USA > Illinois > A history of southern Illinois; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 67
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Milton S. Colp was one of the two children of John and Sarah (Gray) Colp, his brother, also named John, serving with distinetion during the Civil war and later entering the medical profession. Milton Colp came to Illinois from Tennessee with his stepfather and mother, as a mere child, having been born in 1820, and received a meager education. When the Civil war broke ont he entered the Union service and served valiantly as a defender of his flag, partieipating in a number of fierce engage- ments but eseaping eapture or wounds. He owned for a time the old Laban Carter farm, on which, many years after he sold it, coal was dis- covered and in honor of which recent owner the city of Carterville took its name. IIe met his death by assassination, September 17, 1874, enroute home from DeSoto with a load of wheat, his widow surviving until 1899. They had the following children: Mary Ann, deceased, who was the wife of Thomas Lowry; William, whose home is in Oklahoma; Josiah, who died at Delhart, Texas, leaving a family: Sarah. the widow of Ed Elliott, of Murphysboro; Emily, widow of Thomas Bush; Miles, who was accidentally killed while engaged in logging near Ava, Illinois; John; Melissa, who married IIenry Ritcock and died in Texas; Naney, who died in young womanhood ; Sidney, who is married and resides at Effingham ; Louisa, who married Lon Sweet, both of whom are deceased ; and Charles, who lives at Bush, Illinois.
John Colp was given only the advantages to be secured from a coun- try school education, and when he had attained his majority left the old
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homestead to establish a home of his own. He continued to engage in farming, however, and when he married located on a property at Dog- wood Ridge, Williamson county, where he spent two years. During the two years that followed he managed the old Colp farm, and in 1876 he came to the Carterville community and purchased a farm one and one- half miles from the city, where he has since maintained his home and reared his family. In this locality Mr. Colp was fortunate, because it threw him into association with his friend, Mr. Hezekiah F. Arnold, in the machinery business. Mr. Colp was thoroughly familiar with the threshing business, as just after the elose of the Civil war he had assisted in threshing wheat on the present site of Murphysboro, with a horse- power machine, and with the vast and successful experience of Mr. Ar- nold to aid, the firm started into the work of selling all kinds of heavy machinery with umeh promise of a profitable carcer. Entering the field of grain-threshing, they extended their force of machines until ten outfits, owned exclusively by them, were hulling the golden kernel for market in Southern Illinois, and a number of outfits were managed by others but owned partly by