
his section of the state. He has been in continuous practice in Mount 
Vernon for fifteen years past, and while he is the junior of many of 
the medical men of his city, he has a record for more years of con- 
secutive practice in the community than perhaps any other representa- 
tive of the medical profession. 

Born on July 28, 1873, on a farm in Jefferson county, Illinois, he is 
the son of James C. and Nancy (Moss) Maxey, the former born in 
Shiloh township, Jefferson county, on June 14, 1827, and the latter the 
descendant of a prominent pioneer family of Illinois. The Maxey fam- 
ily have been identified with the history of the United States since 
Walter Maxey, 1st, immigrated to this country from Wales, 1725, and 
they have been prominent in all walks of life from them until the 
present time. 

Dr. Moss Maxey, who derives his Christian name from the family 
appellation of his mother, received his education in the common schools 
of Jefferson county. While yet in his 'teens he was granted a certificate 
to teach, which he did for some little time. He later entered the med- 
ical department of Washington University in St. Louis, in 1893, and 
was graduated from that fine old institution in 1897, being awarded at 
that time his well earned degree of M. D. Dr. Maxey immediately took 
up the practice of medicine in Mount Vernon, and has conducted a 
continuous practice there for fifteen years, eight years of which he 
was surgeon to the Mt. Vernon Cornice Manufacturing Company, and 
for five years was county physician of Jefferson county. He has been 
especially successful in his chosen work and is regarded as one of the 
leading men in medical circles in Southern Illinois. He is connected 



1028 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

with the private hospital conducted by Dr. Hamilton, and is one of 
six physicians to occupy a suite of consulting room, laboratory and 
waiting rooms, known as the Hospital Consulting Rooms, as an annex 
to the hospital. The library and all the appointments of the laboratory, 
consulting and waiting rooms are the most complete and modern to be 
found in Southern Illinois, and are .in every way adequate to the 
exigencies of whatever occasion might arise. 

Dr. Maxey himself is a general practitioner, and the five physicians 
associated with him and connected with the Egyptian Hospital are spe- 
cialists in various lines. The Doctor is a well read and thoroughly edu- 
cated man, and is a constant student of the best. His private library 
comprises perhaps a thousand volumes, and many editions De Luxe are 
to be found among his book shelves. He is a member of the Jefferson 
County and the American Medical Associations, as an aid to his pro- 
fession, and is active in both societies. In a fraternal way he is promi- 
nent in Masonry, being a past master of Mount Vernon lodge, No. 31, 
and was Master Mason in 1899. He has attained the Royal Arch De- 
gree. He has been a member of the National Geographical Society 
since 1908. 

Dr. Maxey has been twice married. By his first marriage, he has two 
children: Hugh W., a student in the Illinois State University, and 
Vivian, now attending high school in Mount Vernon. His second mar- 
riage took place on September 17, 1911, when Ethel Elliot, daughter of 
Jesse Elliot, became his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Elliot are natives of Ran- 
dolph county, and the mother of Mr. Elliot was a Menard, daughter of 
Pierre Menard, the first lieutenant governor of Illinois and a direct de- 
scendant of the Menards of Old Kaskaskia, and of French extraction. 

JOSEPH T. EVANS. The men who have given of their energy, skill, 
ambitious vigor and enthusiasm to build up a community are the bene- 
factors of humanity, and their names cannot be held in too high esteem. 
In every undertaking there must be a logical beginning, and the man 
who lays the foundations of what afterwards may become a large and 
flourishing city must have the courage of his convictions and unlimited 
faith in the future of the location he selects as his scene of endeavor. 
The late Marshall A. Evans was a man whose keen mind and boundless 
enthusiasm looked far beyond the narrow horizon of today, and easily 
read the signs of a dawning tomorrow. To him belong the honor of 
founding Grand Tower, which for years was known as Evans Landing. 
His work is accomplished, his day is ended, and all that is mortal of him 
lies at rest, but the results of his planning, his sacrifice and develop- 
ment live today, and will as long as civilization lasts, for he built upon 
the solid foundation of merit, honesty and faith in humanity. His son, 
Joseph T. Evans, today one of the leading merchants here, holds his 
father in highest veneration, and he is not alone in this, for all who un- 
derstand what the place owes Mr. Evans join his descendants in honor- 
ing his memory. 

Marshall A. Evans was a young man when he settled at Evans Land- 
the early agriculturists here, as well as attending to the needs of the 
boatmen, and he also engaged in shipping corn and acting as agent for 
the Grand Tower Mining and Transportation Company, seeking in every 
way to advance the community which he had founded, and becoming the 
owner of considerable land here. A stanch Democrat in his political 
views, he was elected to positions of honor and trust by his fellow towns- 
men, who recognized and appreciated the honesty and ability of this pio- 
neer and made him city clerk, city attorney and assessor. In his death, 
which occurred in 1901, the city and county lost one of its ablest business 
men, and one whose entire career was marked by the strictest honor and 



fflt LIBRARY 
OF THE 

OF 



.HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1029 

business integrity. Mr. Evans was married to Miss Rebecca Snider, an 
estimable lady of Jackson county, Illinois, and they had a family of seven 
children, of whom Joseph T. was the fifth in order of birth. Mrs. Evans, 
a lady of refinement and Christian character, survived her husband only 
two years. 

Joseph T. Evans was born at Evans Landing, November 20, 1866, and 
his education was secured in the public schools here. He early in life 
became familiar with the merchandise business, thus gaining experience 
that has since proven of great value to him, and he later went on the 
road as a traveling salesman. After spending two years as postmaster 
of Carbondale Mr. Evans, in 1896, returned to Grand Tower and es- 
tablished himself in the mercantile business, in which he has since con- 
tinued. .He has inherited many of his father's business abilities, which 
have assisted him in building up a large trade here, and like his 
father he has given his allegiance to the Democratic party, although 
he has never sought nor cared for public office. He has always taken 
a great interest in anything that pertained to the welfare of this 
city, and has seen the little settlement that his father founded grow into 
one of the thriving commercial centers of Jackson county. For a number 
of years he has been connected with the Masons, and he has many warm 
friends in the lodge and throughout the city. 

In 1895 Mr. Evans was married to Miss Lucy A. Spring, of Cobden, 
Illinois. They have had no children. 

HOWARD MOORMAN, M. D. The modern physician occupies so im- 
portant a position in the life of the community which is the field of his 
professional effort that much is required of him aside from his tech- 
nical knowledge and scientific skill. In Dr. Howard Moorman, who de- 
votes his entire time and attention to the demands of a large practice, 
Christopher, Illinois, has a man of professional ability and experience, 
and of pleasing personality, together with honorable citizenship. He 
comes from old pioneer families of the state, both the Moormans and 
the Moores having come early to Illinois. He was born in Hamilton 
county, Illinois, July 30, 1869, and is a son of James P. and Mary 
(Moore) Moorman. 

The paternal grandfather, James Moorman, was a native of Ohio, 
where he was interested in the manufacture of coke. He came to Illi- 
nois when there were large tracts of land in Hamilton county to be 
secured from the Government, and here he died in old age. Among his 
sons was James P., who was born January 14, 1841, near Ironton, Ohio, 
and he was five years old when he accompanied his parents to Illinois. 
They settled first in Hardin county but shortly afterward moved into 
Hamilton county, which part of the state is yet his home, he being a 
successful farmer. During the Civil war he was captain of Company 
H, Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry, and served through three years of the 
war. In his early years he was a school-teacher. He still maintains his. 
home on the old homestead farm which his father secured sixty years 
ago. He married Mary Moore, a daughter of Alfred Moore, who came 
to Illinois from Virginia in the 'thirties, settling in Hamilton county, 
where he lived until the time of his death, in 1879. He was well known 
all over the county and was one of the heroes of the Black Hawk war. 

Howard Moorman attended the country schools until he was seven- 
teen years of age and then secured a teacher's certificate and for thir- 
teen years following taught school in Hamilton county. When the 
Spanish-American war broke out he enlisted as a private in Company 
D, Ninth Illinois Infantry, and served one year. At the close of his 
military service he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at 



1030 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

St. Louis, and was graduated from that institution with his medical 
degree in 1906. Dr. Moorman immediately established himself at 
Christopher, where he found congenial surroundings and an encourag- 
ing professional field, and here he has continued and now has a practice 
that demands his entire time. As an intelligent and educated man he 
takes an interest in public matters both at home and abroad, but po- 
litical office does in no way appeal to him. He has won his own way 
into the confidence of those among whom he has chosen his home and 
he stands high in their esteem and respect. 

Dr. Moorman was married in 1908, to Miss Myrtle Walker, who is 
a daughter of J. "W. Walker, a well known contractor residing at Chris- 
topher. Dr. and Mrs. Moorman are members of the Missionary Baptist 
church. He is identified with the Odd Fellows and the Red Men, and 
belongs also to the Franklin County and Illinois State Medical So- 
cieties. 

FRANK BAETMES. The moving spirit in one of the most active munici- 
pal administrations the city of Johnston City, Illinois, has ever known, 
Frank Bartmes, mayor of the city, is establishing an enviable reputation 
for himself. He does not belong to the pioneer element of Williamson 
county, but during the six years that he has resided here has made his 
influence felt. He was reared on a farm in Iroquois county and edu- 
cated in the high school at Watseka. 

Abraham Bartmes, the father of Mayor Bartmes, was born at Tiffin, 
Ohio, and as a mere child accompanied his father to Loda, Illinois, and 
there came to maturity and married. His father was of German blood, 
passed his life as a merchant and farmer, as he did, and passed away in 
Iroquois county. Abraham Bartmes married Harriet Miller, who was a 
child of thirteen years when she accompanied her parents to the United 
States from Germany, and she is now residing with her daughter in 
Beloit, Wisconsin, her husband having died in 1908, at the age of seventy- 
three years. They had these children : Richard, who resides at Harris- 
burg, Illinois ; Alice, who married W. M. Cox, of Beloit, Wisconsin ; 
Frank ; Orpha, who married Shelby Garner ; and Roy, who is in the em- 
ploy of the Johnston City Gas and Water Company. 

When Frank Bartmes left the farm he entered the services of a firm 
of engineers engaged in construction work and applied himself to the 
task of learning steam, electric and hydraulic engineering. He was a 
correspondence school student for a time and received his practical ex- 
perience with the firm of W. C. Thompson and Company, of Chicago, 
out of which city he worked for nine years in the building of water 
works, light plants and other mechanical engineering. During this pe- 
riod of intense application he mastered the subject of engineering as it 
came within the realm of his activities, and when he left the company he 
came to Johnston City and organized the company which built, owns and 
. operates the light and water plant in Johnston City. 

Mr. Bartmes inherited his politics, and from a study of conditions 
and principles justifies the inheritance. He is a Democrat and holds to 
party loyalty where real politics is necessary to good government, He 
was chosen mayor without regard to politics in 1909 and was reelected 
upon his record for a second term in 1911. His administration opened 
an active building campaign and has continued it throughout the three 
years of its incumbency. Twenty-two miles of concrete walks answers 
for its share in the movements for public improvement, streets have been 
put in prime condition, a considerable city debt has been paid and the 
city treasury is supplied with funds to pay for the new city hall as 
soon as it is completed, a building costing five thousand dollars. In ad- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1031 

dition to his other interests Mr. Bartmes does a heavy automobile busi- 
ness. He has represented the Maxwell car for some time, the machine 
which won the endurance race of 1911, and which is one of the popular 
sellers. He handles also the Studebaker and the Overland and his inter- 
est in the modern mode of travel has stimulated business in this line ma- 
terially about Johnston City. He is one of the stockholders of the Citi- 
zens State Bank here and of the Johnston City Building and Loan Asso- 
ciation. 

Mr. Bartmes does not belong to any of the old fraternities, his con- 
nection with secret orders being confined to membership in the Elks' 
Tribe of Ben Hur and the Modern Woodmen of America. 

FRANK H. POST. One of the leading families of Jackson county, 
Illinois, is that of Post, members of which have been prominent in busi- 
ness circles and in the professions for a number of years. A worthy rep- 
resentative of this family is Prank H. Post, who has shown more than 
ordinary business qualifications, and is now the owner of three drug 
stores, his present field of labor being the city of Murphysboro, where he 
is known as an excellent business man and public-spirited citizen. Mr. 
Post was born December 8, 1868, at Carbondale, Illinois, and is a son 
of Peter Mackey and Sarah (Haughawout) Post. 

Peter Mackey Post was born at Southampton, Long Island, in 1842, 
and there resided until he was nineteen years of age, when he left home 
on a whaling voyage, a trip that consumed three years. He then re- 
turned to his home, where he remained for one year, and then spent two 
years on the Delaware and Hudson Canal, coming to Murphysboro in 
1865, where, in the capacity of civil engineer, he assisted in surveying the 
land for the Grand Tower and Carbondale Railroad. He ran the first 
train on that road, and for years was a conductor on that line, in the 
meantime making his home in Carbondale, and eventually became a 
silent partner in a general store, but later withdrew and entered the drug 
business, with which he was connected at the time of his death, October 
30, 1908. For a number of years he was vice-president of the City Na- 
tional Bank and was interested in other enterprises of a business nature, 
while he was fraternally prominent as a Mason and a charter member of 
the local lodge of Elks. Mr. Post was married to Miss Sarah Haugha- 
wout, of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and their two children are living: 
Prank H. and Dr. Charles A. H. 

Charles Augustus Harwood Post was born at Carbondale, Illinois, 
March 12, 1874, and after attending the public and high schools of Car- 
bondale entered Union Academy, at Anna, Illinois, and on completing 
his course in that institution became a student in Northwestern Univer- 
sity, at Evanston, Illinois. , He took his medical course in the Jefferson 
Medical College, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which he was grad- 
uated with the class in 1899, and in May of that year began practice at 
Murphysboro. He has a large practice, which he follows along general 
lines, although he specializes more or less in surgery, and a number of 
successful operations have won for him the confidence of the people of 
his community. He is a member of the Board of Health, of which he 
was for some time president, and has a wide reputation in his profes- 
sion. He was married February 23, 1906, to Miss Louise Stecher, of 
Murphysboro, daughter of Rudolph Stecker, a well known brewer of this 
city, and two children have been born to them : Sallie Louise and Mar- 
jorie Nevina. 

Frank H. Post attended the public and high schools of Carbondale, 
and then entered the University of Indiana, from which he was gradu- 
ated in 1890, and four years later was graduated from the pharmaceuti- 



1032 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

cal department of Northwestern University. He then came to Murphys- 
boro, and was associated with his father in the drug business until 1897, 
in which year he went to Chicago, where for some time he was engaged 
in the manufacture of proprietary medicines, but in 1908 returned to 
Murphysboro and succeeded his father as proprietor of the drug business. 
He is possessed of much business ability, and with his progressive ideas 
and his years of experience has built up a large and lucrative trade. He 
now conducts three stores, in which he keeps a full line of drugs, medi- 
cines, stationery, toilet articles, and other goods usually found in a first- 
class pharmacy, and his honorable methods of dealing have given him a 
high standing among Murphysboro 's business men. 

On October 16, 1899, Mr. Post was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Kings- 
bury Anderson, of Chicago, daughter of Captain E. W. Kingsbury, who 
as captain of Company I, Second Illinois Regiment, served during the 
Civil war. Fraternally Mr. Post is connected with the Masons, the 
Knights of Pythias and the Elks, and is very popular in all. The- fam- 
ily is connected with the Presbyterian church. 

ROY EDWARD GAUEN. Even in an age which recognizes young men 
and places responsibilities upon them which in the past have been laid 
only upon the shoulders of those of more mature years, we seldom find 
a yoiith of twenty-two years entrusted with as important a position as 
state 's attorney for a county within the limits of which there reside prac- 
tically as many people as are to be found in any community of its size 
in the state. Such, however, was the confidence placed in Roy Edward 
Gauen, of Waterloo, Illinois, who is now serving his second term in that 
office, and who is constantly proving that the trust was not misplaced. 
He is a native of Waterloo, and was born August 19, 1882, a son of Jo- 
seph Henry and Mary Ann (Burke) Gauen, both born in Monroe county, 
the former March 19, 1856, and the latter June 27, 1855. Mr. Gauen 's 
father is now engaged in conducting a general merchandise and lumber 
business ; his brother, Pierre E. Gauen, is an automobile salesman of this 
city. 

Roy Edward Gauen received his preliminary education in the pub- 
lic and high schools of Waterloo, and for four years studied law in the 
office of ex-Senator A. C. Bellinger, being admitted to the bar Decem- 
ber 13, 1904. In November of that year he had been elected to the office 
of state's attorney, and eight days before he had received his admis- 
sion to practice he began to discharge the duties of his office. Conscien- 
tious labor as a public official has brought its reward, and he has con- 
tinued to hold the high office to the present time. Although the young- 
est attorney to be elected to the position in the history of the state, Mr. 
Gauen at once became an active, vigorous and successful prosecutor. A 
vigorous and virile man, an astute and discerning attorney and a gifted 
orator, Mr. Gauen embodies in his personality those qualities that com- 
mand the respect,, the approval and the regard of his fellow-citizens. In 
political matters he is a Democrat. He is very public-spirited, and on a 
recent occasion donated his services for two weeks in assisting to secure 
lands for the new electric railway being built into Waterloo. He is the 
owner of a beautiful home in the city, where he has a valuable and com- 
prehensive law library. He was a charter member and first grand knight 
of the Knights of Columbus here, and belongs to the Catholic church and 
is active in its work. He is also an active member of the Commercial 
Club, and in many ways has endeavored to further the best interests of 
his native city. 

On June 5, 1907, Mr. Gauen was united in marriage with Miss Ella 
Horine, of Chicago, daughter of William Harrison and Emma (Kuen- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1033 

ster) Horine, the former of whom is engaged in the brokerage business 
in Chicago. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gauen : Genevieve, 
born July 14, 1908. 

FRANTZ J. MEYER, M. D., has practiced medicine in Evansville, Illi- 
nois, for the past quarter of a century, and enjoys the distinction of be- 
ing regarded as one of the ablest physicians in his section of the country. 
He has a widespread reputation for ability, and in the space of his resi- 
dence in Evansville has won to himself many warm friends and a pro- 
fessional following which is coincident with his recognized ability. 

Born near Evansville, Illinois, on a farm, February 7, 1865, Dr. Frantz 
J. Meyer is the son of Joseph Meyer, now a retired farmer and business 
man of Evansville. The latter was the first representative of the Meyer 
family to leave the Fatherland and settle upon American soil, and he 
came to this country shortly after his marriage with Josephine Witter- 
brink, a daughter of Max Witterbrink, also a native of Germany. Jo- 
seph Meyer was then a very young man, and he settled in the farming 
country near Evansville and lived the active life of a farmer until after 
the Civil war. He has been especially successful in all his business ven- 
tures, and has been able to amass a comfortable fortune in real estate and 
other property. For many years he was a leading hotel keeper of Evans- 
ville, and as such possessed a wide acquaintance throughout the state, in 
spite of which, however, he always retained the characteristics of a faith- 
ful citizen, unambitious for office of political preferment. The issue of 
his marriage with Josephine Witterbrink were as follows : Mary, now the 
widow of Joseph Roos, of Evansville ; Dr. Frantz J. ; Maggie, married to 
Henry Feitsan ; Rose, the wife of Joseph Schenck ; and Josephine, who 
married George Popp, and the latter named daughter resides near Buf- 
falo, New York. Some years after the death of the wife and mother 
Joseph Meyer re-married, his second choice being Margaret Braun. Of 
their issue are Antoine, residing in Buffalo, New York ; Abin, of Evans- 
ville ; John Adam, of Cairo ; Albert, a resident of Evansville ; and the 
youngest child, Annie, also of Evansville. 

The preliminary educational training of Dr. Meyer was accorded him 
through the medium of the public schools of Evansville, and he later 
completed a course of instruction in the Christian Brothers College, St. 
Louis, Missouri. Early in his youth he had formed the intent to pur- 
sue a medical course, and his every preparation for that study was most 
thorough. Following his graduation from Christian Brothers College 
he entered the Missouri Medical College of St. Louis and was graduated 
therefrom in 1887. He has since supplemented his college training by 
careful reading and a post graduate course in Chicago, being at all times 
a careful student and keeping fully abreast of the times in all the scien- 
tific questions pertaining to his profession. 

Dr. Meyer is professionally identified with the Randolph County 
Medical Society, the Southern Illinois Society and ' the Illinois State 
Association, holding membership in all three organizations. He has 
served as a director of the Evansville school board in behalf of his city, 
and in every movement for the betterment of his community he has ever 
been a willing and helpful citizen. He is a Republican in his political 
faith, and has been on several occasions a delegate to the state conven- 
tions of his party. Dr. Meyer is one of the promoters and organizers of 
the Evansville Telephone Company, and is also the treasurer of that 
company. 

On October 30, 1888, Dr. Meyer was married to Frances Pautler, 
daughter of Joseph Pautler. She died in 1891, being the mother of 
Agatha, wife of Anton Wittenbrink. In 1893 Dr. Meyer contracted a 



1034 HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

second marriage, taking for his bride Miss Matilda Shifferdecker, of Red- 
bud. The children born of that union are Herbert, now a student in the 
Barnes Business College, Centralia, Illinois, Oliver, Loyola and Walter. 

WILLIAM AUGUSTUS SCHWARTZ. This leading lawyer, influential citi- 
zen and prominent financier and industrial promoter, whose whole life 
to this time (1911), excepting while he was in school and college, has 
been passed at Carbondale, seems to have the touch of Midas without 
the sordidness of that unhappy monarch. Everything he puts his hand 
to in a professional or business way thrives and brings in good returns, 
but the results are used for the benefit of others in manifestations of 
enterprise and public spirit which show that he is deeply interested in 
the welfare of his city and county and the comfort and progress of their 
people in every worthy and proper way. 

Mr. Schwartz was born on a farm in Elk township, Jackson county, 
Illinois, on February 28, 1853, and is a son of William and Sarah (Kim- 
mel) Schwartz. His father was one of the prosperous and prominent 
farmers and stock breeders of Jackson county, and took a considerable 
interest in public affairs. He was a member of the state legislature in 
1870-71, and died during his term of office, in the height of his useful- 
ness and in the prime of life. 

His son, William Augustus Schwartz, began his academic educa- 
tion in the public schools, continued it in Carthage College, and com- 
pleted it at the Southern Illinois Normal University. After leaving the 
last named institution he attended Union Law College in Chicago, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1879. Following his admission to the bar he 
located in Carbondale, and ever since has been actively engaged in the 
practice of his profession in the county of his birth, and adjoining coun- 
ties, and for many years also in the higher courts of the state and in 
United States Court. He has served one term as state's attorney in this 
county, and as school trustee for some years, although his ambition has 
never been in the line of public office, but rather in the domain of finan- 
cial operations and in the development of large industrial enterprises. 
In 1892 he helped to organize the First National Bank of Carbondale, 
with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars and the late F. A. Prickett 
as president. Mr. Prickett died August 31, 1903, and directly after that 
event Mr. Schwartz, whose influence and service in promoting the inter- 
ests of the bank as a director from the start had been very greatly and 
highly appreciated, was chosen president to succeed Mr. Prickett. He 
has held that office and directed the policy and course of the institution 
ever since, and it has grown and prospered under his wise and progress- 
ive management. In 1911 the bank had accumulated an undivided sur- 
plus amounting to fifteen thousand dolars, with a much increased and 
rapidly expanding volume of business, and a steadily strenghtening hold 
upon the confidence and high regard of the business world around it. 
But the exacting claims of the bank on his time and attention, and those 
of his large legal practice, were insufficient to absorb all his energies or 
completely employ the faculties of his active and comprehensive mind. 
In 1897 he found an additional field for their exercise in helping to or- 
ganize the Carbondale Trust and Savings Bank, of which he was made 
president at the time, and has been ever since. This institution has also 
flourished and thriven through his energy and skill as a financier and his 
foresight and enterprise as a controlling force, which have been freely 
applied to it. 

His business capacity and tireless diligence in the use of it have found 
still other fruitful channels of expression through the Carbondale Mill 
and Elevator Company, the Carbondale and Marion Telephone Com- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1035 

pany, the Ohio-Mississippi Valley Telephone Company, and the Missouri 
State Life Insurance Company of St. Louis, all of which he helped to or- 
ganize, and each of which he has served zealously for years as a mem- 
ber of its directorate. These institutions have all been of considerable 
advantage to him personally and of great benefit to the public in many 
ways by means of their ever widening currents of business and their 
productive activities. 

In his profession Mr. Schwartz stands deservedly high because of his 
ability and acumen as a lawyer, his extensive legal knowledge and his 
industrious devotion to his professional duties, notwithstanding the other 
exhaustive domains of business which lay him under such heavy tribute 
by their requirements, all of which he meets with ease and promptness 
and in the most successful manner, by reason of the resourcefulness of his 
versatile and comprehensive mind and his commanding genius for close 
and unremitting application to whatever he has in hand. 

In his political faith and allegiance Mr. Schwartz is allied with the 
Democratic party, and while he has never been desirous of political hon- 
ors or emoluments of office for himself, he has been a faithful worker 
for the success of the party because of his strong conviction of the cor- 
rectness of its principles. In the early eighties he served as chairman 
of its county central committee, and proved himself a valiant and re- 
sourceful leader in its campaign. His religious connection is with the 
Christian church, and he is an elder in its organization and government. 
For the past seventeen years he has been an officer and an active worker 
in the Jackson County Sunday-School Association. Fraternally Mr. 
Schwartz belongs to the Masonic order and to its adjunct, the Order of 
the Eastern Star, in both of which he is earnest in his interest and en- 
ergetic and practical in the service he renders. Mr. Schwartz has 
never married. He has shared his mother's home all his life, and his 
dearest ambition has been to make that home a comfortable and happy 
abiding place for her declining years, an ambition which it is safe to say 
he has fully realized. He has one brother living, George Schwartz, and 
one sister, Mrs. Ellen Hays. Two brothers, Henry and Daniel, and three 
sisters, Isabel, Laura and Lucy, died before they reached their legal 
majority. 

EARL B. JACKSON. The progressive cashier of the Marion State and 
Savings Bank, Earl B. Jackson, has showed from the first of his business 
career his ability along the lines of his chosen avocation. His cool head 
and clear brain have placed him, at the early age of thirty-seven, in the 
most responsible position of a prosperous financial institution. His 
faculty for the management of business affairs has been in no small part 
an inheritance from his father, who for more than fifty years has been 
conspicuously identified with the business life of Marion. 

Earl B. Jackson is the son of James Charlton Jackson and Cynthia 
E. (Calvert) Jackson. The former was born near Gallatin, Sumner 
county, Tennessee, on the 20th of June, 1842. In 1860 he moved from 
Gallatin and settled in Illinois, at Marion. His father was George Jack- 
son, and his mother was Sarah Barham, a daughter of John Barham, 
whose wife was a Miss Wilson. When Mrs. Barham was a little girl 
she was carried off by the Indians and kept in captivity until her cousin, 
Colonel Hugh L. White, one of the early United States senators from 
Tennessee, had bought and paid for her, not once, but three times, then 
she was permitted to find her way home. 

George Jackson was a stone mason, who lived in Tennessee till his 
death in 1845. His wife survived him only a few years, dying in 1850. 
She had five brothers, one of whom, Thomas, came to Illinois and lived 



1036 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

in Williamson county, where he died leaving a large family. Joseph 
was a local politician, serving in the Tennessee legislature from the 
western part of the state, where he and his brother James passed their 
lives. The two other brothers, Jack and Charles, moved to Texas and 
raised large families there. George and Sarah Jackson had a large 
family of ten children, only three of whom are now alive. John and Al- 
myra died in early life ; Emily, who married D. G. Blackmore and died 
in Tennessee ; Margaret, became the wife of M. W. Barham and died in 
Marion, Illinois ; W. P. moved to Clay count} 7 , Missouri, making his home 
near Liberty, where he reared his family ; Fielding D. died in Marion, Illi- 
nois, in 1909, leaving several children ; Bailey P. raised his family to the 
old home town of Gallatin, Tennessee, where he died; Charles never 
reached maturity; James Charlton, of Marion, Illinois; Kate, dying in 
infancy ; and Mollie, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. 

After the death of his mother, James C. Jackson went to live with 
one of his mother's brothers. Here it was pretty much all work and no 
play, and his chances for an education were very meager. He started 
out early in life to earn his bread, beginning as a humble laborer. After 
coming to Illinois he learned the carpenter's trade. For fifteen years he 
continued to devote his splendid energies to the construction of good 
houses, and the old John Goodall residence is an evidence of some of 
the contract work that he did during this time. He had always been a 
keen thinker on political questions and when he gave up active mechani- 
cal work in 1877 his fellow citizens showed their confidence in his views 
and in his honesty of purpose by electing him their mayor. The new 
mayor possessed indefatigable energy, as was indicated by his service as 
deputy sheriff under John H. Duncan for four years, while at the same 
time he attended faithfully to his duties as mayor. He has repeatedly 
been honored with the confidence of his fellow townsmen, being re- 
elected mayor in 1880 and again in 1882. During the latter election the 
issue turned upon the temperance question, whether Marion should be- 
come a "dry town." In 1882 he was elected county clerk and served 
one term, and during these years his unswerving interest in the welfare 
of the younger generation has never failed, for he has given much time, 
in his twelve years of service on the board of education, to making the 
facilities for education in Marion of the very best. When local conditions 
do not conflict with the casting of a righteous ballot, Mr. Jackson is an 
ardent Democrat. Since 1887 he has been engaged in the furniture busi- 
ness and has acquired an interest in the undertaking business, as the 
firm of Jackson-Holland & Company. 

On the 21st of August, 1863, Mr. Jackson married Cynthia E. Cal- 
vert, a daughter of N. B. Calvert. The latter was a carpenter and con- 
tractor, who had settled in Marion, coming from the South. Mrs. Jack- 
son was born in her home town on the 27th of July, 1843. The children 
of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson are : Maggie, the wife of William Robbins, of 
Sanford, Florida ; Augusta, who became the wife of Dr. Barter, of Mc- 
Leansboro, Illinois; Earl B.; and Alice and Jessie, who died in infancy. 

Earl B. Jackson was sent through the public schools of Marion and 
graduated from the high school in 1893. Later he had a year's work in 
the Southern Illinois Normal School at Carbondale. His first experience 
in business after leaving school was in the postoffice in Marion, where he 
served eighteen months as assistant postmaster under John Goodall. 
He was then offered the position of assistant cashier of the Bank of Nor- 
ris City, and engaged in banking as a occupation. Subsequently he came 
to the Bank of Marion and served eighteen months in the same position. 
Then, giving up banking, he went into the furniture business with his 
' father, remaining with him for a year and a half. At this time he re- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1037 

turned to the Bank of Marion as its cashier. In 1902. when the institu- 
tion became the Marion State and Savings Bank, he was obviously the 
only man for the cashiership and was elected to that position. He will 
soon have seen his tenth year of service in this capacity. The Marion 
State and Savings Bank, is one of the most prosperous institutions of its 
kind in Southern Illinois. It has a capital stock of $100,000.00, its sur- 
plus fund amounts to $20,000.00, and the total deposits reach the sum of 
$479,122.39. It numbers on its board of directors many of the prosper- 
ous men of the town, the personnel being as follows: E. E. Denison, J. 
H. Burnett, M. L. Baker, W. W. Whittington, W. J. Aikman, B. D. 
Bracy, W. G. Cochran, A. J. Binkley, J. M. Aikman, J. C. B. Smith and 
D. T. Hartwell. Mr. Jackson is secretary of Group Ten of the Illinois 
Bankers Association, now serving his third term as such. Outside of 
banking he is interested in the Jackson Furniture and Undertaking busi- 
ness. He has no interest in political life, allowing his father to carry off 
all the honors along that line. 

Mr. Jackson was married in Norris City, Illinois, on the 6th of July, 
1898, to Carrie Barnes, a daughter of Charles E. Barnes, who is one of 
the old settlers of White county, having come here from Pennsylvania. 
Mrs. Jackson received a high school education, and in addition attended 
the Chicago Conservatory of Music. They have one daughter, Pauline, 
born July 30, 1899. 

The traits which made of the father a successful business man and 
wise political leader, that is, ability to feel the current of affairs, a care- 
ful attention to detail, coupled with the gift of grasping the real crux of 
a matter, the nerve to dare and the patience to wait, have appeared in 
his son to make of him an able financier. Earl B. Jackson, in the nat- 
ural course of things, has a very bright future before him if the latter 
part of his life is spent as wisely and successfully as the earlier years. 

PHILLIP BUEKHARDT. Placed at the head of a great charitable insti- 
tution, carrying the responsibility for the welfare of a large number of 
unfortunates who have been unable to care for themselves, and imbued 
with an earnest desire to restore his charges to health and friends, stands 
Phillip Burkhardt, superintendent of the Alms House at Waterloo, Illi- 
nois, and one of his community's leading men. Mr. Burkhardt, whose 
business is that of a contractor and bridge builder, was born at Burkes- 
ville, Monroe county, Illinois, February 28, 1866, and is a son of Con- 
rad and Mary (Fauerbach) Burkhardt. Conrad Burkhardt came to 
the United States from Germany and located in Monroe county, at Re- 
nault Grant, and there spent the rest of his life in farming. He had two 
sons by his marriage with Miss Mary Fauerbach, Phillip and John W., 
the latter a contractor and well driller of Waterloo. By another mar- 
riage Conrad Burkhardt had six children: Henry, residing at Burkes- 
ville ; Conrad, of St. Louis ; Theodore, of Renault ; Charlotte, of the state 
of Kansas ; and Sophia and Helena, living at Renault. 

Phillip Burkhardt was educated in the public schools of Renault, 
Illinois, and his entire business career has been given to contracting and 
bridge building. A man of boundless energy and business foresight, he 
chose well his field, and the high grade and quality of his work is a 
monument to his skill and integrity as a contractor. Politically a Re- 
publican, he has been active in the ranks of his party, and when the 
office of superintendent of the Alms House at Waterloo became vacant 
he was the logical choice for the position and was appointed thereto. 
The manner in which his administration has been managed shows that no 
mistake was made when he was chosen for this capacity, and he bears the 
full confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens and the respect and 



1038 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

grateful regard of those in his charge. He is a member of the Mutual 
Protective League, and with his wife attends the German Lutheran 
church. 

On November 22, 1887, Mr. Burkhardt was married at Renault, Illi- 
nois, to Miss Mary Koch, who was born at Ivy, Illinois, September 13, 
1869, daughter of Phillip and Elizabeth (Ullrich) Koch, natives of 
Saxony and Germany, respectively. Mrs. Burkhardt has two sisters: 
Mrs. Wilhelmina Ziebold, of Willow Springs, Missouri, and Mrs. Au- 
gusta Bunde, of Horse Prairie, Illinois; and two brothers, Samuel, of 
Renault, Illinois, and Ferdinand, of Willow Springs, Missouri. Mr. and 
Mrs. Burkhardt have had ten children : Elizabeth Louisa, Wilhelmina 
Augusta, Phillip Conrad, Mary C. W., Paulina Sophia Wilhelmina, Ottil- 
lie Julia Katherina and Sylvester William Ernst, all at home; Arthur 
Theodore Ferdinand and Mildred Olga, who are deceased ; and Ellenora 
Anna Dora, at home. They also have an adopted child, Orinta Louisa 
Horneffer. The family is well and favorably known in Waterloo, where 
for a number of years it has been represented by some of this commu- 
nity's leading men, among whom Phillip Burkhardt holds a prominent 
place. 

DR. DAUSA D. HARTWELL. As a prominent member of a large and 
numerous family who have won distinction in many and varied occu- 
pations in Marion and Williamson counties, Dr. Dausa D. Hartwell is 
entitled to all the praise that is heaped upon him. When perhaps he 
might have been able, through his undoubted ability, to have established 
himself in a larger city where he would have gained not only a valuable 
experience, but a more lucrative practice, he has been content to stay in 
his home town and administer to the needs of his old friends and neigh- 
bors. It is a rare gift, that of unselfishness, and one that is little shown 
by our young lawyers and doctors today. 

The grandfather of Dr. Hartwell was the late William Hartwell, who 
came into Williamson county in 1839 from Tennessee. During the Civil 
war his brothers to the number of six gave their services and almost their 
lives to the preservation of the Union. His youngest brother, Lorenzo D. 
Hartwell, has just retired after years of service at the bar of Williamson 
county, leaving behind him the enviable record of an honorable career. 
William Hartwell spent his life as a farmer, and raised a large family 
of children. His wife was Miss Adeline Phenix, and their children are 
as follows : Profesor John L. D., of Marion ; Flora, the wife of George 
Moore, also living in Marion; Charles K., of East St. Louis, where he 
holds the position of government inspector in the National Stock Yards ; 
Caroline, who died unmarried when she was about twenty years old ; 
Sarah, who died at thirty-five, as the wife of Christopher Hanks ; George 
P., of Villa Ridge, Illinois; Joseph A., a farmer near Creal Springs, Illi- 
nois; and Dora, who is the wife of Will Stotlar, of Williamson county. 

Dr. Hartwell is the son of the eldest of this family, Professor Hart- 
well, who was born in Williamson county. Brought up in the country, 
his healthy life gave him a strong body and mind but little in the way 
of educational advantages. His training was obtained mainly in the 
common schools and he began his career as a teacher before he attained 
his majority. Through teaching and through constant application as a 
student he has developed into one of the most scholarly and cultured men 
in the county. His work in the school room was so efficient and he had so 
decided a taste for it that he determined to make it his life work. He 
carried out this resolve and the thirty-six years which he has given to 
it have all been spent within the limits of Williamson county. Six years 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1039 

ago he was called to take the principalship of the Lincoln school in 
Marion, and that is his present position. 

Professor Hartwell married in Williamson county Miss Lizzie E. 
Davis. She is a daughter of Allison Davis, who passed his life in Tennes- 
see, where Mrs. Hartwell was born. At the age of sixteen she came to Illi- 
nois, where she met Professor Hartwell. Dr. Hartwell is the eldest of 
three children, the other two being Minnie A., the wife of Berry Proctor, 
of Marion, and Eddie E., of the same city. 

Like his father, Dausa D. Hartwell was born in Williamson county, his 
birth occurring in the Williford community, on the 7th of October, 1878. 
The Doctor graduated from the high school at Creal Springs and then, 
following in the steps of his father, taught a term of country school. De- 
ciding that teaching was not his vocation, he turned to medicine, enter- 
ing the College of Physicians and Surgeons in St. Louis, taking his de- 
gree from that institution in 1901. He then returned to his home town, 
where he has built up a large practice. Realizing that in the medical pro- 
fession modern science is bringing about constant changes, and that a 
doctor, of all men, must keep abreast of the times, he went to Chicago in 
1905 and took a course of lectures in the Post Graduate School, while the 
following year he took similar work in the Chicago Polyclinic. He thus 
is endeavoring to give his patients the advantage of all the most recent 
methods of treatment. He is physician for the modest little hospital 
in Marion and served two years as president of the board of health. He 
is also a partner of one of the leading druggists of Marion. 

Thinking that the members of his profession derive great benefit from 
a discussion of their problems, and also that in union his fellow prac- 
titioners lose much of that envious spirit which is harmful to the practice 
of any profession, he is a member of the city, county and state medical 
societies, and of the Southern Illinois Medical Society, as well as the 
American Medical Association. 

Following the practice of most of the voters of his family name, Dr. 
Hartwell is a Republican in his political faith. Among the fraternal 
orders, he is a Master Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and an 
Elk. This long list speaks sufficiently for hist strong belief in the efficacy 
of the principles set forth by these orders. In his religious affiliations, 
he, together with his household, are active in the work of the Mission 
Baptist church. 

In St. Louis, on the 30th of April 1904, Dr. Hartwell married Rita 
Drake, a daughter of Mrs. Amy Drake. The Drakes were southern 
people, coming originally from Louisiana. Mrs. Drake is the mother of 
Professor Leonard Drake, who has charge of swimming and athletics at 
the Muegge Institute, in St. Louis ; Mrs. Hartwell ; and Musa, the wife . 
of Henry Lashley of Horine, Missouri. 

From the heritage of Dr. Hartwell his success was only to be expected, 
but his popularity is only the result of his own personality. His kindly 
manner and heartfelt sympathy make him a welcome guest, and he has 
not been rendered callous to suffering through much experience with it, 
as have so many men of his profession. 

STEPHEN ALBERT JOHNSON. One of the highly esteemed citizens of 
Waterloo, Illinois, who is now living retired from active pursuits after 
many years spent in farming and school teaching in Monroe county, be- 
longs to one of the oldest families of this section, and is descended on 
both sides from ancestors who have resided in America since Colonial 
days. He is a native of Monroe county, and was born November 10, 
1856, at New Hanover, a son of Elisha and Julia A. (Whiteside) John- 
son. 



1040 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

The paternal great-grandfather of Mr. Johnson, whose name has been 
forgotten, was a Virginia planter prior to the Revolutionary war, and 
removed in later years to the state of Kentucky, and there his son, Jordon 
Johnson, was born in 1793. The latter came to Illinois, and settled down 
to agricultural pursuits in Monroe county, where he died in 1864. He 
married Susan Lock, who was born in 1800, a New York Yankee who 
migrated from the Empire state to Tennessee, and from the latter to 
Monroe county, where she died in 1889. Elisha Johnson was born in 
1830, in Monroe county, and was here married to Julia A. Whiteside, a 
native of New Hanover. Her grandfather, William Whiteside, came 
from Virginia into Kentucky, and thence to Monroe county in 1793, be- 
coming commander of the second fort in this county, located two miles 
south of Columbia, and participated in the Indian wars. He married 
Mary Nolan, and among their children was Hiram Whiteside, who was 
born in 1802 at Fountain Creek, Illinois, and in 1867 died at New Han- 
over. His wife, Delilah (Kidd) Whiteside, was born in 1810, near Fort 
Chartres. 

Stephen Albert Johnson was educated at St. Joseph's Academy, at 
Waterloo, and as a youth engaged in school-teaching in Monroe county. 
During the vacation periods he followed farming, and eventually the 
latter interests caused him to give up his work as an educator and for 
many years he was successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. On 
attaining what he considered a comfortable competency, Mr. Johnson re- 
tired from active life, and is now living a quiet, unostentatious life, 
enjoying the fruits of his years of labor. In political matters he is a 
Republican, but he has never desired to enter the stormy field of politics, 
and takes only a good citizen's interest in affairs of the day. He has 
never married. Mr. Johnson is not a member of any fraternal organiza- 
tions, but holds membership in the Roman Catholic church, and has in- 
terested himself in the work of that denomination. His chief pleasure 
lies in mechanical work, and he is never so happy as when engaged in 
sharpening or repairing tools, or working over a refractory lock. A nat- 
ural bent in this way has caused him to become skilled in putting 
things into condition, and he is often called upon to work out problems 
that fall to the lot of the man who is handy with tools. A good citizen 
and man of sterling integrity, Mr. Johnson has many warm friends in 
this community, and his circle of acquaintances is a wide one. 

CHARLES EVERETT ANDERSON is the present popular and efficient in- 
cumbent of the office of mayor of Herrin, Illinois, and he is one of the 
early merchants of the new town. He has been identfied with its phe- 
nomenal development in the sphere of merchandise for a number of 
years, and although young himself, his connections are substantial and 
his civic standing sincere and enduring. 

A native of Illinois, Mr. Anderson was born in Pope county, this 
state, on the 13th day of December, 1876. His father, Andrew Ander- 
son, passed his life from birth to death there and was a farmer and 
stockman during the greater portion of his active but brief career. He 
was a veteran of the Civil war, having fought for the preservation of 
the Union for three years as a member of the Sixty-first Illinois Volun- 
teer Infantry. He died at his home in April, 1877 at the age of thirty- 
six years. His wife, whose maiden name was Martha Morse, is a daugh- 
ter of Samuel Morse, a pioneer settler in Illinois from South Carolina. 
After a widowhood of a dozen years Mrs. Anderson married William 
Leonard, and they now reside at Creal Springs. Illinois. Andrew and 
Martha Anderson became the parents of four children : Nettie, the wife 
of George A. Henshaw, corporation commissioner of the state of Okla- 



i.ii 



tif list 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1041 

homa and a resident of Oklahoma City; John, who maintains a home in 
Duquoin, Illinois ; Spencer, residing at Kankakee ; and Charles, of Her- 
rin, Illinois. By her second marriage, their mother has one son, Arthur 
Leonard. 

Charles Everett Anderson left his native town at the age of eleven 
and came to Williamson county with his brother-in-law, Mr. Henshaw. 
For a time he lived in Creal Springs and later in Carterville, attending 
the public school in both places. For his advanced studies he entered 
the Northern Indiana Normal University at Valparaiso and completed 
the scientific course in that institution, graduating therefrom with the 
degree of B. C. in 1898. Just as he emerged from college the country 
was aroused by the awakened hostilities between Spain and the United 
States, and when war was declared the young man promptly enlisted in 
Company C of the Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. When Colonel 
Andel, the first regimental commander returned, Captain Swift took 
command and the regiment was assigned to General Fitzhugh Lee's 
corps, the Seventh. This department of the army was ordered to 
Havana to occupy that place after the fall of Spanish authority, and 
it remained there three months, being mustered out April 1, 1899, at 
Augusta, Georgia. While in the service Mr. Anderson was appointed 
steward of the canteen and subsequently appointed steward of the of- 
ficers' mess. 

Upon his return to civil life Mr. Anderson entered the employ of 
the Elles Store Company at Carterville as a clerk. In 1900 he was sent 
by that concern to Herrin as manager of the branch house here. With 
the passing of time he 'became financially interested in the company, 
was elected a member of the board of directors, and later acquired a 
similar connection with the Roach-Elles Company at Marion. In April, 
1910, he decided to launch out into the merchandise business on his 
own responsibility and he established himself in the men's furnishing 
business at Herrin, retaining only his financial interest in the Roach- 
Elles Company at Marion. Since the opening up of that business Mr. 
Anderson has made favorable progress and is building up a permanent 
trade along lines of conservatism and square dealing. 

In his political relations Mr. Anderson is a staunch Republican. In 
the contest for mayor of Herrin in April, 1911, he was made the labor 
candidate, opposing the regular Republican nominee, and was elected. 
He succeeded James Lacy to the office, and his administration has thus 
far been a busy one, carrying out the promises made by his supporters 
during the campaign. Bonds to the amount of sixty-five thousand dol- 
lars have been voted and a system of waterworks is being installed as a 
result of that issue. Surveys have been made for sewers and estimates 
taken for the work of making Herrin a sanitary town in every respect. 
Concrete walks have been constructed everywhere, and it is safe to say 
that the successful carrying out of these three items alone will be all 
sufficient to render Mr. Anderson's administration memorable as a pe- 
riod of marked public improvement long after it has passed into history. 
Fraternally Mr. Anderson is a Master Mason, and a member of the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Eagles. He is 
vice-president of the Herrin Commercial Club and has been an active 
and valuable member of that organization. Mr. Anderson is a genial, 
courteous and friendly man, and enjoys a high degree of popularity in 
his home town as a result of those pleasant qualities. His kindly na- 
ture, as an adjunct to his high position in Herrin, makes him the first 
citizen of his community. 

At Carterville, Illinois, on June 25, 1899, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Anderson to Miss Martha Perry, a daughter of William H. 



1042 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Perry, long a prominent and influential resident of that place. Four 
children have been born of their union. They are : Edward, born Sep- 
tember 25, 1902; Ruth, born August 15, 1906; John, born October 2, 
1910 ; and Mary, born June 20, 1911. 

MARSHALL OZMENT. The banking interests of a community are nec- 
essarily among the most important, for financial stability must be the 
foundation stone upon which all great enterprises are erected. The men 
who control and conserve the money of corporation or country must 
possess many qualities not requisite in the ordinary citizen, and among 
these, high commercial integrity, exceptional financial ability, poise, 
judgment and foresight may be mentioned. Public confidence must be 
with them, and this fact has again and again been demonstrated in the 
United States, when panics that even threatened the stability of the Gov- 
ernment has been averted by the wisdom, sagacity and foresight of the 
men whose whole training has been along the line of finance. A citizen 
who has been prominently connected with the banking interests of John- 
ston City for many years, and who has done much in the 'effective up- 
building of this place along additional lines, is Marshall Ozment, cashier 
of the First National Bank of Johnston City. Mr. Ozment was born 
near Carrier Mills, Saline county, Illinois, October 2, 1868, and is a son 
of Richard D. and Sarah (Miller) Ozment. 

The grandfather of Marshall Ozment, Richard D. Ozment, Sr., was 
born in North Carolina, of German antecedents, and was raised in Ten- 
nessee. In 1852 he came to Saline county, Illinois, where he died on a 
farm at the age of sixty-five years, his life having been spent in agricul- 
tural pursuits. He married a Miss Eddings, who died in Tennessee, and 
they became the parents of the following children : Christopher C., of 
Harrisburg, Illinois ; John, who went with the South upon the issues of 
the Civil war and died somewhere in Georgia ; James, who joined the 
Union army and was killed at the battle of Fort Donelson ; Peter, also a 
soldier in the Federal army, died in St. Louis some years subsequent to 
the war ; Richard D., father of Marshall Ozment ; White, whose death oc- 
curred near Harrisburg; Lucy, who married James Miller and died in 
Williamson county in 1909 ; Martha, who became Mrs. John Hawks, and 
died near Carrier Mills ; and Elizabeth, who married Presley Spinks and 
passed her life in Saline county. 

Richard D. Ozment was born in Wilson county, Tennessee, in 1841, 
and was eleven years of age when brought to Saline county by his par- 
ents. He married Sarah Miller, a daughter of Stephen Miller, who rep- 
resented one of the old families of Saline county, and she died June 27, 
1907, her children being: Mary, who married H. H. Lewis, of Carrier 
Mills; Marshall, who lives in Johnston City; Sina, the wife of L. M. 
Clarida, residing at Rector, Arkansas; Charles and Christopher C., of 
Stonefort, Illinois, where both are engaged in banking; Ella, now Mrs. 
W. A. Phillips, of Saline county ; and Richard D., Jr., who has spent the 
past four years in the clerical department of the Fort Dearborn National 
Bank of Chicago. 

Marshall Ozment came to mature life in the open air of the country, 
and after completing his course in the district school was a pupil of the 
Crab Orchard Academy and of the Gem City Business College at Quincy, 
Illinois. He gained a professional experience as a public school teacher 
for six years, beginning at the age of eighteen years and resuming his 
place again with the old home when this work was done. Mr. Ozment re- 
mained on the homestead until he was twenty-six years of age, at which 
time he joined Mr. J. S. Lewis in a banking enterprise in Carrier Mills, 
but this enterprise was subsequently moved to Stonefort, and its orig- 
inal owners sold their interest, the bank now being conducted by brothers 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1043 

of Mr. Ozment, Christopher C. and Charles Ozment. On coming to 
Johnston City Mr. Ozment and his partner formed the Bank of John- 
ston City and conducted it as a partnership until in October, 1904, 
when it was chartered as the First National Bank and capitalized 
at twenty-five thousand dollars. Two years later its capital stock 
was doubled and the institution showed by statement of December 5, 
1911 : Loans and discounts, $142,640.48 ; overdrafts, secured and unse- 
cured $408.45; U. S. Bonds to secure circulation, $50,000; premiums 
on U. S. bonds, $2,000 ; bonds and securities, $4,912.90 ; banking house, 
furniture and fixtures, $17,500 ; due from approved reserve agent, $18,- 
589.59 ; checks and other cash items, $283.08 ; notes of other National 
banks, $1,000; lawful money reserve in bank, $21,538.38; redemption 
fund with U. S. treasury, $2,500; due from U. S. treasury, $2.50. Total 
resources, $261,372.88. The liabilities show capital stock paid in $50,000 ; 
surpus fund, $6,600; undivided profits, less expenses and taxes paid, 
$324.23; National bank notes outstanding, $49,997.50; individual de- 
posits subject to check, $63,632.25 ; time certificates of deposit, $89,958.64, 
and cashier checks outstanding, $860.26. 

Mr. Ozment has devoted himself to the task of building up a solid 
and conservative depository for the public's money and has given ten 
years of his life to the work without an intermission or a vacation. His 
old associate left the institution in 1909, and Mr. Richard G. Fleming 
took his place as president of the bank ; the vice-president is Mr. J. M. 
Gopher, of Johnston City. Other business matters have claimed Mr. 
Ozment 's attention, largely of a personal nature. He has built up a 
large fire insurance business here, has been treasurer of the city, and has 
contributed to the substantial business houses as a builder of the town. 
He is a Democrat, as is also his father, and his interest in the work of 
temperance is marked and uncompromising, his antagonism to the open 
saloon being well known and his position upon all moral questions being 
in line with orthodoxy. In 1892 -he joined the Masons, and, save when 
out of reach of the lodge, he has not missed a meeting thereof, has been 
nine times master of his organization, and for some years represented it 
in the Grand Lodge of the state. He is also a member of Oriental Con- 
sistory of Medinah Temple, Chicago, and of Patton Commandery, Mount 
Vernon, and is now district deputy grand master of the Forty-eighth 
district of Illinois. With his wife he is a member of the Missionary Bap- 
tist church, and is active in the Sabbath-school, of which he has been 
superintendent for the past three years. 

On March 3, 1897, Mr. Ozment was united in marriage at Stonefort, 
Illinois, with Miss Maud Joyner, a daughter of Marion and Tiny (Web- 
ber) Joyner, of Saline county, and two children, Arel and George, have 
been born to this union. 

GEORGE KENNEDY. Many years of active connection with the contract- 
ing interests of Jackson county have made the name of George Kennedy 
widely known in this field of endeavor, and some of the largest and most 
important engineering movements carried on in this section in his time 
were brought to a successful conclusion by him. Mr. Kennedy was a 
product of Murphysboro, born in that city on March 30, 1859, and was a 
son of George and Ellen C. (Ross) Kennedy. 

George Kennedy, the father of George Kennedy of Murphysboro, was 
born in Ireland, February 24, 1822, and came to the United States in 1851, 
locating in Murphysboro in May of that year. He had received a good 
education in his native land, and there had learned the weaver's trade, 
which he followed for a short time with his uncle in New York, and also 
in the city of Boston, later entering a cabinet maker's shop, where he be- 



1044 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

came skilled in that trade. One of the first enterprises with which Mr. 
Kennedy was connected was the erection of Dr. John Logan's home in 
Murphysboro, and in this city he opened a furniture store and cabinet 
shop, where for years he was engaged in the manufacture of furniture and 
coffins. He and his brother put in the counters and shelves in the first of 
Carbondale 's business establishments, when that, town was struggling for 
existence in 1853, and eventually Mr. Kennedy opened a hardware store, 
where he dealt extensively in stoves and agricultural implements, later 
selling this property to his son. He was married in 1854 to Ellen C. Ross, 
a native of Vermont, who died in 1885. Prom 1856 to 1893 Mr. Kennedy 
served as Justice of the Peace, and made an admirable public official. He 
brought the first carload of wagons to Jackson county, as well as some of 
the first buggies and farming machinery, erected one of the good brick 
business blocks in this city, laid out Kennedy's addition to Murphysboro, 
was a director in the First National Bank, and was one of the organizers 
and for years a director of the Southern Illinois Milling Company. A 
charter member of the I. 0. 0. P. lodge, No. 132, he represented it sev- 
eral times in the Grand Lodge of the state, and was widely known and 
very popular in fraternal circles. He was equally well known in re- 
ligious circles, organizing the Lutheran church here, of which he served 
as trustee for a number of years. 

George Kennedy, Jr., received a good education, attending the public 
schools and the Southern Illinois Normal University, from which he was 
graduated in 1878. He early began to show evidence of good business 
and mechanical qualifications, and at the age of nine years put a tin roof 
on a home in Murphysboro, which is still in a good state of repair. He 
clerked in his father's shop for some time and assisted in the work inci- 
dental to such an establishment, but at the age of nineteen years, in 1878, 
he began teaching at the old Ozburn school as second assistant, after which 
he taught for some time in a summer school. Subsequently he returned to 
his father's store and succeeded to the ownership thereof, but in 1891 he 
sold his interest in this business, as his contracting interests were then 
demanding all his time and attention. In connection with his store busi- 
ness he had carried on farming, contracting and brick manufacturing, and 
after leaving the business he laid the foundation for the M. & 0. Railway 
shops. He was superintendent of the first construction of the water 
works and electric light plant, of which company he was one of the or- 
ganizers and for years a director ; he built the washing plant of the Brush 
Coal Mining Company at Dewmaine, the coke ovens at Sparta, and Dean's 
mills at Ava, and then engineered the construction of the first sanitary 
sewerage system in Carbondale. He built the West Side sewer system 
in Murphysboro, made plans and superintended the paving of Murphys- 
boro 's streets for eight miles, and was City Engineer of Murphysboro, a 
position which he held for ten years, and he engineered and superintended 
the paving of all the streets in Pinckneyville. He staked out and began 
the construction of the Murphysboro Paving Brick Company 's plant and 
constructed an additional five miles of dredge ditch at Oakwood farm, 
where he had previously put in five miles. 

On April 19, 1881, Mr. Kennedy was married to Miss Kate Harwood, 
and six children were born of their union. They are : Myrta, who became 
the wife of W. P. Hunt, of Cairo, who died on December 13, 1905, leaving 
one son, George Lynwood Hunt, now with his mother ; Marietta, the wife 
of C. M. Clayton, a fruit grower and civil engineer of Loma, Colorado, and 
they have one child, Mary Dee ; Eula, a teacher in the public schools of 
Murphysboro ; Doris Leora, Lucy and William George, being in the family 
home as yet. Mr. Kennedy was a Republican in his political beliefs, and 
was always active in the ranks of his party while living. He was associ- 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1045 

ated with the Illinois Water Supply Association and the Illinois Society 
of Engineers and Surveyors. No one in Southern Illinois was better 
known in his line of work, and both in his business and outside of it he 
possessed a large number of warm, personal friends. Mr. Kennedy passed 
away on October 28, 1911 and is deeply mourned in the lives of all who 
were privileged to know him. 

JAMES C. MITCHELL is a man of versatile abilities. He is cashier of the 
First National Bank, is an ex-clerk of Williamson county and ex-mayor of 
Marion, and in whatever capacity his services have been given he has 
made an enviable reputation. As a public official he proved public-spir- 
ited and progressive and he is rated as a financier of superior capacity 
and ability, his business methods having always been very popular with 
all concerned. He has been identified with Marion since 1867, when he 
came to it as a youth of fifteen from the country nearby. He was born 
in Northern precinct of Williamson county, October 30, 1852, and his 
father was William N. Mitchell, who came to Illinois in 1832, while 
Franklin county embraced the territory of Williamson, and he was from 
McNairy county, Tennessee, where he was born in 1814. 

William N. Mitchell was yet in his 'teens when he came alone to the 
then frontier country of Illinois, and he located at Old Frankfort, where 
he became a teacher of subscription schools. He learned surveying later, 
became a public surveyor and ran the lines separating Williamson county 
from Franklin and subsequently served Williamson county as its public 
surveyor. He settled in Northern precinct, now township, and regarded 
himself as a farmer. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in Com- 
pany E, Sixtieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and became captain of his 
company. He was wounded in battle, resigned from the service and soon 
after his return home was elected county clerk (in 1865). In politics he 
was originally a Whig, but became a Republican shortly after the organi- 
zation of the party. After retiring from office he remained a resident of 
Marion until his death, December 30, 1879. His other public service, fol- 
lowing that of county clerk, was as postmaster of Marion, his service 
continuing during the administration of President Grant and through a 
portion of that of President Hayes. He was not liberally educated and 
was not gifted as a speaker, but he was none the less a force in politics and 
was among the leaders of his day and generation. 

William N. Mitchell married Rachel Roberts, a daughter of John 
Roberts, who came out from his own state as a settler of Illinois. Mrs. 
Mitchell died August 30, 1866, the mother of Chloe, who married Robert 
Hunchcliff and resides in Williamson county; of James C., the subject of 
this sketch ; Lou, who became the wife of William Hinchcliff and died 
here ; and of Edward Mitchell, state treasurer of Illinois. 

James C. Mitchell entered upon a business career in Marion with a 
common school education. He left the farm as a youth, as already stated, 
and became a drug clerk in Marion. Subsequently he engaged in the 
drug business and followed it several years, and while so occupied was 
elected county clerk. After serving four years he was re-elected for an- 
other like term in 1890. When he assumed office Williamson county was 
staggering under a bonded debt of $100,000. This he succeeded in fund- 
ing at four and one-half per cent, payable $5,000 annually, and it is all 
paid 1)ii t $15,000. The debt was incurred in aid of the Carbondale & 
Shawneetowii Railroad, and the county paid $172,000 on the bonds before 
it was funded. 

Because of the character of his business life, Mr. Mitchell has been 
more closely identified with the county records than any other one citizen 
of Williamson county. He has signed more documents of moment to the 



1046 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

municipality and has been closer to the actual making of much of the 
county 's history. Before his official service ended he was elected cashier 
of the First National Bank, but he assumed his duties only when he had 
completed his term. When he came to the bank its capital was $50,000 
and its deposits were $30,000. Today its capital is $100,000, its deposits 
$550,000 and its surplus $100,000, after having paid an annual dividend 
from six to fourteen per cent. The original stockholders have received all 
their investments and more in dividends. 

Mr. Mitchell was married October 21, 1872, his wife being Lillie White, 
a daughter of Colonel John H. White, who belonged to one of the early 
families of Williamson county and who was killed as a Union soldier, 
February 14, 1862, at Fort Donelson. He was colonel of the Thirty-first 
Illinois Infantry, Colonel Logan 's old regiment, which he helped to raise 
and get into service. Mrs. Mitchell was born in Marion and passed away 
November 22, 1900. Their children were : John, who is in the oil busi- 
ness in Marion ; Frank, who is connected with the brick business here ; 
James, assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Carbondale ; Rose, 
now Mrs. Fred Taylor, of Marion ; Verna, who became Mrs. Samuel 
Parker and resides in Harrisburg, Illinois; Miss Bessie, teaching in Car- 
lyle, Illinois, who was educated in the Woman's College at Jacksonville, 
Illinois; and Edward Everett, a student in the University of Illinois at 
Champaign. 

On December 7, 1901, Mr. Mitchell married Miss Julia Dunaway, a 
daughter of Thomas Dunaway, of Marion. No children have been born 
to this union. They maintain a delightful and hospitable home, where 
they enjoy the society of hosts of friends. 

Marion is indeed fortunate in the possession of a citizen of the type of 
Mr. Mitchell, than whom, it is safe to say, no one has done more for the 
upbuilding of the city, his unselfish devotion to its best interests having 
won him the confidence and high regard of all. He is widely known and 
as he walks along the streets it seems as if he has a nodding acquaintance 
with almost everyone he meets. He is a successful man ; he has done many 
things and made his imprint upon many enterprises. No one is better 
entitled to representation in this volume, recording the lives and achieve- 
ments of the men and women who have made Southern Illinois, than 
James C. Mitchell, of Marion. 

THOMAS KOENIGSMARK. In the death of Thomas Koenigsmark, which 
occurred January 14, 1911, at Waterloo, Southern Illinois lost another 
honored citizen, and his adopted city a man who for more than a quarter 
of a century had devoted his energies to advancing the interests of his 
community. A self-made man, who came to this country as a poor immi- 
grant boy, without money or friends, he in time became a power in the 
commercial world and the organizer and promoter of vast industries 
which have made Waterloo an important milling center. Mr. Koenigs- 
mark was born at Merklin, Bohemia, October 2, 1835, and as a youth 
heard of the wonderful fortunes to be made in the far-off America and 
yearned to seek success here. Eventually, when he was only thirteen 
years of age, he succeeded in accumulating enough money to pay his 
passage to New Orleans, making the journey alone and arriving in that 
city when it was in the grip of the yellow fever epidemic. In 1855 he 
came up the river to St. Louis, but subsequently settled at Columbia, 
where he was first employed as a clerk in Beaird's store. Later he fol- 
lowed the trade of tailor for a short time, and was engaged in the brick 
business for another short period, owning a yard where the Columbia 
depot now stands, prior to the building of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. 

In 1863 Mr. Koenigsmark entered the mercantile field as the propri- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1047 

etor of a store, and successfully conducted it until he purchased the old 
Gardner Mill, at Columbia. When the Chouteau and Edwards Mill, at 
Waterloo, was completely destroyed by fire in 1884 the citizens of this 
city asked him to build a new mill, and' this he did in 1886, erecting the 
present Koenigsmark Mill on the old foundations, at that time considered 
the finest mill in this part of the country. Mr. Koenigsmark was pro- 
gressive in all things, and was a firm believer in using the most modern 
machinery and methods. During the thirty-six years that he was engaged 
in milling he saw many changes in milling methods, and was ever abreast 
of the times. 

While Mr. Koenigsmark 's business career kept his time well occupied, 
he found leisure to enjoy those pleasures that made his home life beau- 
tiful. He was a great lover of music, the violin being his favorite instru- 
ment, and in his younger days showed considerable talent as a performer. 
Successful himself, he enjoyed the success of others, and was ever ready 
to lend a helping hand to those in need of assistance. Any worthy person 
who appealed to him was sure of receiving valuable advice as well as 
pecuniary help, and the full extent of his charities probably will never 
be known. Mr. Koenigsmark retired from active business affairs in 1899, 
removed to St. Louis, and there purchased a handsome residence at No. 
2911 Russel avenue, where his death occurred. He was a member of the 
St. Louis Merchants Exchange for many years, and held considerable 
stock in the Schoening-Koenigsmark Milling Company, at Prairie du 
Rocher, Illinois. Mr. Koenigsmark died a successful man, the result of 
great energy, thrift and business ability. He was a man of great force of 
character, and in disposition modest and unassuming. His large and 
varied business connections made him an important factor in the business 
life of Waterloo, and his death was a distinct loss to his community. 

Mr. Koenigsmark was married to Miss Theresa Geiger, and they had a 
family of eleven children, of whom four survive : Jacob J., John J., Mrs. 
Henry Becker and Miss Adela. 

JACOB J. KOENIGSMAKK. In considering those among Waterloo's citi- 
zens whose activities have been directed toward developing that city's 
industries, and whose foresight has been rewarded in a most substantial 
manner, prominent place should be given to Jacob J. Koenigsmark, presi- 
dent of the Koenigsmark Mill Company, of Waterloo, of the Salt Lick 
Milling Company, of Valmeyer, and of the Schoening-Koenigsmark Mill- 
ing Company, of Prairie du Rocher, a member of the firm of the Fischer- 
Schein Company, at East St. Louis, and a man whose operations in 
various lines of industry have given him a prominent place in the com- 
mercial world of Southern Illinois. Mr. Koenigsmark was born at Colum- 
bia, Illinois, December 22, 1858, and is a son of Thomas Koenigsmark. 

The firm of the Koenigsmark Mill Company is a member of the South- 
ern Illinois Millers' Association and of the Millers' National Federation, 
and is one of the oldest in Southern Illinois, having been established over 
sixty years ago, although it did not operate under its present title until 
1886, at which time it was rebuilt by Thomas Koenigsmark on the founda- 
tions of the old mill which was destroyed by fire in 1884. It has a ca- 
pacity of four hundred barrels and its elevator holds one hundred thou- 
sand bushels, while the Salt Lick and Schoenig-Koenigsmark mills have a 
capacity of two hundred and fifty barrels each. The Fischer-Schein Com- 
pany of East St. Louis is one of the largest real estate and insurance firms 
in the southern part of the state. In addition to this Mr. Koenigsmark 
is a director in the State Bank of Waterloo, and owns a farm of seventy- 
five acres and an elevator at Burkesville and seventy-five acres of bottom 
lands twelve miles north of Waterloo. The "Koenigsmark," "Coruna," 



1048 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

"K. P." and "Gardner" brands of flour are known all over the country, 
and the Koenigsmark mills were the pioneers in using "bleachers" in this 
vicinity. Mr. Koenigsmark has been prominent in commercial circles for 
many years. He is one of Waterloo 's most public spirited and progressive 
citizens, and no movement for the real advancement of the city is launched 
that does not receive his active and hearty co-operation. He is pre-emi- 
nently an organizer and an executive, and any enterprise with which his 
name is connected has the full confidence of the business men of his com- 
munity. For twenty years he has acted as a member of the Waterloo 
school board. He has given a good deal of attention to fraternal work 
and is prominent in Masonry, belonging to Waterloo Lodge, Belleville 
Chapter and Knights Templar degree, and the Shriners at St. Louis. He 
is also an enthusiastic member of the Missouri Athletic Club of St. Louis. 
In 1881 Mr. Koenigsmark was married to Miss Dora Roever, of Colum- 
bia, Illinois, and of their children seven still survive. 

Alois J. Koenigsmark, son of Jacob J., who is connected with his 
father in all of his business enterprises except the Pischer-Schein Com- 
pany, was born at Columbia, Illinois, August 15, 1883. After graduating 
from the Waterloo High School, he took the commercial course in a busi- 
ness college at St. Louis, and then interested himself in the large indus- 
tries conducted by his father. He now acts in the capacity of secretary 
and treasurer of the Koenigsmark Mill Company, and like his father has 
been prominent in commercial affairs, being the organizer and first presi- 
dent of the Waterloo Commercial Club, which had its inception in 1909. 
He has attained the Knight Templar degree in Masonry, and is popular 
with his brother members and his business associates. Mr. Koenigsmark 
was married in 1906 to Miss Athena Soteriades, of Waterloo, and they 
reside in a beautiful home in this city and are prominent in social circles. 

A. NEY SESSIONS. As a man who has interested himself in all that 
advances the business and public welfare and development of the city 
of Anna, A. Ney Sessions has proven himself one of the representative 
citizens of Southern Illinois, and has taken his place among the promi- 
nent business and professional men of his community. He is a man of 
versatile talents, and 'not satisfied with rising to the front ranks of the 
legal profession he entered the business field and associated himself with 
some of the leading enterprises of the city. Mr. Sessions was born in 
Union county, Illinois, in 1859, and is a son of Richard W. and Mary A. 
(House) Sessions, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ken- 
tucky. Mr. Sessions' father was a grain merchant and farmer, and a 
prominent citizen of his day who took a great interest in political matters 
but never sought public preferment on his own account. Both he and 
his wife died in Union county. 

A. Ney Sessions attended the common schools in the vicinity of his 
father's farm, and was reared to agricultural pursuits, following the vo- 
cation of farmer until 1883. He then began selling farming machinery 
in Anna, and was in business for about seven years, in the meantime 
prosecuting his legal studies. During this time he learned every detail 
of the implement business, and this experience has since proved very prof- 
itable to him as a member of the W. W. Stokes Company, with Mr. L. J. 
Hess and J. K. Walton, this firm being probably the largest implement 
concern in Southern Illinois, and owning the best equipped blacksmith 
shop in this section of the state. In 1889 Mr. Sessions was elected to the 
office of justice of the peace, which office he resigned November 21, 1890, 
on being admitted to the bar. He was elected to the office of city attor- 
ney of Anna in April, 1891. In 1892 he resigned that office and was 
elected state's attorney, in which capacity he served four years, and in 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1049 

1896 and 1900 was the Democratic nominee for the state senatorship, but 
owing to the large Republican majority was defeated. He had been in 
constant practice in Anna ever since being admitted to the bar, and has 
a lucrative clientele. 

Mr. Sessions is the owner of one thousand acres of excellent farming 
land in Union county, which is operated by tenants, and there he super- 
intends the raising of alfalfa and the breeding of Duroc Jersey hogs. 
He is vice president of the Anna National Bank, of Anna, a member of 
the board of directors of the Jonesboro Lumber Company, of Jonesboro, 
Illinois, a director of the Anna Loan and Improvement Company, of 
which he is the attorney, and has interests in Mexican rubber plantations 
and in cocoamit cultivation. He is also president of The Anna Democrat, 
a corporation that publishes the Democrat, one of the leading newspapers 
of Union county, is president of the school board and a member of the 
Commercial Club of Anna. 

In 1898 Mr. Sessions was married to Miss Elizabeth E. Woodworth, 
who was born in Minnesota, daughter of Dryden Woodworth, of Ohio 
They have no children. His many and varied business connections have 
given him a wide acquaintance throughout Illinois, and he is univers- 
ally respected as one of the men who are making for progress and whose 
extensive interests are bringing new capital into Union county to develop 
its resources. Personally Mr. Sessions is very popular, and he has many 
warm personal friends both in business and social circles. 

JAMES M. BURKHART. For many years James M. Burkhart has been 
connected with the upbuilding of Marion, Illinois, where he is most suc- 
cessfully engaged in the general merchandise business, and he has just 
reason to be proud of the fact that to his efforts can be traced many a sub- 
stantial enterprise or advancement contributing greatly to the growth 
and prosperity of this section of the state. In every sense of the word 
he is a representative citizen and a business man of marked capacity. It 
is to the inherent force of character and commendable ambition and the 
unremitting diligence of Mr. Burkhart himself that he has steadily ad- 
vanced in the business world until he now occupies a leading place 
among the active and representative men of Marion. 

James M. Burkhart was born in the vicinity of Knoxville, in Knox 
county, Tennessee, the date of his nativity being the 8th of June, 1841. 
His father, Peter Burkhart, was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1785, 
and he removed from his native place to Abingdon, Virginia, in 1800, 
at which time he was a lad of fifteen years, of age. He grew to maturity 
at Abington, where he was educated in the subscription schools and where 
his father, George Burkhart, was a tavern keeper. George Burkhart was 
born in Germany and immigrated to the United States. The children of 
George Burkhart were : George, who died near Bristol, Tennessee, John 
W., who removed to Oregon about 1847. there entering large tracts of 
land and rearing his family ; and Peter, who was father of the subject of 
this review. Peter Burkhart served in Jackson's army in the Creek 
war, in Colonel Williams' regiment, the latter having been the hero of 
King's Mountain in the War of the Revolution. Peter Burkhart par- 
ticipated in the famous battle of Horseshoe Bend. He settled in Knox 
county, Tennessee, and in addition to farming operations he was also an 
expert carpenter. In spite of his southern birth he became a strong 
Union man and a Republican at the time of the war between the states. 
He was a man of strong character and broad human sympathy and he 
never failed to lend a helping hand to those less fortunately situated in 
the way of worldly goods than himself. His religious faith was in har- 
mony with the teachings of the German Lutheran church, in the various 



1050 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

departments of whose work he was a most zealous factor. His death oc- 
curred in Tennessee, in 1868, at a patriarchal age. He was twice mar- 
ried, his first wife having been Rachel Owens. The following children 
were born to this union : Margaret, who became the wife of James Zach- 
ary, is deceased ; Eli died in the state of Tennessee, at the age of eighty 
years; Caroline died in Georgia, the wife of Richard Kelley, and left a 
family at the time of her death ; Elizabeth wedded George Falkner and 
she died in Grayson county, Texas; George P. died in Tennessee at an 
advanced age ; Priscilla married Frank Brown and died in Bond county, 
Illinois ; John W., died in his native state of Tennessee ; Evaline married 
T. W. Swan and died in Williamson county, Illinois ; and Morgan T. 
passed his life in Tennessee ; he was a major in Governor Bronlow's cav- 
alry during the Civil war and died in Tennessee. For his second wife 
Peter Burkhart married Anna Gilliam, an orphan girl who was reared 
in the home of her uncle, Thomas Frazier, of a prominent Tennessee 
family. She was summoned to the life eternal in 1890, at the age of 
eighty-nine years. Her children were : Thomas J., who passed his life 
in Tennessee, was born a cripple and left a family at death ; James M., 
is the immediate subject of this sketch ; and Martha married A. J. Law- 
son and passed her life in Tennessee. 

James M. Burkhart, of this notice, was reared to the rugged disci- 
pline of farm life and he acquired his early educational training in the 
subscription schools of the locality and period. Upon reaching his ma- 
jority he came to Illinois, settling in Williamson county, where he taught 
school for a time. When he gave up teaching he turned his attention to 
carpenter work, following that line of enterprise in Marion and the sur- 
rounding country for a period of ten years, at the expiration of which 
he entered a branch of commerce as a clerk for Messrs. Goodall & Camp- 
bell, tobacco merchants at Marion. Subsequently he was in the employ 
of the firm of Goodall & Campbell in the capacity of salesman, doing 
business upon the corner where his own store is now located. Eventually 
becoming interested in the general merchandise business on his own ac- 
count, he formed a partnership with Hardin Goodall. This mutually 
agreeable alliance lasted for eleven years, at the end of which time Mr. 
Burkhart became sole proprietor of the business by purchase. Later he 
admitted A. J. Binkley to partnership and the firm of Burkhart & 
Binkley did business for a number of years. Mr. Binkley retired, and 
the firm of J. M. Burkhart & Sons was added to the list of Marion mer- 
chants for the second and last time. Associated with him in his mercan- 
tile enterprise at the present time, in 1911, is his son Jean. 

In 1891 Mr. Burkhart joined some of his friends in Marion in a bank- 
ing enterprise, the same resulting in the organization of the First Na- 
tional Bank, of which Mr. Burkhart was cashier for a time. When the 
Marion State & Savings Bank was incorporated he was one of its stock- 
holders and was chosen as vice-president of that now flourishing institu- 
tion. He was also one of the organizers of the Marion Electric Light & 
Power Company. 

On the 5th of May, 1872, Mr. Burkhart married Ellen Spiller. a 
daughter of the pioneer Elijah Spiller, of a numerous family of Wil- 
liamson county. Mrs. Burkhart was born in this county in 1850, and she 
is the mother of the following children : Annip and Lena died in child- 
hood; Carl was graduated in the Southern Illinois Normal University 
in 1897 and is now cashier of the Benton, Illinois, State Bank ; William 
S. was educated in the Marion high school and is assistant cashier of the 
First National Bank of Marion ; Jean is associated with his father in the 
general merchandise business; Miss Kate remains at home; Ethel is Mrs. 
Len Colp, of Marion ; Ralph is a student in the Northwestern University, 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1051 

at Evanston, Illinois ; and Miss Ruby was graduated in the Marion high 
school as a member of the class of 1911. 

In politics Mr. Burkhart is a stanch Republican. He voted for Lin- 
coln in 1864 and has cast his ballot for every Republican nominee for 
president since that time. For a number of years he served on the Ma- 
rion board of education and he has also been one of the trustees of the 
Southern Illinois Normal University, holding that position for a period 
of five years. He has been a valued and appreciative member of the time- 
honored Masonic order since 1865. He is several times a past master, for 
seven years served as district deputy grand master and is high priest of 
the chapter of Marion. He is very philanthropical minded and has done 
a great deal to advance the welfare of Marion and of the state at large. 
He is everywhere honored and esteemed for his fine moral worth and 
sterling integrity of character and he is deeply beloved by all with whom 
he has had dealings. 

WILLIAM M. STRINGER. Illinois stands to the fore among the wealthy 
and progressive commonwealths of the Union, and that prestige has been 
won through the husbandmen of her soil, for it is essentially as an agri- 
cultural state that Illinois takes this proud rank. The men who have 
farmed not only extensively but intensively and who are as alert and keen 
for the most modern methods and advanced thought in the line of their 
vocation as are the students in any other science are the men who have 
made the state what it is agriculturally. William M. Stringer, of Pulaski, 
is a worthy representative of the progressive Illinois farmer. Fifty years 
of his life have been spent in this state, and since 1870, or for forty-two 
years, he has resided on his farm near Pulaski. 

Mr. Stringer was born in Livingston county, Kentucky, January 30, 
1845, and was a lad of nine when the family removed to Ripley county, 
Missouri. His father, who also bore the Christian name of William ob- 
tained his education in the public schools of his locality, and married Miss 
Mary Elmer, a Kentucky maiden. They began life on a farm in Living- 
ston county, Kentucky, where they resided until their removal to Ripley 
county, Missouri, and subsequently to Pulaski county, Illinois, in July, 
1862. Both passed away in this county after attaining advanced years. 
Mr. Stringer, the father of William M. Stringer of this sketch, spent the 
greater part of his life in the vocation of a farmer. 

William M. Stringer was the fifth in a family of nine children. He 
was brought up as a farmer boy with no superfluity of education, for the 
school facilities of his day were limited and inadequate, and his total at- 
tendance did not exceed five months, which served only to equip him for 
study and personal application in later years. With an alert mentality, 
however, and with natural powers of close observation, he has in the broad 
school of life gathered a comprehensive knowledge of men and affairs, and 
by reading he has developed a broad and liberal grasp of live topics, thus 
enabling him to cope successfully with his fellows in the varied affairs of 
government and society. The current periodicals which visit his home 
and the books to be found therein attest that his life has been broader 
than his vocation and refutes Thoreau's theory that a farm must neces- 
sarily possess the man instead of the man possessing the farm. 

On September 28, 1869, Mr. Stringer wedded Miss Mary J. Kelly, a 
daughter of Rev. Mordecai B. Kelly, who was a pioneer of Southern Illi- 
nois, having migrated to this state from Ohio. Elder Kelly was promi- 
nent in the church work of the Baptist denomination in this section, was 
a chaplain in the Eighteenth Illinois Infantry during the Civil war, and 
died at the home of Mrs. Stringer in 1898. He married Miss Nancy 
Joiner, and to their union were born these children : Giles, who died in the 



1052 HISTOKY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

army as a Union soldier ; Lizzie, who married Jacob Eshleman and died 
at the home of William M. Stringer ; Judson ; John ; Mrs. Stringer, who 
was born January 16, 1850; George; Captain Isaac M. Kelly, of the St. 
Louis fire company No. 22 ; Rev. M. B. Kelly, now pastor of a Seventh 
Day Baptist church in Nortonville, Kansas; and Wayland Kelly, who 
passed away unmarried. 

Mr. Stringer really began life for himself at the time of his marriage 
and all the subsequent years have been spent as an agriculturist and 
horticulturist. He began life at the bottom and in the woods, as it were, 
and today an inspection of his well-improved one hundred and thirty acre 
farm, whereon are to be found the usual appurtenances and the modern 
improvements essential to a well-equipped rural home, reveals the char- 
acter of the farmer to be that of an industrious, energetic, painstaking 
and progressive worker. He has thus not only advanced his own pros- 
perity but has also contributed his share toward the progress of his sec- 
tion. 

In, politics he is a Republican, but he has not sought public favor at 
the hands of voters, though he has given his services to his school district 
from time to time as a member of its board of education. His church 
faith finds expression as a member of the Seventh Day Baptists, in which 
denomination he was an active factor and a teacher in the Sabbath-school 
in former years, representing his congregation in the church 's convention 
at Farina, Illinois. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Springer are Olive, who died in child- 
hood ; Francis M., who is a telephone man at Eureka, Illinois ; Lula, now 
Mrs. J. N. Miller, of Pulaski ; Annie, who married Otis Parker and re- 
sides on a farm near Pulaski ; and Leman, an educator in West Allis, Wis- 
consin. 

JOHN F. McKEE, M. D. One of the prominent members of the Wil- 
liamson county medical profession, whose field of practice is the thriving 
community of Johnston City, has been engaged in practice here since the 
beginning of his professional career, and has thoroughly established him- 
self in the confidence and esteem of the community, both as a physician 
and a public-spirited citizen. Dr. McKee was born near Dahlgren, Illi- 
nois, August 21, 1873, and is a son of William F. and Jane L. (Forsythe) 
McKee. 

William F. McKee spent his early life in Ohio, where he was fairly 
educated in the public schools, and there enlisted in the One Hundred and 
Eighty-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for service during the 
Civil war. During that struggle he brought his family to the vicinity of 
Dahlgren, Illinois, and after the completion of the rebellion he engaged in 
teaching and farming in that locality, where the remainder of his life was 
spent, his death occurring in September, 1909, when he was seventy-two 
years of age. His widow, who survives him, is the mother of these chil- 
dren : Mary, the wife of C. C. Dale, of Dahlgren, Hamilton county, Illi- 
nois ; Mrs. Minnie Willis, residing in Ewing, Illinois ; Dr. John F., of 
Johnston City ; Dr. William A., a dentist of Benton, Illinois ; Nathaniel 
L., of St. Louis ; Ollie, the wife of Oscar Bell, of McLeansboro, Illinois ; 
and Robert B., who met death by drowning at the age of thirty-one years. 

John F. McKee obtained his literary training in the public schools, at 
Ewing College and as a student in the Southern Illinois Normal Univer- 
sity at Carbondale, Illinois. Teaching in the common schools occupied 
him for some six years before he began preparation for his life work, and 
when he did begin it, it was in the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, 
Tennessee. He graduated there in 1901 and entered the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons, in St. Louis, completing the course there one year 



rat LIBRARY 

>' ~W. 

mm IF HUMS 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1053 

later, after which he remained in the city for some months and did hos- 
pital work and some practice over the city before coming to Johnston City 
in 1903. Dr. McKee has been successful in the practice of his profession, 
and is now the possessor of a large clientele. He is progressive in all mat- 
ters, and keeps abreast of the various inventions and discoveries of science 
by membership in the Williamson County Medical Society and the Illi- 
nois State and American Medical Associations. 

On November 23, 1904, Dr. McKee was married in Johnston City to 
Miss Maude Burgess, daughter of the late Dr. W. J. Burgess, one of the 
early physicians of this locality, who married Miss Alzada Dorris and 
whose family comprised seven children. Dr. Burgess was born in Ken- 
tucky, in 1841, and prepared for his profession in the old Missouri Medi- 
cal College, St. Louis. Dr. and Mrs. McKee have one son, Van Trueman 
Gerald McKee. The Doctor is a Master Mason and a member of the Mod- 
ern Woodmen of America, and he and his family are members of the 
Missionary Baptist church. He has not identified himself with public 
matters, preferring to give all of his time and attention to his extensive 
practice, and confines his activities in politics to a good citizen 's interest 
in matters pertaining to the welfare of his community. 

RUDOLPH STECKER. One of the important industrial enterprises 
contributing to the commercial precedence of the thriving city of Mur- 
physboro, judicial center of Jackson county, is that conducted under 
the title of the Rudolph Stecker Brewing Company, and he whose name 
initiates this article is virtually the sole owner of the business, which is 
conducted upon the highest standard, with a plant that is modern in 
all equipments and facilities. The enterprise dates its inception back 
to the year 1886 and was originally conducted under the title of the 
Murphysboro Brewing Company. The cap'acity of the original plant 
was for the output of fifteen hundred barrels per year, and the note- 
worthy expansion of the business is evidenced by no one thing more 
emphatically than by the fact that the annual capacity of the institu- 
tion at the present time is forty thousand barrels. The original corps 
of employes numbered only three persons, all members of one fam- 
ily, and the present force numbers eighty men. The plant covers a 
tract of five acres, and the company owns one hundred and twenty- 
seven acres, on which the plant is located. Operations are based on a 
capital stock of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and the plant 
and business represent a conservative valuation of fully eight hundred 
thousand dollars. The products are of the best order and constitute 
their own most effective advertising. The most scrupulous attention 
is given to every detail of manufacture, insuring purity and uniform 
excellency of output, and every department is provided with the most 
modern and approved equipment. A large and substantial local busi- 
ness is controlled by the concern and its products also find an appre- 
ciative demand throughout a wide radius of country for which Mur- 
physboro is the normal distributing center. 

From the foregoing brief statements it is evident that Rudolph 
Stecker merits classification among the substantial and essentially rep- 
resentative business men of Murphysboro. and his sterling character 
and genial personality have gained to him unqualified popular esteem 
in the community that has long represented his home and to the mate- 
rial and civic advancement of which he has contributed a generous 
quota. Mr. Stecker is a native of the grand duchy of Baden, Germany, 
where he was born on the 24th of August, 1850, and he is a son of Bas- 
silius and Agnes Stecker, who passed their entire lives in their native 
land, where the father followed the vocations of brewer and cooper. 



1054 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

Rudolph Stecker was afforded the advantages of excellent schools in 
his fatherland and there served apprenticeships at the trades of brewer 
and cooper. In 1868, as a youth of eighteen years, he severed the home 
ties and set forth to seek his fortunes in America. He landed in New 
York city and thereafter continued to be employed at his trades in 
the Empire state until 1871, when he came west and located in the 
city of St. Louis. Shortly afterward he returned to Germany for a 
visit, and in 1872 he came again to America, of whose advantages and 
institutions he had become deeply appreciative. He became foreman 
in the Anheuser-Busch brewery, St. Louis, and served in this capacity 
for three years, at the expiration of which, in 1875, he engaged in the 
cooperage business on his own responsibility in St. Louis. He built up 
a large and prosperous enterprise in this line and he still owns the 
business, to which he continues to give a general supervision. 

In 1886 Mr. Stecker came to Murphysboro and purchased the small 
brewery conducted under the title of the Murphysboro Brewing Com- 
pany, as has already been stated in this context. For the first ten years 
he continued his residence in St. Louis but carefully supervised his 
interests in Murphysboro, where the practical details of the brewery 
were assigned to capable managers. He established his home in Mur- 
physboro in 1896, and the succeeding years have been marked by the 
development of his brewery into one of the large and important con- 
cerns of the kind in this section of the state. He is known as a re- 
liable, circumspect and conservative business man and as a citizen who 
is ever ready to lend his influence in support of measures and enter- 
prises projected for the general good of the community. 

In politics Mr. Stecker is aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause 
of the Republican party and both he and his family are communicants 
of the Catholic church. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in 
which he holds .membership in a Lodge, Chapter and Commandery in 
St. Louis. He is a popular member of the Murphysboro lodge of 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he was one of the 
organizers, and in St. Louis he is identified with the Haru Gari. 

In the year 1872 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stecker to Misa 
Louisa Miller, and concerning their children the following brief rec- 
ord is given : Katie is the wife of Herman Suber, of St. Louis ; Pauline 
is the wife of Frank Herman, of that city; Ann is the wife of John 
Eiler, of Murphysboro ; Irwin, who is active manager of his father 's 
brewery, married Miss Mary Pinkerton, a native of Ohio ; Julia is the 
wife of August Giske, of St. Louis ; and Louisa is the wife of Dr. 
Charles Post, a representative physician and surgeon of Murphysboro. 

ALBERT GAUEN. One of the old established business houses of Water- 
loo, Illinois, which has been doing business here for more than half a cen- 
tury is the general merchandise concern of George C. Gauen, still being 
conducted under the original name, although its founder is now deceased 
and the business is owned by his son, Albert Gauen, one of the younger 
generation of business citizens, who is also the owner of a finely cultivated 
tract of farming land and a large lumber yard. Albert Gauen was born 
at Waterloo, Monroe county, Illinois, July 23, 1876, and is a son of George 
C. Gauen, who for a number of years was prominent in this county. 
George C. Gauen was born in Hildesheim, Germany, and when a child of 
three years was brought to the United States by his parents, who settled 
first in Baltimore, Maryland. In the following year, 1834, they came to 
Monroe county, and here spent the remainder of their lives. 

Albert Gauen was educated in the public and high schools of Water- 
loo, and after graduating from the latter spent some time studying at the 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1055 

St. Louis Law School. He succeeded to his present general merchandise 
business in September, 1910, it having been founded in 1857 by his father, 
whose name he still uses as the firm style. Mr. Gauen 's farm of two hun- 
dred and twenty acres is located eighteen miles southwest of Waterloo, 
is bottom lands, and yields large crops of corn and wheat. It is rare that 
one finds a man who has the necessary attributes to successfully carry on 
more than one line of endeavor, but Mr. Gauen has been a merchant, a 
farmer and a lumberman, and made a success of whatever he has engaged 
in. He has also acted in various official capacities, and from 1902 until 
1910 served as clerk of Monroe county to the entire satisfaction of all 
concerned. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and the Odd 
Fellows, where his genial manners have made him many warm friends. 

In 1899 Mr. Gauen was united in marriage with Miss Lena Pinkel, of 
Waterloo, and they have three children: George, who is ten years old; 
Albert, who has reached the age of seven years ; and Gladys, who is two 
years of age. 

Under Mr. Gauen 's management his enterprises have prospered, the 
store has expanded and the business put on a basis that insures continued 
success. Progressive ideas and enterprising spirit have combined to add 
new features to his establishment, while those who had dealings with his 
father recognize in the son the same sterling characteristics of honesty 
and integrity on which the business was founded. 

JOHN B. HEYDE. An essentially prominent and influential citizen of 
Marion, Illinois, is John B. Heyde, who is here most successfully en- 
gaged in the musical instrument and agricultural implement business. 
He is strictly a self-made man and his citizenship has ever been charac- 
terized by those qualities which make for progress and good government. 
He is a native of Mascoutah, Illinois, where his birth occurred on the 5th 
of November, 1860. His father was Albert Heyde, who came as an immi- 
grant from Saxony, a province of the German empire, to Illinois, in 1848. 
The senior Heyde was born in 1800, and as a youth he received a very 
liberal education, being a fine linguist. He was a harness maker by 
trade and spent a number of years in early manhood in traveling in 
Europe in the interest of his enip After coming to the United 

States he located at Mascoutah, Illinois, where he was most successfully 
engaged in business as t. han. luring the greater portion of 

his active career. With the appivwh of old age he retired from that line 
of enterprise and for some time prior to his demise was keeper of the toll 
gate at Mascoutah. His death o:-fiirred on his farm near town in the 
year 1877. At Louisville, Kerhieky. was solemnized the marriage of 
Albert Heyde to Miss Annie Weber, who was born near Bingen on the 
Rhine, in Germany, and who died at Mascoutah. To this union were 
born the following children : Henry resides at Mascoutah ; Fred main- 
tains his home at Marion, Illinois; Philip is a retired miller at Jackson, 
Missouri, and he won th- prize for having the model mill of the age at 
the Atlanta Exposition; John B. is the immediate subject of this sketch; 
and George C., is engag d in the hardware business at Marion. 

Albert Heyde, fath. r of the above children, was no ordinary man. 
His strong and marked characteristic was his deep human sympathy for 
his fellow men. A np'ghbor in trouble could ever depend upon his aid 
and his personal atter, lion to those in sickness gained to him a popularity 
beyond that which comes to most men in the ordinary walks of life. He 
did .not participate actively in public affairs but affiliated with the Re- 
publican party when naturalized, and in religious matters was a stanch 
supporter of the doc trines of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

In the public sc'/iools of Mascoutah, Illinois, John B. Heyde received 



1056 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

his preliminary educational training. In early youth he learned the 
trade of blacksmith and he came to Marion in 1885, here establishing a 
blacksmith shop on North Market street. For the ensuing twelve years 
he continued to devote his attention to blacksmithing and at the expira- 
tion of that period he was induced to engaged in the implement business. 
He gained a commission contract on certain lines of machinery and with 
the passage of time succeeded in working up a large and prosperous busi- 
ness during the warm months of the year. The cold months, however, 
produced dullness in this particular line and in 1895 he put in a stock 
of musical instruments pianos and organs in order that he might 
keep his salesmen employed throughout the entire year. Succeeding well 
with those two departments, he subsequently added harness and .vehicles, 
which line made it necessary that he engaged still more help, and it was 
soon discovered that his foresight and business acumen had built up one 
of the important mercantile enterprises at Marion. In 1904 he erected 
his beautiful, two-story brick building, whose dimensions are 42 by 100 
feet. This modern and well-quipped store holds his instruments, his 
vehicles and his stock of harness. In 1911 Mr. Heyde erected another 
fine brick building on Madison street, this one being 38 by 96 feet in lat- 
eral dimensions and two stories in height. The latter structure is used 
as a warehouse. 

In addition to his above business Mr. Heyde is financially interested 
in a number of other important business enterprises at Marion. He 
owns a fourth of the street front in the block directly across from his 
store and upon the same has instituted improvements for the most mod- 
ern nature. His attractive home, adjoining the city and upon the line 
of the electric railway, comprises a tract of forty acres of land, which is 
laid out in extensive lawns surrounding an artificial lake and a large 
grove of fine trees. In a quarter of a century Mr. Heyde has advanced 
from a simple mechanic to the active ownership of a live, flourishing 
business, with ramifications out over Williamson county, and to a ster- 
ling citizenship which has been prolific of much good for Marion and the 
surrounding country. 

In the month of September, 1888, Mr. Heyde was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Ella Sophia Fisher, who came to Marion from St. Clair 
county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Heyde are the parents of five children, 
as follows : Mattie is the wife of Newt Owen ; Louise is Mrs. Fred Sand- 
ers, of this city ; and Walter, Flossie and Theodore remain at the pa- 
rental home. Mr. Heyde was brought up under Christian influence and 
came to believe in and cherish the Atmosphere of sacred things. He 
holds to Methodism and his family has been taught to honor and to par- 
ticipate in the work of the church. In a fraternal way he is a Master 
Mason and he is also affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America 
and with the Knights of Pythias. 

JOHN FRED WILLIAM BINDER, for many yea,"s a prominent and highly 
esteemed citizen of Waterloo, is head miller for the Koenigsmark Milling 
Company. Born on January 22, 1869, at Waterloo, Illinois, he is the son 
of Gottlieb Binder, a native of Koenigreich Wivtenberg, Germany, who 
came to America in the early fifties, settling in Waterloo, where he fol- 
lowed the occupation of a stone mason for years. He, together with one 
Mr. Rodenhauser, a cabinet maker, built the first public school building 
in Waterloo, the same now being used for a high school. Mr. Binder was 
married at Waterloo on January 31, 1857. choosing for his bride a young 
woman of German nativity, like himself ; she was Mary Schmidt, and 
was born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, coming to America in about 
1850. Reverend G. Steinert, of the German Evangelical church, per- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1057 

formed the ceremony. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Binder, 
but three of whom are living at this time. John Fred William Binder 
was the seventh child in the Binder home. Gottlieb Binder was a man of 
genial and kindly nature, and of portly mien. He was for many years a 
prominent and conspicuous figure in the life of Waterloo, and when he 
died, in June, 1873, a large circle of friends and acquaintances mourned 
his loss. His widow remarried in 1875, taking for her husband Adam 
Schneider. She passed away on June 9, 1904, at the age of sixty-six, 
having been born on September 2, 1838. 

John F. W. Binder has been in the foremost ranks of the leading busi- 
ness men of Waterloo for many years. Born and reared in that city, per- 
haps no man there is possessed of a wider circle of friends and acquain- 
tances than is he, and he is popular, both in a social and business way. 
He is of Democratic faith, and is enthusiastic in all matters pertaining to 
the advancement of the party. He has served his town as alderman of 
the Second ward, holding that office from 1910 to 1912. Mr. Binder is a 
charter member of the Waterloo Commercial Club, and has been promi- 
nent in every movement for the betterment of conditions in his com- 
munity. He is somewhat of a fraternalist, among other societies being a 
member of the Masonic lodge of Waterloo and also of the Belleville Chap- 
ter. Mr. Binder is a musician of considerable talent, and has made the 
study of music his pet hobby all his life. 

Mr. Binder was twice married. His first wife was Miss Elizabeth 
Hoechenroeder, of Waterloo, whom he married on May 11, 1892. They 
were the parents of three children, Freida, William and Viola, all of 
whom reside in. the family home. His second wife is Viola Caroline 
(Amend) Binder. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Amend, 
both of whom were natives of Germany. Adam Amend was born in Hes- 
sen-Darmstadt, in 1821, and was seventy-six years, two months and 
twenty-seven days old when he died on January 29, 1897. His wife was 
born in Weidenhausen, Germany, on November 18, 1828. She immigrated 
to America in 1852, where she met and married her husband. Eight chil- 
dren were born to them, five of whom are now living. They are Mrs. H. 
Wallhaus, Mrs. J. Doeltzsch, Mrs. F. Metzger, Miss Christine Amend and 
Mrs. J. F. W. Binder. She was a member of the Evangelical church and 
active and prominent in its good works. She passed away in Waterloo 
on July 15, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Binder have three sons : Charles, Morris 
and George. All three are members of the Binder household. The family 
are communicants of the German Evangelical church, and are active in 
the interests of that organization. 

GEORGE H. KELLY. One of the nourishing villages of Saline county, 
Illinois, located on the Big Four Railroad, just fourteen miles southwest 
from Harrisburg, is that bearing the name of Stonefort, which name was 
given it from the remains of an old stone fort, erected some time during 
pioneer days, probably by the settlers or military to guard against the 
Indians. This village, which has advanced wonderfully during the past 
several years, is now the home of some of Saline county 's most progressive 
business men, and a leader among them may be found in George H. Kelly, 
proprietor of Stonefort 's largest business establishment. Mr. Kelly was 
born in Perry county, Illinois, August 23, 1865, and is a son of George 
W. and Mary A. (Harreld) Kelly. 

George W. Kelly was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, and was married in 
Jackson county to Mary A. Harreld, a daughter of the Hon. James Har- 
reld, an early dealer in general merchandise and lumber, who served as a 
member of the State Legislature during eight sessions when the State 
House was at Vandalia. His grandson still owns a land patent of 1839 



1058 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

for land in Union county, where his death occurred when he was well ad- 
vanced in years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Lydia Swartz, 
died August 11, 1880, at the age of seventy-three years. Mr. Kelly, after 
marriage, enlisted in the Eighteenth Volunteer Infantry, for service in 
the Civil war, and after his first term of service was completed returned 
home, but eventually re-enlisted in the Eighty-first Infantry, Illinois Vol- 
unteers, becoming second lieutenant of his company. In the fall of 1863 
he resigned his commission and became a government sutler at Vicksburg, 
but in the next year returned to his home and settled on a Perry county 
farm. In 1867 Mr. Kelly opened a general store at DuQuoin, Illinois, but 
in 1876 sold out and came to Stonefort, where in 1880 he established the 
business of which his son is now the owner. He died November 26, 1885, 
when still engaged in active work, and his widow still survives him, and 
is the owner of over eight hundred acres of land, which she looks after 
herself. Mr. Kelly was a popular member of the G. A. R., was an active 
Republican in politics, and a consistent member of the Baptist church, in 
which he was serving as a deacon at the time of his death. He and Mrs. 
Kelly had a family of four children : A. I., who is proprietor of a store in 
Chicago ; Mary L., who conducts the Stonefort millinery store ; Edith, a 
teacher of music at Portland, Oregon ; and George H. 

George H. Kelly received his education in the public schools of Stone- 
fort, and was reared to the mercantile business, being ready to take up 
the work where his father left off at the time of his death. For three 
years following Mr. Kelly conducted the business for his mother, but in 
1888 purchased the place, which at that time carried a stock worth three 
thousand dollars and did a yearly business of twelve thousand dollars. 
So rapidly has Stonefort grown since that time, due to the earnest, perse- 
vering work of such men as Mr. Kelly, that he now commands a yearly 
business of forty thousand dollars, and has a stock that could not be dupli- 
cated under twenty thousand dollars. An excellent farm of four hundred 
and sixty acres also belongs to Mr. Kelly, which he is devoting to general 
farming and stock raising, hired help being employed to look after this 
place and two cars of cattle being shipped to the big city markets each 
year. The large business done by the store necessitates the use of a 
double store building, where Mr. and Mrs. Kelly and three clerks are 
constantly kept busy waiting on a patronage that has grown swiftly and 
steadily as it recognized and appreciated the advantages of giving its 
trade to a store the principles of which have always been along the lines 
of honest dealing and fair values. 

In 1890 Mr. Kelly was married to Miss Maria Joyner, of Stonefort, 
daughter of George W. Joyner, who carries on agricultural operations 
near the village. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly have had no children. He is a mem- 
ber of Oriental Consistory, Chicago, where he is also connected with the 
Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and also holds membership in 
Stonefort Blue Lodge, where he is past master and during 1887 and 1888 
represented his local in the Grand Lodge of the state. Mr. Kelly owns a 
comfortable home in Stonefort, and he and his wife are prominent in 
social circles and have numerous warm friends. 

E. E. GILL. A native son of Williamson county, E. E. Gill has made 
it the scene of his labors for many years. He is well and favorably 
known to the populace of Marion as a contractor, architect and builder. 
His reputation for thoroughness and carefulness in construction, as well 
as the artistic merit of his conceptions, is manifested in some of the most 
substantial buildings and beautiful homes in Marion. 

E. E. Gill was born near Corinth, in Williamson county, on the 16th 
of November, 1868. His birthplace was a farm, but his father, J. Frank 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1059 

Gill, was a mechanic rather than a farmer. The latter was of Southern 
birth, his native state being Tennessee. He came to Illinois as a young 
man and took up the carpenter trade. He worked at house carpentry 
in many places of both Williamson and Jackson counties, in the main as 
a lay workman. He took his wife from a family who had likewise come 
from Tennessee. She was Susan Moser, and she died many years before 
her husband, in 1889, at the age of forty-four. The two had several chil- 
dren, namely, Ella, who is the wife of Priestly Norman, of Marion; 
Minnie, who married J. H. Jolly and is living in St. Louis, Missouri: 
Joseph, a mechanic of Marion ; Emma became Mrs. William Ashley and 
went to Carbondale, Illinois, to live, where George Gill also makes his 
home. E. E. is the oldest of the children. The father of the family died 
in May, 1911, at his home in Marion. 

As his father moved from point to point as work demanded, E. E. 
Gill grew up in constantly changing surroundings. From his boyhood 
he showed a strong inclination for mechanics, inherited from his father 
and fostered by constant association with him. He received a fair knowl- 
edge of the rudiments of knowledge from the common schools, but when 
he reached his majority he discovered that unless he wished to be a 
plodder in the trades, which his ambitious spirit could not consider, he 
must in some way improve his technical knowledge. It is much to his 
credit that he realized his shortcomings and had the energy to set about 
to remedy them. He therefore turned to the Scranton Correspondence 
School to give him a profession as well as to perfect him in his trade. The 
latter he had learned under the eye of Ike Rapp, a builder well known 
over Jackson county and a capable man with the tool dr at the bench. 
The course offered by the Scranton school which interested him the most 
and promised him the best results was architecture, and this study he 
pursued eagerly. The methods of instruction of the Pennsylvania school 
were so simplified and so thorough that he soon found himself in posses- 
sion of the elementary principles of his subject and prepared to make 
plans and specifications, to make estimates on work and to take contracts. 

The years succeeding his completion of their course have proven that 
his confidence in the practicability of the work offered by the Scranton 
school has not been misplaced. The plans he made for the Mason and 
Knights of Pythias block in Marion, the Cline-Benson building in the 
same place, and a bank building in Herrin, Illinois, are splendid exam- 
ples of the excellence of his training. He was the architect, as well as 
the contractor, of the Frank Goodall building in Marion, and the hand- 
some city hall of Marion came into being as the result of his contract 
and plans. He was the builder of some of the most distinctive homes in 
Marion, also being the architect of them. A few of these are the W. H. 
Warder residence, the A. B. McLarren residence, the John Snyder home 
and the C. H. Dennison residence. He has been connected with the erec- 
tion of several public buildings, both in his home city and elsewhere, the 
Marion high school being built from his plans and under his contract, and 
the building of the Christian church in Carterville being carried on under 
his personal supervision. He has had such a close connection with the 
material development of Marion that his appointment as building in- 
spector was most suitable. He is at present serving in this capacity. 

On the 27th of December, 1892, Mr. Gill married in Marion Miss 
Sallie Feator, a daughter of Anthony Feator, one of the most efficient 
plasterers of Marion. He was born in Germany and was married to Miss 
Juley Huffman, and Mrs. Gill was one of their four children. Lena, 
Lloyd, Rufus and Harold are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Gill. Mr. 
Gill is an ardent supporter of all for which the Masonic order stands, and 
holds the rank of Master Mason in that order. He is also an Elk and 



1060 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

a Modern Woodmen. He is not actively interested in politics, save at 
elections, when he stands staunchly under the Republican banner. 

As one of the wheels in the train of cogs that is constantly raising 
Marion into a larger and more substantial city, Mr. Gill is a busy man. 
Following his determination to make of himself something better than an 
ordinary workman, along with the building of his technical knowledge 
came the building of his character, so that now this sturdy and upright 
man is felt by all who come in contact with him to be an influence for 
good in the community, one who is always glad to take a step forward in 
the direction of progressiveness. 

JOHN GOTTFRIED FISCHER. Not alone to the men of daring initiative 
in the fields of manufacturing and merchandising does Southern Illi- 
nois owe its greatness in the world of commerce, but also to the mechan- 
ics whose unsurpassed skill and industry have contributed, in larger 
measure than we always realize, to our world-wide reputation for all 
that is best in our manifold lines of product. In the front ranks of these 
skilled artisans is John Gottfried Fischer, of Waterloo, who for the past 
six years has been the proprietor of a machine shop at this city, and a 
man who has been the architect of his own fortune. He is a native of 
Waterloo, and was born September 28. 1874, a son of Charles and Minnie 
(Just) Fischer. Charles Fischer, who was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Germany, came to the United States in 1854, when he was sixteen years 
of age, and made his way up the Mississippi from New Orleans to 
Southern Illinois. His wife was a native of Floraville, St. Clair county, 
Illinois, and they had children, as follows : Jacob, who is deceased ; John 
Gottfried ; Charles, Henry and Mrs. John Krupp, of Waterloo, and Mrs. 
Minnie Gretting. 

John Gottfried Fischer received his education in the public schools, 
and supplemented this by a five-year course in the International School 
of Correspondence, of Belleville, Illinois, taking the modern machinist, 
stationary engineer and ice and refrigerating courses. He spent six 
years as a thresher before he attained his majority, was for two years en- 
gineer at the Waterloo Milling Company, and for five years had charge 
of the plant of the Fountain Creamery at Waterloo. At the end of this 
time Mr. Fischer decided he was ready to enter business on his own ac- 
count, and on March 17, 1906, he opened his own establishment, where 
he has since done all kinds of repair work. A skilled mechanic, his work 
has been so satisfactory as to insure him of a large and steadily-increas- 
ing trade, and his progressive spirit and industrious labor, combined 
with the excellence of his workmanship, have been the causes that have 
contributed to his success in his chosen field. During 1900 and 1901 Mr. 
Fischer served capably as a school director. He belongs to the Odd Fel- 
lows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Mutual Protective 
League, while his wife is a popular member of the Rebekahs. Both are 
well and favorably known to" the members of the German Evangelical 
church at Waterloo. 

On January 29, 1895, Mr. Fischer was united in marriage with Miss 
Margaret Plage, of New Hanover, Illinois, and they have had eight chil- 
dren, namely : Oliver G., Walter W., Amanda M., Octavia L. and Hilda, 
who are attending school ; and Alma, Milton and lone C. T., at home. 
Mr. Fischer is to be congratulated for what he has achieved, and his 
career should serve as an example worthy of emulation. He has proven 
that even though a man be born to humble circumstances, he can through 
hard and faithful endeavor raise himself to a position among his com- 
munity's leading citizens. Self educated and self made, Mr. Fischer 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1061 

may take a pardonable pride in a career that has always found him 
striving to do his full duty by himself, his family and his community. 

GEORGE ELLIS DUNCAN. One of the old and honored families of 
Southern Illinois, whose advent here dates from the pioneer days of 
Williamson county, is that of Duncan, members of which have dis- 
tinguished themselves in the various walks of life, and a worthy repre- 
sentative of the family is found in the person of George Ellis Duncan, 
of Johnston City, who is prominently connected with the real estate and 
insurance interests of this section. Mr. Duncan's birth occurred near 
Johnston City, February 22, 1885. 

The family of Duncans traces its ancestry back into one of the Caro- 
linas, out of which state some wandering member of the house sought 
out a new home in Tennessee, where his lasting footprints are seen in 
the propagation of a family. There Thomas Duncan, the grandfather of 
George Ellis Duncan, was born, and shortly after his marriage migrated 
to Williamson county, Illinois, where he died in 1877, at the age of sev- 
enty-one years. He had these children: Thomas, who is a citizen of 
Johnston City, Illinois; William P., of Maiden, Missouri; Hiram Mar- 
tin, father of George Ellis; Mary E., the widow of Mr. Chapman, of 
Johnston City ; and Julia, the wife of Thomas Odom, of Benton, Illinois. 

Hiram Martin Duncan, or Martin, as he was generally known, was 
born in the vicinity of Johnston City, June 6, 1840, and grew up with, 
the few advantages afforded in this new part of Illinois. His schooling 
was light, and amongst his first acts as a young man was his enlistment 
in the Union army for service during the Civil war. His company was 
B, of the One Hundred and Twenty-eight Regiment, Volunteer In- 
fantry, and he served through as a private, being in Logan's Corps of 
Sherman's army, participating in the fighting preliminary to the cap- 
ture of Atlanta, although he was in the hospital until after the fall of 
that Confederate stronghold. He was with his regiment under Scho- 
field when Hood 's army was being pursued north from Atlanta, and took 
part in the battle of Nashville, where the Confederates were completely 
routed. After three years spent in uniform he returned home and took 
his place among his old friends in the peaceful vocation of farmer. 
Hiram Martin Duncan married Miss Joann S. Bidwell, a daughter of 
Charles M. Bidwell, who came to Illinois from near Nashville, Tennessee, 
during the war. Mrs. Duncan was born in Tennessee, November 4, 1852, 
and was a helpful companion for her industrious husband for nearly 
forty years. They lived quietly near Johnston City, where Mr. Dun- 
can made one of the best farms of this county, and on which he worked 
right up to the hour he was stricken fatally. He became identified with 
the substantial growth of Johnston City, owned some of its best prop- 
erty, and erected some of its desirable and valuable residences and busi- 
ness houses. He comported himself admirably as a citizen, participated 
modestly and unselfishly in civic affairs, was a Democrat when political 
principles were at stake and contented himself with simply emphasizing 
his right of suffrage. The children born to Hiram Martin and Joann 
Duncan were as follows: Mary E., the wife of David J. Clayton, of 
Franklin county, Illinois; Charles W., a hoisting engineer of Johnston 
City; Thomas C., engaged in agricultural pursuits in this locality; Alva 
M., assistant manager of the Boston Store, in Chicago; George Ellis; 
Lela V. ; Clyde F. ; and Clara B. 

George Ellis Duncan began his life as a youth of seventeen years 
with only a country school education. He found the farm growing mo- 
notonous long before his majority was reached and went to Chicago, 
where he spent some time as a clerk in N. B. Holden's shoe store, but, 



1062 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

leaving there, subsequently went to Quannah, Texas, and found employ- 
ment in the cement works at that place. Yearning somewhat for home, 
he returned and established himself in the confectionery business at 
West Frankfort, but a year later took up work in connection with the 
development of the mines in the home neighborhood, sinking shafts and 
doing other contract work as a shift leader. Following this, Mr. Dun- 
can took up real estate in Johnston City and, since his father's death, has 
assumed charge of the home farm. The handling of real estate and the 
writing of insurance are matters that interest him deeply, and his entry 
into this sphere of business adds a new factor to the enterprising busi- 
ness men here. He has never married. Mr. Duncan's fraternal con- 
nection is with the Modern Woodmen of America, and in political mat- 
ters he is a Democrat, and has never aspired to public office. 

CHARLES C. HUTHMACHER. With the element of moral uplift which 
has been introduced into politics has come an appreciation of the civic 
value of those men who through years of conservative business connec- 
tions have proven their worth and stability. The government of a city, 
county or nation must be conducted upon sound business principles to 
attain to best results. Those organizations which have effected the best 
reforms are those in charge of reliable business men. The Hon. Charles 
C. Huthmacher has rendered his county and community yeomen service 
in several of the highest offices within the bestowal of his people and at 
the same time has discharged with distinguished capability the onerous 
duties of chief executive of one of the soundest banking institutions of 
Southern Illinois. Both as business man and public official Mr. Huth- 
macher has shown exceptional ability, sturdy integrity and a high moral 
sense, and no man in this section stands higher in the esteem of his as- 
sociates than he. Mr. Huthmacher was born December 25, 1859, at Cen- 
tral City, Illinois, and is a son of Charles F. and Josephine (Lienert) 
Huthmacher. 

Charles F. Huthmacher was born at Baden, Province of Baden, Prus- 
sia, in 1834, and on first locating in the United States took up his resi- 
dence in Central City, Illinois, where he remained for some years, later 
going to Sandoval. In 1869 he gave up his farming interests in the 
latter community and engaged in the butcher business at Grand Tower, 
where his death occurred September 25, 1875, in the faith of the Episco- 
pal church. In political matters he was a Democrat. He married Jo- 
sephine Lienert, who was born in Zurich, Switzerland, and came to the 
United States when a child, and they had a family of nine children, of 
whom seven are now living : Charles C. ; A. J. ; Louise, who is the wife 
of E. A. G'sell; George; Julia; Josephine and Adeline. Mrs. Huth- 
macher survives her husband and makes her home at Murphysboro. 

Charles C. Huthmacher was reared on his father's farm at Sandoval 
until he was ten years of age, at which time he came to Grand Tower 
and entered the public schools. When he was sixteen years old he com- 
pleted his studies and began to work in his father's butchering estab- 
lishment, but eventually returned to farming, in which he has been more 
or less interested to the present time. In 1895 he entered the mercan- 
tile business at Grand Tower, and in 1905, at the time of the organiza- 
tion of the First National Bank, he was made its president, a position 
which he still occupies. Mr. Huthmacher has been one of the leading 
Democrats of this section since attaining his majority. When only 
twenty-one years of age he was elected to the office of city treasurer, 
during the four years following 1890 served as sheriff of Jackson county, 
and from 1903 to 1911 acted as mayor of Grand Tower, bringing to 
his administration the same sound and energetic principles that made 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1063 

him successful in the business and financial fields. During the time he 
served as chief executive many needed reforms were made here, and his 
whole service was one that proved he had the public's welfare at heart. 
For a number of years he has been a well known member of the Masons 
and the Elks. 

On September 20, 1889, Mr. Huthmacher was married to Miss Emma 
A. Schultz, of Grand Tower, a daughter of C. Schultz, the well known 
merchant, and two children have been born to them : Mabel and Ralph. 

LAURENCE BERNARD SHELBY. The power of the Fourth Estate is gen- 
erally conceded to be the strongest influence in the United States, where 
absolute freedom of the press is allowed as in no other country. The 
responsibility rests heavily, therefore, on the shoulders of those trusted 
with the moulding and direction of public opinion and morals, and to 
their credit be it said that these editors seldom fail to live up to high 
ideals. The Republican Era of Murphysboro, Illinois, is capably edited 
by Laurence Bernard Sheley, whose experience in newspaper work be- 
gan with the selling of papers and gradually developed until he is now 
occupying an editorial chair. Mr. Sheley is a native of St. Clair county, 
Illinois, and was born at Mascoutah February 25, 1879, a son of J. W. 
and Harriet (Pensoneau) Sheley. 

J. W. Sheley was born August 20, 1852, in St. Clair county, where his 
parents, farming people, had located a short time previously. He grew 
to manhood in his native locality, and was there married to Harriet Pen- 
soneau, a daughter of Louis Perry Pensoneau, the original editor of the 
St. Clair Banner, at Belleville, who was later engaged in the coal busi- 
ness at East St. Louis. Mr. Pensoneau was a grandson of Jean Francois 
Perry, who was one of the original settlers at Cahokia, a very large land 
owner and a descendant of the royal family of France who came to this 
country on account of political reasons. Mr. and Mrs. Sheley, who are 
now living at Murphysboro, have been the parents of six children, of 
whom Laurence Bernard is the second in order of birth. They are mem- 
bers of the Catholic church. 

Bernard Sheley 's early life was spent on the plains of Kansas, whence 
his parents moved when he was six years of age, and his limited school- 
ing was secured in the rural institutions of that state. When he was fif- 
teen years of age the family returned to Illinois, locating in Murphys- 
boro, where Mr. Sheley secured employment carrying papers for John 
W. Greer, who was then editor of the paper of which Mr. Sheley is now 
the head, at that time a Democratic organ known as the News. In 1903 
he went to New Mexico, and for one year was identified with the Santa 
Fe New Mexican, subsequently spending three years in newspaper work 
at Phoenix, Arizona, first as reporter for the Gazette and later as tele- 
graph editor of the Democrat. While in the West he acted for a time as 
deputy county recorder of Maricopa county at Phoenix, Arizona. On his 
return to Murphysboro, in 1907, Mr. Sheley became advertising manager 
of the Independent, and in 1909, when Mr. H. L. Williamson was made 
state printer, Mr. Sheley succeeded him as editor and manager of the 
Republican Era. Mr. Sheley 's efforts have been devoted to giving the 
reading public of Murphysboro and the surrounding country a clean, 
wholesome sheet, and that his work has been appreciated is evidenced by 
the increase in circulation since he has held the managerial reins. The 
journal is exceptionally free from sensationalism, and its main features 
have been accurate national and international news, interesting local 
happenings and strong, pithy editorials. The principles of the Republi- 
can party are advocated. 

Mr. Sheley was married in 1902, at Murphysboro, to Miss Ellen Flor- 



1064 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

ence Ashman, daughter of the late Andrew Ashman, a former member of 
the Murphysboro city council, and five children have been born to this 
union, namely : Bernard, Ellenita, Lawrence, Evelyn Lucille and Harriet 
Saline, the later being now dead. Mr. and Mrs. Sheley are members of 
the Roman Catholic church, and he holds membership in the Knights of 
Columbus, having been a charter member and the first financial secretary 
of Marcos de Viza Council at Phoenix, Arizona. 

HENRY CLAY MITCHELL, M. D. The high calling of the medical 
profession summons to its service the finest qualities of human char- 
acter, absolute integrity, comprehensive human sympathy and a dil- 
igent devotion to science. That Dr. Henry Clay Mitchell has distin- 
guished himself in his profession is due both to the large measure in 
which he possesses these attributes and to his signal ability in the field 
of surgery. 

Henry Clay Mitchell was born in Corinth, Illinois, July 31, 1855, 
the son of Samuel Minton and Martha Ann (Harrison) Mitchell. His 
father was one of the first and most widely known physicians and sur- 
geons of Southern Illinois, having come to this state in the year of its 
admission to the Union, 1818. He was a graduate of the Medical Col- 
lege of Louisville, Kentucky, and of Rush Medical College of Chicago, 
Illinois. 

Dr. Henry C. Mitchell, the son of Dr. Samuel Mitchell, was edu- 
cated primarily in the public schools. He then attended Northwestern 
University, finishing his course in the medical department in 1879. He 
at once began the practice of his profession, and for eight years was 
located at Corinth, Illinois. In 1887 Dr. Mitchell removed to Carbon- 
dale and took up practice there. He has been local, district and later 
division surgeon for the Illinois Central Railroad for many years, and 
in line of his profession is a member of the American Association of 
ican Academy of Railway Surgeons, the American Medical Associa- 
tion, the Illinois State Medical Society, Southern Illinois Medical As- 
sociation and Jackson County Medical Society. He is ex-president of 
the Southern Illinois and State Medical Associations, and has been 
counselor for the Illinois State Medical Society for the past twelve 
years. Of late years Dr. Mitchell has given up a considerable portion 
of his large general practice and devoted himself largely to office con- 
sultation and surgery. 

Aside from his profession Dr. Mitchell has imported financial in- 
terests. Together with Mr. F. T. Joyner he organized the Jackson State 
Bank and served as its president for a period of six years. He was also 
one of the organizers and a member of the directorate of both the 
Carbondale and the Marion building and loan associations. For six 
years he was treasurer of the Southern Illinois Normal University. 
Politically Dr. Mitchell is an adherent to Republican principles, and 
he has served three terms as a member of the board of aldermen of 
his city. 

Dr. Mitchell first married Miss Alma F. Roberts, of Corinth, Illi- 
nois. She died in 1886, leaving one son, Edward Clay Mitchell, who 
is now a physician, practicing in Memphis, Tennessee. The present 
wife of Dr. Mitchell was formerly Miss Adella Brownlow Goodall. of 
Marion, Illinois. Dr. and Mrs. Mitchell are the parents of four chil- 
dren. John Minton Mitchell is now a student in the medical depart- 
ment of the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois. Jennie 
Alma Mitchell, a graduate of the Southern Illinois Normal University, 
is now a student at the Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. The 



nt; I) ( 
Ur It 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1065 

two younger daughters Sarah Scates Mitchell and Adella Goodall 
Mitchell, are attending the Southern Illinois Normal University. 

The Mitchell family are members of the First Methodist Episcopal 
church of Carbondale, and Dr. Mitchell serves the church as a mem- 
ber of its board of trustees. Fraternally he is a Mason and a Knight 
Templar, being a member of Centralia Commandery, and he has been 
chairman of the committee on Lodges Under Dispensation of the Grand 
Lodge of Illinois Masons for sixteen years. 

THOMAS J. LAYMAN. Among the men who have made the bar of 
Southern Illinois stand for integrity, progressiveness and perspicacity is 
Thomas J. Layman, a native son and resident of Benton, Illinois. He 
was born in the city where he now makes his home among a large circle 
of friends on the 27th of November, 1878, the son of Thomas J. and 
Elizabeth (Lemen) Layman. His father was a native of Franklin 
county, Illinois, and his mother was born in Monroe county, also in this 
state. His father 's early education was obtained in the public schools of 
his home county, and he later studied law under A. D. Duff, one of the 
prominent figures in the historical records of Southern Illinois. In 1861, 
the first year of the war, Thomas J. Layman, Sr., was admitted to the 
bar of the state, and so started a long, successful and honorable career, 
so that when he died, in 1892, he was not only the owner of a large for- 
tune but was one of the most esteemed and respected citizens of the 
county. His record in the army consisted of a year's service in the 
Eighteenth Illinois Regiment. 

Thomas Layman, the son of the late Thomas Layman, and the imme- 
diate subject of this brief personal review, got his preparatory education 
in the Benton high school, following which he attended the Southern 
Illinois Normal University, graduating from that institution with the 
class of 1902. After finishing his college work he undertook the study of 
the law in the office of an uncle, and was subsequently admitted to the bar 
in 1904. He has since practiced in all courts, achieving an enviable repu- 
tation for ability and absolute rectitude. For a while he served as a 
United States commissioner, and in November, 1910, he was elected to a 
place on the bench. He is now serving as county judge. In his political 
affiliations he has always been a stalwart Republican, being firmly con- 
vinced that the men and measures of that party represent more nearly 
than any other the welfare of the whole community. 

In 1905 was solemnized the union of Mr. Layman to Miss Lula Whit- 
tenburg, the daughter of W. P. Whittenburg, of Vienna, Illinois. Their 
pleasant and hospitable home has since been blessed with two little 
daughters. Mr. Layman is a member of the Baptist church and takes an 
active interest in the good works fostered by the church. 

E. W. HERSH. Among those men who have contributed much towards 
the upbuilding and general advancement of the town of Newton, E. W. 
Hersh takes prominent and undisputed rank. First as the owner of the 
Bank of Newton, in connection with Mr. A. F. Calvin, and later, on its 
reorganization, as president of the First National Bank and its heaviest 
stock holder, he has been prominent in financial circles for a number of 
years, and he has not withheld his energies and assistance when any 
movement for the betterment of the civic welfare of the community was 
under consideration. 

E. W. Hersh was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, January 10, 1866. 
His father, John Hersh, was born in Licking county, Ohio, in 1843. He 
was a practicing physician in Defiance, Ohio, in the early '70s, being a 
graduate of a Cincinnati Medical College, and was active in the profes- 



1066 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

sion until the time of his death, which occurred in 1901. He married 
Nancy Dowd, a native of Ohio, and of their seven children E. W. Hersh 
is the fourth in order of birth. Dr. Hersh was a Republican in his politi- 
cal affiliations, and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. 

The early life of E. "W. Hersh was spent in Ohio. He attended the 
public schools, graduated from the high school of his town, following 
which he entered Chautauqua University in New York, taking a collegiate 
course and graduating therefrom in 1882 with high honors. When Mr. 
Hersh first came to Illinois he entered the office of Gibson & Johnson, at- 
torneys, as a stenographer, filling that position creditably. He did not 
neglect any chance opportunities, and in his spare moments he read law 
until in 1890 he was admitted to the bar. He practiced until 1896 in 
Newton, and at that time he bought the Newton Bank, then a private in- 
stitution, and assumed complete charge of it. In 1907 the bank was 
nationalized, becoming the First National Bank of Newton, with a capital 
of $50,000, and a surplus of $15,000, Mr. Hersh being the heaviest stock- 
holder, and the president of the bank as well. In addition to his interest 
in the bank, which is the largest in the county, its stockholders being all 
local men and built up entirely by local efforts, Mr. Hersh is the owner 
of a considerable amount of real estate, including dwellings and business 
houses in Newton, and is generally conceded to be one of the wealthiest 
men of that town. 

Mr. Hersh was captain of Company B, Fourth Illinois Volunteer In- 
fantry, during the Spanish-American war, serving from May 20, 1898, 
to March, 1899, when he was compelled to resign on account of his health. 
He was in command of his company during the Chicago riots of 1894 and 
the Carterville Mine riots in 1899 and 1900. 

In addition to his other labors in behalf of his county Mr. Hersh has 
been an important factor in arousing the people of his section to the 
splendid possibilities of Southern Illinois as an apple growing country. 
He made a careful study of the apple situation as it existed in Illinois 
then, and arrived at the conclusion that the rapidly decreasing annual 
production could be brought up to a figure never before realized. He 
went to Colorado, and to Oregon, the "land of the big, red apple," and 
he made careful study of the ways and means of the apple grower of the 
west. Returning to Illinois, he proved the validity of his contention by 
personally superintending the care of an apple orchard for four years, 
producing phenomenal crops as a result of the close and careful study he 
had given the matter. He has demonstrated to the people of his vicinity 
that apples are a paying crop in Illinois, and a new interest is being dis- 
played in that industry. 

In 1891 Mr. Hersh married Miss Flora E. Shup, the youngest daugh- 
ter of George H. Shup. They have been the parents of two children: 
Gordon, born March 4, 1895, and died in October, 1901, and Marjorie. 
They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Hersh is 
a member of the Masonic lodge and the nights of Pythias, as well as being 
a prominent member of the Newton Commercial Club. 

ELIJAH LEWIS is the assistant superintendent of the Coal Belt Elec- 
tric Railway, having risen to this position in a marvelously short time 
from that of a laborer in the track gang. Such a rise must come from a 
large amount of natural ability united with the capacity for work and the 
tact to handle many kinds of men. His reputation with his company 
rests on a solid foundation, for they have tried him in nearly every sort 
of situation. 

The father of Elijah Lewis also grew up in Williamson county. He 



HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1067 

is John P. Lewis, who is at present engaged in the real estate and insur- 
ance business in Marion. He was born in Illinois, and is a son of James 
Lewis. John P. Lewis was one of two children. He married a daughter 
of Talbert Kennedy, Addie, who was born in Illinois. Her father was 
from the state of Tennessee. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have only two sons, Elijah and Spiller, the latter 
holding the responsible position of chief engineer of the power plant of 
the Coal Belt Electric Company. 

Elijah Lewis has been deeply interested in the development of this 
section of the country, for he has passed all of his life in and around 
Marion. He was born in the Creal Springs community of Williamson 
county on the 27th of February, 1878. His early youth was passed on 
the farm, but the life never held any great attractions for him. Knowing 
that a good education was the first step in the direction of success, he first 
attended the Crab Orchard Academy, and later spent some time at the 
Southern Illinois Normal at Carbondale. He was a junior at the latter 
institution when he decided that he would put some of his learning into 
active use, and went into the school room as a teacher. Here he learned 
the tact which enabled him to later become a leader of men, for the man- 
agement of children calls for as much skill as does the management of 
grown-ups. He spent five years in the work of the country schools. At 
about this time the Coal Belt Electric line was being promoted, and Mr. 
Lewis saw the chance for which he had been looking. He sought employ- 
ment with the firm which had the contract for the construction of the 
new road and received a job as a laborer. His light could not be hid 
under a bushel and in a short time he was made a lineman, then rose to 
repair man at the shops, then was promoted to road foreman, and finally 
the company, who had kept a close watch on him, made him assistant 
superintendent. He reached his present position in 1904 and now makes 
his headquarters at Marion. 

On the 16th of September, 1906, Mr. Lewis was married to Miss 
Lucy A. Allen. She is the daughter of Elias Allen, of Williamson 
county. Mrs. Lewis is one of four children. A daughter, Evelyn, was 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, on the 17th of July, 1907. 

The most striking thing about the life of this successful man is its 
prophecy for the future, having gone so far and so rapidly in so short 
a time, where will he finally find himself? The pinnacle will surely be 
a high one, for with a vaulting ambition, unquestionable efficiency and 
knowledge of his work, the power of concentration on the important 
thing and the personality that charms all who come in contact with him, 
further success is not to be doubted. 

HON. ANDREW STITES CALDWELL. To have lived in six of the great 
states of the American Union engaged in useful pursuits, and won the 
high regard of the people in each ; to have been a valued, capable and 
popular school teacher in three, and attained to high rank in the legal 
profession in the same number ; to have been selected for intricate, im- 
portant and trying duties in the service of the national government be- 
cause of his special ability and fitness for them ; then to have returned, 
at the full maturity of his powers and prime of his manhood, to the home 
of his youth, and become an ornament to its bar and bench, is more than 
a record of which any man might be proud. It is a proof of high char- 
acter, commanding ability, varied and comprehensive acquirements, and 
force of will sufficient to sustain their possessor creditably in any situ- 
ation, whatever its demands might be. 

This is. in brief, an outline of the life-story to the present time of 
Judge Andrew Stites Caldwell, of Carbondale, and the outline indicates 



1068 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

what the full recital must embody in the way of eminent qualification 
for work of a high order. It also indicates that in spite of the madness 
of their politics and the venom that madness frequently engenders, the 
American people are not blind to genuine merit, but know how to es- 
teem it in the long run, and have the wisdom to confide their interests 
, to its care with confidence that those interests will be safely guarded and 
promoted. 

Judge Caldwell was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on September 
15, 1853, and is the son of Isaac Hodgen and Eveline Sharp (Stites) 
Caldwell, prominent and highly respected residents of that state. The 
father was a lawyer and banker, and when the son was fifteen years of 
age moved his family to Carbondale, Illinois, where he continued the 
pursuits he had been engaged in at his former home, with success in his 
operations and high regard among the people of the city and the whole 
of Jackson county. 

The son was educated under the tuition of Professor Clark Braden at 
the Southern Illinois College. He studied law under the supervision and 
direction of Hon. William J. Allen, long an honored judge of the United 
States court, and was admitted to the bar in 1878. He did not immedi- 
ately give himself up wholly to the practice of his profession, but for a 
time enlarged his knowledge of himself and others by teaching school. 
He taught in Jackson county for a short period, then for three years 
served as principal of the public schools in Sedalia, Missouri. 

In 1883 he moved to Boise, Idaho, and during one year was princi- 
pal of the public schools in that city. He had not, however, wholly neg- 
lected his profession, but had kept in close touch with it, and used every 
opportunity to show himself alive in it in such a manner as to make the 
bench and bar of every locality in which he resided respect his talents 
and legal attainments, and look upon him. as a young man of present 
power and great promise as a practitioner. 

After the election of Mr. Cleveland to the presidency, the future 
judge was appointed special agent of the government land office at Boise, 
and afterward at Denver, Colorado, for the purpose of prosecuting 
coal land frauds and timber trespassing. At the end of his term in this 
office he devoted himself to a general practice of law in Denver for three 
years. In 1892 he returned to Carbondale and continued his general 
practice for a number of years in this city, then began to make a spe- 
cialty of insurance law, becoming local counsel for the Phenix, the Royal, 
the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance companies, and others. 

In 1898 Mr. Caldwell was elected county judge of Jackson county, 
and during his tenure of this exalted office he administered the law with- 
out fear or favor. 

Judge Caldwell has taken an active interest in the organizations 
formed and conducted for the improvement of his profession and the 
promotion of goodfellowship among its members. He is a member of the 
State Bar Association of Illinois, a member of the bar in Colorado and 
Idaho, president of the Jackson County Bar Association, and in many 
other ways is active for the welfare of the guild of which he is so con- 
spicuous and honored a component, his services in all of which are highly 
appreciated. The fraternal life of the community has interested him too. 
He belongs to the Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern "Woodmen of 
America. In religious faith and membership he is connected with the 
Christian church, and is an elder in the congregation to which he belongs. 
In politics he is an earnest and active Democrat, always energetic 
and effective in his services to his party. He has been a delegate to every 
state Democratic convention of Illinois for twenty years except one. He 
was also a delegate from the territory of Idaho to the national Demo- 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1069 

cratic convention of 1884, which nominated Grover Cleveland for the 
presidency the first time, and in the campaign that followed took a 
prominent and highly serviceable part in the effort that elected him. 

Judge Caldwell was married on May 23, 1894, to Miss Ada L. Dun- 
away, a daughter of the late Samuel Washington Dunaway, of Carbon- 
dale, a sketch of whose life will be found in this work. Her mother is 
Mrs. Virginia (Thorne) Dunaway, who is still living, and is one of the 
most prominent and highly esteemed ladies of the city. The judge and 
his wife have had two children : Their son Edgar T., who died in Au- 
gust, 1909 ; and their daughter Virginia Stites, who was born in 1900. 

SAMUEL WASHINGTON DUNAWAY, of Virginia parentage, and con- 
nected by blood with the Washington family of the Old Dominion to 
which "The Father of His Country" belonged, the late Samuel W. Dun- 
away, of Carbondale, had many incentives in the history of his ances- 
tors to indomitable energy, the full use of all his resources, the neglect 
of no opportunity and unswerving fidelity to duty in working toward 
the object of his pursuit. He had from the same source inspiration to 
elevated manhood, devotion to the general welfare, strong love of coun- 
try and veneration for the loftiest ideals of citizenship. And, although 
the years and energies of his life were devoted to business, the univer- 
sal esteem which the people of his community bestowed upon him, the 
warm encomiums passed upon his character, manhood and public use- 
fulness while his life was in full flower, the general sorrow of all classes 
at his death, and the high tributes paid to his worth after that sad event, 
prove that he lived up to the influences emanating from the deeds and 
examples of his forefathers. 

Mr. Dunaway was born at Bainbridge, Williamson county, Illinois, 
on August 2, 1841, and was a son of Samuel Dunaway, Sr., the pioneer 
merchant of that county. In the earlier history of the county the father 
conducted a business at Bainbridge which is said to have been at the time 
the most extensive in Southern Illinois. After the son grew to manhood 
he became associated with his father in the same business at Marion, the 
firm name being Dunaway & Son. Some time afterward he became a 
member of the firm of Goodall, Campbell & Dunaway, of the same city. 

Mr. Dunaway was the junior member of the firm in each case, but he 
had business capacity of a high order, and soon demonstrated the posses- 
sion of a master spirit for mercantile life and all the lines of trade and 
industry connected with or kindred to it. He had been reared in an 
atmosphere of business enterprise, and the elements of barter and traffic, 
bargain and sale, the conversion of raw materials into useful commo- 
dities, the rise and fall of markets and their controlling forces, financial 
agencies and their workings, with methods and means of transportation, 
and all other factors in the mighty enginery of trade, had been made his 
familiars and become parts of his permanent and impelling knowledge. 
He was therefore at home in every condition, and knew how to make the 
most of it. He was also prepared for every emergency, and knew just 
how to deal with it. 

About the year 1885 Mr. Dunaway located in Carbondale, and here 
he was actively engaged in business until the death of his son Ed in 
February, 1896, when he retired, and from then until his own death de- 
voted his time and attention to the care of his numerous properties in 
Carbondale and elsewhere. Throughout his manhood he was frugal as 
well as industrious, prudent as well as progressive, and in the many 
years of his connection with business these habits, together with his su- 
perior ability, enabled him to accumulate considerable property and 
become one of the wealthiest men in this part of the state. 



1070 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

It is not to be supposed, however, that Mr. Dunaway gave up the 
whole of his time and energy to his own affairs. On the contrary he took 
an earnest and intelligent interest in matters of public import, and al- 
though never an active political partisan, except in so far as the duties 
of good citizenship required him to be, always manifested the liveliest 
and most productive concern for the welfare of his city and county, and 
did his full share of the work of promoting it. During the administra- 
tion of Governor Altgeld, from 1893 to 1897, he served as a resident 
trustee of the Southern Illinois Normal University, averse as he always 
was to the cares and responsibilities of public life. 

In 1863 he was married to Miss Virginia Thome. They had two 
children : Their daughter Ada L., who is the wife of Judge Andrew S. 
Caldwell of Carbondale; and their son Ed, who died on February 12, 
1896, at the age of twenty-six. The father's death occurred on October 
15, 1905, after several recurrences of a serious rheumatic trouble, but an 
illness of only two weeks at the time, and suffused the whole community 
with grief. His remains were laid to rest in Oakland cemetery amid 
testimonials of respect from all classes of the people, the services being 
conducted according to the ritual of the Methodist Episcopal church, of 
which he had long been a devout and attentive member. 

JAMES E. N. EDWARDS. After practicing before the bar of Union 
county for nearly a quarter of a century, during which time he has been 
elected to serve in various high positions of honor and trust, the Hon. 
James E. N. Edwards has gained an enviable reputation in the ranks of 
his profession and is one of the best known men in Anna, his field of 
practice. Mr. Edwards is a native of the Prairie state, having been born 
in Pulaski county in 1854, and is a son of Ezra W. and Elizabeth (Hoop- 
baugh) Edwards, natives respectively of Kentucky and South Carolina. 

The early education of Mr. Edwards was secured in the common 
schools of his native county, after leaving which his father, who was a 
well-known physician and surgeon of his day, desired that he should take 
up a professional career. He came to Union county in 1874, but it was 
not until 1888 that he was admitted to the bar, after having studied law 
in the offices of M. J. Inscore. Since that time he has carried on a general 
practice alone, and few in this section have met with such conspicuous 
success. In a number of noted cases he has proven himself one of the 
ablest practitioners of this part of the county, and his clientele has been 
large and steady. A logical and forceful speaker, Mr. Edwards early 
entered the political field, and soon convinced his fellow townsmen of 
his ability to fill public office, and was sent to the legislature on four dif- 
ferent occasions, his last term expiring in 1903, since which time he has 
resided in Anna, where for five terms he has served as city attorney, being 
the present incumbent of that important position. While a member of 
the legislature he was fearless in championing the rights of his con- 
stituents, promoting several successful bills of an important nature and 
serving on the .judiciary and several other committees. He has been 
active in his support of Republican principles, and is justly considered 
one of the able leaders of his party in this section of the state. His fra- 
ternal connections are with the Knights of Pythias, in which he has a 
number of warm, personal friends, who in their friendship only echo the 
sentiments of a wide number of acquaintances in the professional and 
civic fields. Mr. Edwards is the owner of a valuable tract of one hun- 
dred acres of finely-cultivated land in Pulaski county, not far from the 
city of Anna, and this land he has rented out, his professional and public 
duties demanding all of his time and attention. All movements tending 
to be of benefit to the community have received his hearty co-operation 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1071 

and support, and the enterprises with which his name has been associated 
have always been of a progressive nature. 

Mr. Edwards was married in Anna, Illinois, in 1891, to Miss Mary 
Winters, who is a native of this county, and one daughter has been born 
to this union : Miss Elizabeth, now eighteen years of age, who resides with 
her parents. 

AUGUST F. WEINEL. It has been proved beyond possibility of doubt 
and in many different localities of this country of ours that any commu- 
nity possessing the German element in any appreciable numbers is assured 
of its prosperity and of a high standard of citizenship. August F. 
Weinel is a native of the Fatherland and possesses in himself all those 
fine characteristics for which his nationality is synonymous. Mr. Weinel 
was born near Merxheim, near Bingen on the Rhine, August 5, 1837. 
His parents were G. P. Weinel and Caroline Heintz Weinel. He received 
his education in the excellent German schools and at the age of fifteen left 
his desk in the village school room and became an apprentice in the mer- 
cantile business, a position occupied by him until the age of nineteen 
years. Meantime the idea of coming to America, of whose opportunity 
for the ambitious young man he had heard glorious report, had found a 
secure place in his imaginings and in the fall of 1856 he severed old asso- 
ciations and crossed the Atlantic, landing in New York city some time in 
the month of November. He remained but a short time in that great 
metropolis and then came on to Columbia, Monroe county, Illinois, where 
his brother Jacob had preceded him by several years. He made himself 
useful in various capacities for some time and then went to St. Louis, 
where he secured a position as clerk in a dry goods store. In course of 
time, however, he concluded to return to Columbia, of which place he 
retained pleasant memory, and this time he worked for Wilson & Weinel 
(the latter his brother), who were engaged in the retail mercantile busi- 
ness in Columbia. For two years he worked as clerk, but at the end of 
that time a new partnership was formed, consisting of himself and his 
brother and John S. Morgan, and in this fashion the business was carried 
on for five years. 

Mr. Weinel soon gained the confidence of his fellow citizens by his 
honest and admirable business methods and his pleasing personality and 
in 1865 this received open and unmistakable expression in his election as 
surveyor of Monroe county. In 1875 he embarked in a new line of busi- 
ness, opening a lumber yard .in Columbia, and he has conducted this 
business for the ensuing thirty-seven years. It has increased continually 
and substantially and now stands as one of those industries which con- 
tribute most effectively to the general prosperity of town and county. 

In October, 1866, Mr. Weinel was united in marriage to Miss Bertha 
Grosse, a native of St. Louis and a daughter of Ernest Grosse, who some 
time after her birth took up his residence in Columbia and for a number 
of years ending with 1874 was proprietor and host of the Columbia tav- 
ern. This union has been blessed with the birth of ten children, only one 
of whom is deceased, these sons and daughters having taken their places 
as valuable members of society. An enumeration is as follows : Catherina, 
deceased; Bertha; Ernst; Emily; Louise, now Mrs. A. E. McKee; Adelia, 
wife of Dr. William Rose ; F. W. ; Edwin ; L. P. ; and Elsie. In the mat- 
ter of politics Mr. Weinel has ever given heart and hand to the men and 
measures of the Democratic party, to which he has given his allegiance 
since his earliest voting days, and he is a member of the German Evan- 
gelical church, in whose affairs he is characteristically useful and active. 



1072 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

JAMES W. JACKSON. It will scarcely be gainsaid that there is no class 
of society to which it is given to exert a more powerful and far-reaching 
influence than the instructor, into whose hands is placed in such large 
measure the making of the future citizen. A community is infinitely to 
be congratulated which has at the head of its educational affairs men of 
enlightened and progressive ideals and to such all honor is due. A splen- 
did example of the progressive educator is James W. Jackson, county 
superintendent of schools of Monroe county, who makes his home at Wa- 
terloo and has in retrospect many important and ably filled positions in 
a pedagogical capacity. 

Mr. Jackson was born on a farm in Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 
27th day of June, 1841, the son of Smith I. and Mary (Bloom) Jackson. 
There he resided until about the age of nineteen years and from actual 
experience as his father's assistant in the manifold duties of the farm 
learned all the secrets of the great basic industry. Meantime, however, 
he found opportunity , to lay the foundations of a good education, and 
when only about seventeen years of age began teaching in the schools. 
He received his elementary educational discipline in the public schools 
and subsequently, having within his youthful breast an unquenchable 
desire to drink deeper of the "Pierian spring," he attended the follow- 
ing trio of colleges : Waterford Academy at Waterford, Pennsylvania ; 
Lake Shore College in northeast Pennsylvania and the Western Normal 
University of Illinois. As he took special courses in each, gleaning from 
each institution what he believed it most admirably fitted to impart, he 
received no degrees from them. As mentioned previously, he began 
upon his pedagogical career when a youth, and so well did he prove 
fitted for this noble work that he has devoted nearly his entire subse- 
quent time to it. After completing his course in the normal school he 
became principal of the schools at Fayette, Illinois, and following this 
he became principal at Rockbridge, Illinois, and at Ava, Illinois, in the 
latter place later assuming the superintendency of the schools. He has 
been here for the past twenty years, eleven years of which he was super- 
intendent of the city schools of Waterloo, and his services in that time 
have been of the most satisfactory character. He was appointed deputy 
clerk in 1902, which office he held for eight years, and at the close of his 
tenure of office in that capacity he was elected to his present important 
office as county superintendent. 

Mr. Jackson is an enthusiastic lodge man, being affiliated with the 
Masonic order, to whose high principles he is true ; and to the Independ- 
ent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Re- 
bekahs and the Royal Americans. In his political ideas he is Demo- 
cratic and since his earliest voting days has supported the men who are 
following in the footsteps of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland. 

Mr. Jackson was first married on Christmas Day, 1890, to Celia E. 
Bruner, of Greene county, Illinois, and their union was blessed with 
three children, namely : Harry E., William I., and Geneva E. The first 
wife died in 1901 and in 1908 he was married to Martha V. Holmes, of 
Waterloo, Illinois. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jackson hold high place in the confidence and regard 
of the community and are identified with its best interests. 

WILLIAM B. BLAKE. Within the limits of Franklin county probably 
no name is better known or more suggestive of enterprise and progress 
than that of William B. Blake, vice-president of the Benton State Bank, 
who is known as one of the wealthiest citizens of the county. Mr. Blake 
was born December 20. 1851, on a farm near Benton, Illinois, a son of 
Aaron and Clarissa (Tinsley) Blake. 



H?fc LIBRARY 

'* "if 

OERsiTir OF'ILUK? 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS ]Q73 

Aaron Blake was born in Virginia, where his parents spent their 
whole lives, and at an early day came to Illinois, where he purchased a 
tract of forty acres of land and settled down to agricultural pursuits. 
He traded in cattle and horses to such good purpose that he accumulated 
one thousand acres of land and eight hundred head of cattle, stock and 
horses, and was one of the wealthiest farmers in the state. In 1863, when 
only forty-five years of age, he was murdered by a highwayman. He 
was one of the most ardent Democrats in this community, being well 
known for his activities in the political field, and in every walk of life 
had the full confidence and esteem of all with whom he came in con- 
tact. Mr. Blake married Miss Clarissa Tinsley, who was born in Ten- 
nessee, daughter of William and Rebecca (Mulkey) Tinsley, natives of 
that state, who came to Illinois at an early day and settled on a farm in 
Franklin county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They 
were pioneer citizens of this section, coming here when nearly all of 
the country was still in its primitive state, and making the journey in a 
wagon drawn by oxen, which animals Mr. Tinsley used almost entirely 
in his agricultural work. 

William B. Blake was educated in the district schools in the vicinity 
of his father 's farm, and also attended the Benton public schools for one 
term, and was reared to the life of an agriculturist, which he followed 
until he was thirty -nine years of age. In 1890 he was elected to the office 
of sheriff of Franklin county, and acted in that capacity to the satis- 
faction of all concerned for four years, and on the expiration of his term 
of office began dealing in cattle, horses, mules, etc., buying and shipping 
all over this part of the state. At this time he also embarked in the 
money loaning business, and eventually became a director in the Benton 
State Bank, one of the most solid and substantial financial institutions in 
Franklin county, of which he was elected vice president in 1907. He 
has since had charge of the bank loans and also loans private funds, and 
while advancing the bank's interests has also made himself one of the 
wealthiest men in Franklin county. He owns an excellently cultivated 
tract of three hundred and fifty acres of farming land in the county, in 
addition to which he holds considerable town property. 

In 1883 Mr. Blake was married to Ann Snyder, daughter of Isaac 
Snyder, one of the earliest settlers of Franklin county, where his life 
was spent in agricultural pursuits. Mr. and Mrs. Blake have had no chil- 
dren. She belongs to the Christian church, and he is socially connected 
with the Elks. Mr. Blake, like his father, has been a stanch supporter 
of Democratic principles, and for six years served as master in chancery. 
Admitted to be one of the brightest business men of this part of Southern 
Illinois, Mr. Blake has found time to bring a part of his ability into play 
in forwarding the civic interests of Benton, and some of the most pro- 
gressive movements inaugurated here have been due to his farsightedness 
and public spirit. 

HON. JAMES W. CRAWFORD. The farming districts have given to 
Southern Illinois some of its ablest public men, who, born and reared 
among the agricultural people and knowing their needs and the needs 
of their communities, have been able to serve them to the best advan- 
tage and to forward measures calculated to develop the vast resources 
of this rich section of the state. In this connection may be mentioned 
James W. Crawford, ex-member of the State Legislature, whose rec- 
ord in that august body stamped him as a man of eminent ability and 
a citizen whose best energies were devoted to the welfare of his com- 
munity. Mr. Crawford was born in Franklin county, Illinois. December 
3, 1866, a son of John Wesley and Serena M. (Bonds) Crawford. 



1074 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

John A. Crawford, the grandfather of James W., was born in 1803, 
in the state of Alabama, and came to Illinois in 1827, at a time when 
this locality was but sparsely settled, becoming one of the leading agri- 
culturists of his day. His death occurred in 1893, when he had at- 
tained the advanced age of ninety years. His father, Thomas Crawford, 
was a soldier under Andrew Jackson and was in the battle of New Or- 
leans, where he had his right thumb shot off. John Wesley Crawford 
was born in Franklin county, in 1840, and served four years as a pri- 
vate in Company F, Sixty-third Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. 
He was wounded at the battle of Shiloh, spent four months in 
the hospital, and after his return to his regiment was honorably 
discharged in 1865. On his return from the war he purchased a 
farm in Franklin county, and there resided until his death, in 1900, 
a well known citizen and active Republican. In religious faith he 
was a Missionary Baptist. He married Serena M. Bonds, who was 
born in Missouri in 1841, a daughter of James Bonds, who, also 
born in Missouri, brought his family to Franklin county in 1863, and 
died in 1877, after many years spent in agricultural pursuits. 

James W. Crawford's early educational training was secured in 
the common schools of Benton, where he also attended high school, 
and he then spent two years in the seminary at DuQuoin. After 
spending some time as a school teacher in Texas he became a law stu- 
ent in the office of Judge W. F. Ford, of Texas, and in 1895 was ad- 
mitted to the bar, locating in Benton in 1898. Until 1905 Mr. Craw- 
ford was engaged in farming, but in that year entered the office of "W. 
S. Cantrell and began the practice of law, having charge of the real 
estate end of the business, and until August, 1911, continued in the 
office with Mr. Cantrell and W. H. Williams. Since that time he has 
represented the Federal Life Insurance Company, of Chicago, for 
Southern Illinois, and in this line has achieved a large measure of suc- 
cess. He owns two hundred and eighty-five acres of land two miles 
west of Benton, and there he makes his home. For a number of years 
Mr. Crawford has been a hard worker in the ranks of the Republi- 
can party, and is known throughout this section of the state as a cam- 
paign speaker, and in 1908 his services were recognized and rewarded 
by election to the State Legislature, after an uphill fight. During his 
term of office he served on the committees of corporations, drainage 
and waterways, primary elections, railroads, reform, statutory revi- 
sion and judiciary, and was chairman of the judicial apportionments. 
He was a leader among the new members of the Assembly, and the 
needs of his constituents were always uppermost in his mind. 

In 1890 Mr, Crawford was married to Miss Louisa M. Almond, 
daughter of Alvin M. Almond, a native of Mississippi, who removed to 
Arkansas and there died, and the following children have been born td 
this union: Clarence A., who is associated with the United Coal Min- 
ing Company at Buckner, Illinois; Vida, who is engaged in school 
teaching; Ora, Ollie Belle, Emmet, Lois and Fay, who are all attend- 
ing school; and Charles, the baby. Mr. Crawford is a member of the 
Missionary Baptist church, while his wife is affiliated with the Metho- 
dist church. He is a Chapter Mason, has passed through the chairs in 
the Odd Fellows, and belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the 
Woodmen and the Court of Honor. With an excellent record as a 
public official, known as a shrewd, capable business man, and as a 
farmer who is getting the best res\ilts from his excellent property, Mr. 
Crawford is one of the most influential residents of his community, 
and ranks high among Southern Illinois' representative men. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1075 

WALTER E. CLAYTON. During the ten years in which he has been 
engaged in mercantile pursuits in Johnston City, Walter E. Clayton has 
identified himself with a number of the leading business enterprises of 
this place, and has always been associated with movements of a progres- 
sive nature. While not a native born citizen of this place, he was brought 
to Williamson county by his parents in 1858, and here he has since 
claimed his home. Mr. Clayton was born in Robertson county, Tennes- 
see, January 18, 1856. His father, Lambert S. Clayton, who died in 
Johnston City in May, 1909, was born in that same locality, June 23, 
1822, and was a descendant of Revolutionary ancestry and a son of a 
North Carolinian farmer who died and was buried in Williamson county. 
Lambert S. Clayton married Miss Mary Ann Dorris, a daughter of 
Simpson Dorris, also from Tennessee, and she died in 1907, at the age of 
seventy -six years, having been the mother of the following children : Liz- 
zie, the wife of James Stevenson, of Johnston City ; Walter E. ; Harriet, 
who married James H. Williams, and died at Carterville, Illinois ; David, 
residing at West Frankfort ; Ella, the wife of C. C. Gamble, of Johnston 
City ; and Viola, who married Cyrus Lawrence, also of this city. 

Walter E. Clayton grew up three miles northeast of Johnston City, 
and received his education in the district schools. On reaching manhood 
he took up the vocation of his father, and subsequently engaged in buy- 
ing and shipping livestock to Chicago and St. Louis, following both oc- 
cupations until thirty-two years of age, when he became identified with 
railroad contract work. He accepted grading contracts and completed 
contracts on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad, the Illinois Central 
Railroad and the Frisco Railroad from Sapulpa, Oklahoma, to Denison, 
Texas, and then built a part of the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf, west 
from Oklahoma City, to Arapaho, at which point he concluded his sev- 
eral years of work at this strenuous business. Notwithstanding some of 
his contracts lay through the heart of the Creek Nation of Indians, yet 
one of the most dangerous tribes on the continent, nothing of an alarm- 
ing nature occurred as a result of his forced association with them. His 
last contract took him among the more recently barbarous tribes of the 
Arapahoes, the Kiowas and the Comanches, where he had ample oppor- 
tunity to observe the effects of the Government's civilizing influence 
upon the once terrors of the prairies. 

On returning to Illinois Mr. Clayton soon embarked in the mercantile 
business in Johnston City, purchasing the interest of one of the Lee 
brothers and subsequently taking over the interest of the other brother. 
He is one of the directors of the Johnston City State Bank and one of the 
original men to petition for its charter, and was one of the promoters of 
the Pioneer Building and Loan Association of this place. 

On September 14, 1876, Mr. Clayton was married to Miss Cora E. 
Harper, who came to this state from North Carolina in 1860, a daughter 
of John Harper. Mr. and Mrs. Clayton have had the following children : 
Leonard L., with the Stotlar-Herrin Lumber Company, at Johnston 
City; Mary A., the wife of J. 0. Sledge, of Denver, Colorado; J. Herman, 
city attorney of Johnston City; Miss Delia, residing in this city; Gracie, 
residing in Denver, Colorado ; Eula, a teacher in the schools of Johnston 
City ; and Miss Ruby, who is attending school. The Claytons are actively 
identified with the Missionary Baptist church, and in the past Mr. Clay- 
ton was one of the officials of the Johnston City congregation and served 
the Sabbath-schools as its superintendent. In his capacity as a fraternity 
man he has never allied himself with any secret body other than the 
Modern Woodmen of America. He has been active in the upbuilding and 
development of Johnston City, where his business associations are many 
and his friends legion. 



1076 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

EDWARD P. BECKER. The chief executive office of any community is a 
responsible one, and the man occupying it has resting upon his shoulders 
not only the numerous details of the management of a city, but also the 
accountability for its commercial and moral integrity. As he is, so is his 
community, for it soon reflects his character and manner of dealing with 
large problems, and unless he keeps a firm grip upon the reins of govern- 
ment, and forces his associates to act as he believes is right and just, his 
administration soon shows the effect of lax principles, and all suffer. For 
this reason, of late years, the people of the more advanced cities are 
choosing their mayors from among their sound business men, for they 
recognize the effect of example and action, and know that a man who 
has accomplished much in a commercial or industrial way is able to carry 
on the affairs of a complicated government. The present mayor of 
Grand Tower, who for a number of years has proven his worth as a 
sterling business man, is Edward P. Becker, who was born at Mendota, 
Illinois, November 8, 1871, a son of John and Sophia (Muench) Becker. 

John Becker was born in Germany, and when a young man came to 
America and established himself in the bakery business at Mendota, Illi- 
nois, and later, in 1873, took his family to St. Louis, where he followed 
the same line of business until his death. He and his wife, who was also 
a native of the Fatherland, had three children, of whom Edward was the 
youngest. He attended the public schools of St. Louis, after leaving 
which he entered a railroad office as a clerk, but eventually was em- 
ployed in a box factory, continuing in St. Louis until 1901. In that year 
he came to Grand Tower and purchased a factory of his own, and this 
has grown to be one of the largest industries of this section, the product 
being all kinds of fruit packages. This is the manufacturing and ship- 
ping point, the main office being in St. Louis, with branches at Chicago, 
Kansas City, Detroit and Oklahoma City as distributing stations. The 
Merchants Basket and Box Company, as the firm is known, is controlled 
by four stockholders, all of whom have an equal share of stock, and Mr. 
Becker acts as manager and treasurer, about one hundred and seventy 
people being employed in manufacturing the goods. Mr. Becker is also 
a stockholder in various other companies, and has associated himself 
with enterprises of an extensive nature, being very successful in all of 
his ventures. He is possessed of inherent business ability, and has been 
fortunate in being able to see and grasp the opportunities that have 
presented themselves. His activities in Grand Tower have done much to 
forward the interests of the place, and in 1910, when a mayoralty can- 
didate was being sought by the Republican party, Mr. Becker was chosen 
for the position and was elected by a handsome majority. He has been 
prominent in Masonry for some years, and is one of the most popular 
members of the local lodge. His administration has been marked with 
many needed reforms and in his executive capacity Mr. Becker has the 
full confidence of the people of the city. 

In 1902 Mayor Becker was united in marriage with Miss Margaret A. 
Wilcox, of St. Louis, and two children have been born to this union, 
namely : Kendall Edward and Ralph Waldo. 

BENJAMIN L. WASHBURN is a retired merchant of Carterville and 
vice president of the Carterville State & Savings Bank here. He was 
born in Smith county, Tennessee, December 1, 1855, a son of the late 
Hon. James M. Washburn, of whom more extended mention will be made 
in succeeding paragraphs. Benjamin L. Washburn grew up on a farm 
adjacent to Carterville, attended the public schools and Ewing College, 
entered the profession of teaching and made it a business in Williamson 
and Franklin counties for fifteen years. His last pedagogical work was 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1077 

as principal of the Carterville school and his identification with the same 
ended in 1885. In the spring of 1886 he engaged in mercantile business 
in Carterville, selling hardware and kindred commodities, as proprietor 
of the business, until 1904, when he disposed of his stock and has since 
been leisurely engaged with the affairs of his farm and stock. In a 
modest way he is developing speed horses and he has entered some of 
them as competitors for purses in the trotting races of the local circuit. 

During his earlier career and when an active merchant he entered 
into the spirit of material development in Carterville by the erection of 
some of its business houses. Nor did he confine his attention to this field, 
for he was one of those who promoted the Carterville State and Savings 
Bank, being chosen a director and its vice president. He has served on 
the city council and the board of education and is a Democrat, having 
been loyal to the tenets of the party since his earliest voting days. 

On September 13, 1882, Mr. Washburn was married in Marion to 
Miss Ella Spiller, daughter of Elijah Spiller, a native son of Jackson 
county, Illinois. Her paternal grandfather founded the family there as 
a settler from North Carolina, his arrival being in its pioneer era. 
Elijah Spiller married Parazette Roberts, and Mrs. Washburn and Ed. 
M. Spiller, of Marion, are the issue of the union. Mrs. Washburn, like 
her husband, was a teacher in the public schools. The Washburn house- 
hold comprises two children, Elizabeth M. and Prank H., the latter a 
dental student of the St. Louis University. Bessie, as all her friends 
know her, is a graduate of Armstrong's School of Music at Alton, Illinois, 
(class of 1910.) 

Mr. Washburn is identified with the Masonic fraternity and success- 
fully lives up to its fine ideals. He is also a Knight of Pythias. He is well 
known and influential and his activities and accomplishments place him 
among the successful men of his day and locality. He has not fallen to the 
spirit of commercialism, as is the modern tendency, but his whole aim is 
given rather to bettering conditions and improving citizenship. In the 
development of the coal interests here he was not only a moving and in- 
terested investor, but his father was a stockholder in the first coal mine 
opened and operated in the Carterville district. 

Mr. Washburn is the son of one of the men most prominent in the his- 
tory of Carterville, Judge James M. Washburn, born in 1826 and died in 
April, 1910. The "Souvenir History of Williamson County" gives the 
following interesting account of an interesting man, which is presented 
with only slight paraphrase. 

Judge Washburn came of hardy pioneer stock in Smith county, Mid- 
dle Tennessee. He was born fifty-one miles east of Nashville, September 
13, 1826. His parents were farmers of simple and frugal habits and pure 
lives, who bequeathed that priceless heritage, together with its usual ac- 
companiment of a vigorous constitution, to their children. His father, 
Lewis Washburn, died on the last hour of 1872, at the age of seventy- 
five years and six months, while his mother tarried a couple of years 
longer and died in May, 1874. Her maiden name was Nancy More. She 
reared ten children and died aged seventy-nine. James was the sixth 
child and was reared and educated in his native state. He taught school 
four or five years, farmed, sold goods, read law, was admitted to the 
bar and married, all before he was twenty-three years old. Prom this 
his life record can be read. 

He was an exceedingly ambitious and active man, full of life and 
energy, of great endurance, unwearied diligence and iron will. He al- 
ways had a dozen, more or less, different enterprises on hand, and so 
good was his management and so wise his plans that they rarely or 
never miscarried. He did not come to Marion till the autumn of 1857. 

Vol. n 83 



1078 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

He studied law with Hall & Washburn, an older brother, from '44 to 
'46, was admitted to the bar in 1845 and was elected county surveyor, but 
resigned to come to Marion. He lived in Marion for a decade (engaged 
in the practice of law and in mercantile business with Frank Sparks), 
and after spending a couple of years on a rented farm just out of town 
he bought the farm where Dr. Ferrill now 1 lives, near Carterville, and 
made it his home for twenty-two years. In 1862, while living at Marion, 
he was elected to the lower house at Springfield and served one term. 
In 1869-70 he was a member of the constitutional convention which 
framed our present state constitution. In the fall of 1870 he was elected 
to the state senate for the fiftieth senatorial district, which is composed 
of the counties of Jefferson, Franklin, Williamson, Jackson, Randolph 
and Monroe. By a new arrangement coming in with the new constitu- 
tion he drew a two years' term and after its expiration was assistant 
secretary of the senate for three years and during the session of 1875. 
In 1876 he was returned to the house and served another term of two 
years. " From 1872 to 1880 he was also master of chancery at Marion 
and from 1873 to 1893 was a member of the state board of agriculture, 
and as such was the Illinois commissioner for the Columbian Exposition 
at Chicago in the latter year. In 1884 he had been elected county judge 
for Williamson county and served four years. 

In 1874, while assistant secretary of the state, in company with his 
son, William Smith Washburn, William T. Davis and Charles H. Deni- 
son, he started the Egyptian Press newspaper and only severed his con- 
nection with it a short time before his demise. During that long period 
of eighteen years, with a multitude of other matters on hand financial, 
political, official, business and family, whether as co-partner, associate 
editor and manager or sole owner, manager and editor, he acquitted him- 
self creditably as the publisher of the principal Democratic organ of the 
county. In 1894 he rented it to Casey & Watson and in 1895 to Casey 
alone, when Casey bought a half interest and in 1902 he sold it to Casey 
entirely. 

Mr. Washbufn had the misfortune on September 15, 1897, to lose 
his house and all it contained' by fire and on the 13th of the November 
of the following year his wife died. His children being all grown, these 
misfortunes broke up his family relations and he spent four years in 
traveling. Coming back to the town of his boyhood he made the ac- 
quaintance of Miss Jennie Turner, to whom he was united in marriage 
in Smith county, November 3, 1901. She is a member of the Baptist 
church. His first wife was Sarah M. Smith, a native of Virginia. They 
were for nearly half a century active members of the Missionary Baptist 
church and both died in that communion. Their children were William 
Smith, of Chicago ; Dr. C. L. Washburn, a physician and farmer about 
five miles northwest of Marion ; and Benjamin L., residing in Carterville. 

The following tribute to Mr. Washburn is from the pen of Mark 
Erwin, the historian, and was written in 1876 : 

' ' James M. Washburn commenced the practice of law in this county 
over fifteen years ago, and has since been a Democratic politician of 
considerable prominence. During the war he was very bitter at times, 
but was elected to the state senate in 1876. He was admitted by all 
parties to be honest and upright in his daily work, and is now the leader 
of the party. ' ' 

The demise of this interesting and venerable citizen occurred in 1910, 
when his years numbered eighty-four, and took from the community 
one of its finest and most public-spirited characters. 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1079 

JAMES S. CLARK. There are turning points in every man 's life called 
opportunity. Taken advantage of they mean ultimate success. The 
career of James S. Clark is a striking illustration of the latter statement. 
Diligent and ever alert for his chance of advancement, he has progressed 
steadily until he is recognized today as one of the foremost business men 
of Sparta, which place has long represented his headquarters as engineer 
of ways and structures for the Illinois Southern Railway Company. 
Here he is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens, who honor him for 
his native ability and for his fair .and straightforward career, and at 
the present time, in 1911, he is filling his second term as mayor of the 
city. 

A native of Scott county, Indiana, James S. Clark was born on the 
8th of October, 1868, and he is a son of James M. and Adaline (Stodge- 
hill^ Clark, the former of whom was summoned to the life eternal in the 
year 1895 and the latter of whom is now living at Seymour, Indiana. 
The paternal grandfather of him to whom this sketch is dedicated im- 
migrated to Indiana in an early day, there becoming a pioneer settler in 
the wilds of Scott county, the major portion of his time and attention 
having been devoted to agricultural pursuits. James M. Clark was one 
of a family of three children, all of whom are now deceased. The only 
brother, Martin Clark, located in Peoria county, Illinois, where he passed 
the declining years of his life. James S. Clark's mother, whose maiden 
name was Adaline Stodgehill, is a daughter of Croxton Stodgehill, long 
a well known farmer in Kentucky. Since the death of her honored hus- 
band Mrs. Clark has resided at Seymour, Indiana, where she is deeply 
beloved by all who have come within the sphere of her gracious influence. 
Concerning the children born to Mr. and Mrs. James M. Clark : Laura is 
the wife of Robert Rose, of Columbus, Indiana; James S. is the imme- 
diate' subject of this review ; Lillie married Samuel Ross, of Jonesville, 
Indiana; and Annis is now Mrs. Archibald Downs, of Seymour, Indiana. 

To the common schools of his native place James S. Clark is indebted 
for his preliminary educational training. At the comparatively early 
age of sixteen years he was obliged to leave school in order to become 
an earning power in the home. Pour years later he became a section 
hand on the Pennsylvania Railroad, his headquarters being at Columbus, 
Indiana, where in fourteen months he was made foreman of Section No. 
18. Subsequently he became extra gang foreman on the Louisville di- 
vision of the road and he continued in the employ of the Pennsylvania 
company until 1898, when he resigned in order to accept service with 
the Southern Indiana Railroad Company. For five years he held the 
position of roadmaster for the latter railroad and on the 1st of April, 
1903, he entered the employ of the Illinois Southern Railroad Company 
in the same capacity, continuing as roadmaster for the ensuing six years, 
when he was made engineer of ways and structures on this road. He is 
a business man of unusual sagacity and ability, and inasmuch as his 
success in life is entirely the outcome of his own well directed endeavors 
it is the more gratifying to contemplate. 

Mr. Clark 's citizenship in Sparta commended him to the people as an 
admirable candidate for the office of alderman, and in 1905 he was 
chosen to that position without regard to party affiliations. Two years 
later he was urged to stand for mayor and was elected as such to suc- 
ceed Dr. Simpson. His first capable administration recommended him 
for a second term and he was chosen by the city again in April, 1911. 
While little of consequence beyond the routine business of the corpora- 
tion has come before him as yet the question of sewers and an adequate 
water supply for the city is assuming shape by agitation for early con- 



1080 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

sideration. In fraternal circles Mr. Clark is affiliated with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Felovvs and with the Knights of Pythias. 

In Jackson county, Indiana, on the 30th of October, 1895, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Clark to Miss Delia Mitchell, a native of 
the old Hoosier state of the Union and a daughter of Evan and Mary 
(Peacock) Mitchel, both of whom are now residing in the beautiful city 
of Indianapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are the parents of two children, 
whose names are here entered in respective order of birth, John Morris 
and Glenn Kenneth. Mrs. Clark is a member of the Presbytrian church, 
in the various departments of whose work she is a most zealous worker. 
They are popular factors in connection with the best social activities of 
the community and their home is recognized as one of most gracious 
hospitality. 

BENJAMIN DREWRY BRACT. The business career of Benjamin 
Drewry Bracy in Marion spans nearly a third of a century, and his life 
furnishes us with an example of success under difficulties that were well 
nigh overwhelming. The beginning was most unpromising, for he had 
nothing to help him, no family to stand behind him, not a cent for in- 
vestment and no professional training. He is now senior partner of one 
of the largest mercantile firms in Marion, is a large property owner, and 
has had a hand in the development of several of the most important en- 
terprises ever established in Marion, being director and stockholder in 
two of the banks and in various corporations. This long step from al- 
most poverty to wealth was not accomplished at one bound, or in several, 
but by slow degrees, his progress often being interrupted by some ad- 
verse conditions. But with the goal always before him, Mr. Bracy kept 
steadily on, without losing his courage or his bull-dog determination to 
win out in the end. The young men of his section just beginning life 
would do well to take a few pages from his experience and emulate his 
example. 

Benjamin Drewry Bracy was born in Robertson county, Tennessee, 
on the 22nd of February, 1857, coming to Illinois with his father when 
still a small child. His father, John G. Bracy, was a native of the same 
county as his son, the year of his birth being 1827. He came of farming 
stock, his father, Harrison Bracy, having lived on a fine place near 
Springfield, Tennessee. The mother was a Miss Williams. The children 
of this family were, Samuel, Thomas, Benjamin, John G., Harrison, and 
William (who lives near Stuttgart, Arkansas). Thomas and John G. 
came to Illinois and died here, leaving families who still reside in the 
state. John G. married Caroline Felts in Robertson county, Tennessee. 
She was the daughter of Drewry Felts, a farmer in that county. In 1865 
Mr. Bracy came to Illinois and settled near the George Cox and Harvil 
farms, not far from Marion, in Williamson county, and here young Ben- 
jamin grew up. In 1877 the mother died, and the father continued to 
cultivate his farm and educate his children until he saw them well on the 
road to success. His death occurred in 1895, at the age of sixty-eight. 

Benjamin D. Bracy received the major part of his education at .the 
"White" school, in the neighborhood where his family lived, later in- 
creasing the sum of his knowledge by attending the Marion schools for a 
season. When his mother passed away much of the charm of his home 
was taken from him, and he yearned for new scenes and a new and dif- 
ferent employment, that he might be able in some measure to forget his 
sorrow. The business of being a merchant had always interested him, 
the buying and selling of anything had always had its fascination, so he 
decided that was what he would make of himself. Taking his Saturday 
holiday, he left the harvest field and went into Carterville, where he 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1081 

applied for a clerkship. The bright faced young man readily found a 
position, and the next Monday morning the opening of the store doors 
found him ready to begin on his new job. His employers were Henry 
Price and Brother, and his work for them began in 1878. When he left 
this place he went to clerk for James T. Powell, and worked for him 
for some time, savings his earnings and denying himself even the most 
necessary things that he might get a start. Out of his earnings of fifteen 
dollars a month and his board he had presently saved enough to enter 
the business as a modest partner. 

After a year had passed in which he was a member of the firm of 
Powell and Bracy he was forced to leave Carterville because of his wife 's 
health, the loss of her only child having been a serious shock to her 
nervous system. They took up their residence in Marion, and Mr. Bracy 
had to begin all over again, almost at the foot of the ladder, taking a 
clerkship with the pioneer clothier and successful merchant, Manheim 
Canton, now a retired business man of the city. This was in 1882, and he 
remained with Mr. Canton for seven years, saving his salary and watch- 
ing the real estate market, learning in the small investments that were 
possible for him to make, how to judge the value of land and to prophesy 
the changes in the market, so that in after life he was able to become 
a successful operator in this field. Knowing that Mr. Bracy had accumu- 
lated some surplus, it was the intention of his employer to make him 
his successor, as he expected to soon retire, but before he could take the 
step an offer was presented to Mr. Bracy which he could not refuse. This 
was to enter the old firm of Spieldoch Brothers, by carrying the interest 
of one of the brothers. He accepted the offer and the firm of Spieldoch 
and Bracy, clothiers and furnishers came into existence. After five years 
of successful business the firm was dissolved and Mr. Bracy opened a 
house of his own on the' east side of the square. He subsequently lost 
his stock by fire, and unable to find another location where he could con- 
tinue his business he was forced to build. He erected a brick store on 
West Main street, on some property he had purchased several years pre- 
viously, part of which he was using as a lawn for his adjoining resi- 
dence. Here he re-established himself, and here he is doing business 
today as the senior member of the firm of Bracy and Powell, his partner 
being the grandson of his old Carterville employer and father-in-law. 
James T. Powell. 

Prom a modest and trivial beginning Mr. Bracy has come to be one 
of the largest property owners in Marion. His first investment in the 
city was a small two-room house, which he bought for a home. The pur- 
chase price was three hundred and eighty-five dollars, and he was able 
to pay the ' ' eighty -five ' ' only at the consummation of the deal, expecting 
to pay the remainder as he could save the money. Property values ad- 
vanced and he was able to sell this home and buy a larger place elsewhere. 
This he soon sold at an advance and in this way acquired some of the 
capital with which to enter business. 

His first venture in the building field was the erection of a double 
store of one story, with an ornamental front, one half of which is now 
being used by the postoffice. Later he purchased a lot adjoining the 
West Side Hotel and built a two-story brick store upon it, thus securing 
a frontage of one hundred and seven and a half feet on West Main street. 
From time to time he has acquired other business and residence property 
so that now his real estate interests form a large part of his estate. 

In the financial world of Marion Mr. Bracy has always been a promi- 
nent figure. His first project was the formation of the Marion State and 
Savings Bank, of which he is now a director. When the plan of organ- 
izing the Herrin State and Savings Bank was being discussed he was 



1082 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

called upon to give his assistance, and he is a member of the directorate 
of that prosperous institution. In two of the corporations which have 
done much 1 to build up the city and surrounding country, namely, the 
Allegheny Coal Company and the El Dorado, Marion and Southwestern 
Railway Company, he occupies an honored place on the board of di- 
rectors. He is also a director in the Marion Building and Loan Associa- 
tion. 

While ever concerned in the civic well-being of Marion, Mr. Bracy 
has never felt it incumbent on him to accept a place in its governmental 
system, prefering to show his loyalty to the Republican party by simply 
voting that ticket at the polls. In the fraternal world Mr. Bracy has 
long been a member of the Masonic order. In early life he joined Her- 
rins Prairie Lodge, No. 693, and is now a member in Fellowship Lodge at 
Marion, No. 89, of Egyptian Chapter No. 100, and of the Marion Court 
of Honor, No. 66. He also holds a life membership in the Elks. In re- 
ligious matters Mr. Bracy is a member of the Christian church. 

In 1880, at Carterville, he married his first wife. She was Sarah A. 
Powell, a daughter of James T. and Elizabeth (Perry) Powell, and was 
born in Williamson county. She was never very strong, and her death 
occurred in 1905, on the 12th of October. Two children were born of 
this marriage, Effie Dale, who died at Carterville as a little child, and 
Lloyd, a student of the Peacock Military Institute in San Antonio, Texas. 
On the 15th of December, 1907, Mr. Bracy married a second time, this 
wife being Mrs. Minnie Hall, a daughter of John Cline and a sister of 
Albert L. and J. M. Cline, who are prominent merchants of Marion and 
members of one of the pioneer families of Williamson county. Mrs. 
Cline, the mother of the family, was for a number of years engaged in 
the hotel business in Marion and is now a hale and energetic woman at 
the age of eighty-seven years. 

FRANCIS MARION WARD. One who takes prominent rank among the 
professional men of Perry county and who has attained no little popu- 
larity in the community in which he has carried on the active practice of 
his profession since 1879 is Dr. Francis Marion Ward. He is recognized 
in Tamaroa and vicinity as one of the solid and representative citizens of 
his district, and in adition to his reputation as a physician the Doctor has 
become dentified with the agricultural interests of Perry county and is a 
land owner of some position. He has also demonstrated to the farming 
community thereabouts that there is profit in the breeding of blooded 
horses and jacks, and has established a growing reputation for fine 
Percheron horses. 

Francis Marion Ward was born in Jefferson county, Illinois, on May 
10, 1856. He is the son of Daniel Ward, who came to Ilinois at the age 
of twelve, in company with his father, Owen Ward, the founder of the 
family in Southern Illinois. Owen Ward did some of the pioneer work 
of clearing and opening up a farm in Jefferson county, where he brought 
up a considerable family. His children were Daniel; John B., who fol- 
lowed the vocation of his father and passed away in Jefferson county; 
William, who performed a like service for Franklin county, finally dying 
there ; Simpson, who died in Arkansas ; Edward, who married an eastern 
lady, moved back to Ohio and died there; Susan became the wife of 
James H. Junkins and died in Jefferson county, where she was a noted 
mid-wife for years; Ruth married Jesse Grouch and died in Jefferson 
county; Mary died as the wife of Joe Kellogg; Sarah married James 
Chalfant and died in Jefferson county, Illinois. 

Daniel Ward was born in 1816, and he passed his life quietly enough 
until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he gave up the even tenor 



HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1083 

of the mechanic's life and enlisted in the Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry in 
1863, dying a year later while his company was marching from Du Vall's 
Bluff toward Pine Bluff, and was buried in the hostile atmosphere of 
middle Arkansas. In early life he married Susan Youngblood, a (laugh- 
ter of Isaiah Youngblood and a sister of the distinguished lawyer of 
Carbondale, Judge Youngblood, and of Judge E. D. Youngblood, of Mt. 
Vernon, Illinois. The family were residents of Perry county before 
the Civil war and were prominent in the history of the county. Mrs. 
Ward passed away here in 1878. The issue of their union were : Jane, 
who married Garrison Kirkpatrick, and is a resident of Jefferson county ; 
Mary A. became the wife of Sanford Ballard, and died in Perry county 
in 1906 ; Emma died in Jefferson county as Mrs. George Blazier ; Electa 
married William Isom and is a resident of Jefferson county, as is Ma- 
linda, who is the widow of William S. Strickland; Edward and Wil- 
liam L., twins, are both deceased; Dr. Francis M., of Tamaroa; and 
Charles T., who passed away in the county where the family first 
settled. 

Dr. Ward was a student in the district schools as a boy, and in his 
youth he attended the Southern Illinois Normal at Carbondale, following 
his graduating from which he taught for two years in the country and 
then began his preparations for his medical career. He first read with 
Dr. White, the country doctor of Fitzgerald, and later took lectures at 
the old Missouri Medical College, now a part of the Washington Univer- 
sity of St. Louis. He graduated from that' institution in 1879, imme- 
diately locating at Tamaroa, where he has remained continuously since 
then. Shortly after he became established there as a practicing phy- 
sician he recognized the great need of the town for a thoroughly modern 
and up-to-date drug store, and he eventually opened up a store of that 
kind, fully equipped with everything in the needs of the profession. 
Three years later, in 1896, he erected his brick store building and his 
present residence, which constitute the material contribution he has 
made toward the development of the city. As mentioned in a previous 
paragraph, Dr. Ward is an enthusiastic agriculturist and horse breeder, 
and his Percheron and standard breed are his pride. They are properly 
registered as the Wilkes-Electioneer and Happy Medium strains, and his 
efforts in this line are a modest contribution to the gradual raising of the 
standard of horse flesh in the state. Dr. Ward is vice president of the 
First National Bank of Tamaroa, and is one of the stockholders of the 
Central National Bank of St. Louis, which would indicate that he is not 
too absorbed with other interests to give some attention to the financial 
institutions of his district. 

On August 8, 1878, Dr. Ward married Miss Desdemona A. Lovelady, 
a daughter of Thomas A. Lovelady, who came to Illinois from Tennessee 
as a young man, here marrying Cordelia, a daughter of Frederick Wil- 
liams. Dr. Lovelady practiced medicine in Perry county for several 
years and passed away here in January, 1909, at the age of seventy- 
eight years. The children of their union who grew to maturity were 
Haseltine, who married Edward I. Ward, a brother of Dr. Ward ; Mrs. 
Desdemona Ward ; Frederick, who died in California ; Oscar M., a resi- 
dent of that state; Dr. Otis E., of Red Rock, Oklahoma; Lula, who mar- 
ried John Dunbar and resides in Montana; and Ethel B., the wife of 
Marten Alvey, of Los Angeles, California, 

The children of Dr. and Mrs. Ward are Parley G., a Perry county 
farmer, married to Lottie Kammayer; Miss Marian K., a nurse in the 
government hospital at Tomah, Wisconsin; Leland L., who has been a 
stenographer for three years and is now attending the Stenographic 



1084 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 

School of Chicago ; and Frances A., a student in Forest Park University, 
St. Louis. 

Dr. Ward is a Master Mason and is a member of the Christian church. 
He is a Republican in his political adherence, although not active in a 
political way other than as a lay workman of the party. 

HOMER COLLIER. An active member of the well-known firm of Grace, 
Collier & Belt, general insurance agents at Harrisburg, Homer Collier 
is numbered among the substantial business men of the city, and by his 
excellent character and straightforward business methods has fully es- 
tablished himself in the esteem and confidence of his associates and 
neighbors. A son of the late "William Collier, he was born March 10, 
1870, in Washington county, Indiana, and grew to manhood in his native 
state. 

William Collier, who died while yet in manhood's prime, in 1875, was 
for several years engaged in mercantile business at Campbellsburg, Har- 
rison county, Indiana, where he had a good patronage. He married Re- 
becca Hudson, a native of Indiana, and she is now living in Harrisburg, 
Illinois. But five years old when his father died, Homer Collier was 
brought up in Corydon, the county seat of Harrison county and which 
was the capital of the state until 1824, when the seat of government was 
removed to Indianapolis. The old stone building then used at Corydon 
as the capitol is the present court house, and Mr. Collier can remember 
the old treasury building of brick. A bronze tablet standing near Mr. 
Collier's old home in that city marks the site, under an old elm tree, on 
which the famous Indian treaty was made. The tree is in an excellent 
state of preservation, its branches extending one hundred and twenty 
feet in either direction. In 1885 Homer Collier came to Harrisburg, Illi- 
nois, with his widowed mother, who became housekeeper 'for her brother, 
Dr. N. S. Hudson, whose wife died in that year. After two years in high 
school Homer Collier entered McKendree College, in Lebanon, Illinois, 
in which he continued his studies until reaching the senior year. Leav- 
ing college, Mr. Collier, in partnership with his brother, W. C. Collier, 
was for eight years engaged in the grocery business, carrying on a pros- 
perous trade. Selling out his interest in the firm, he removed to Ed- 
wards county, and for four years was engaged in the drug trade at 
West Salem. Returning then to Harrisburg, he embarked in the insur- 
ance business with B. D. Grace, under the firm name of Grace & Collier, 
and has since devoted his time and energies to this line of business. 
The firm is one of the leading insurance agencies of the county, repre- 
senting twelve fire insurance companies and one accident company. 

Mr. Collier married, September 26, 1897, May Grace, a sister of his 
partner and a daughter of the late D. B. Grace, a former carding ma- 
chine operator, and they have one child, Grace Collier. 



[MAN 



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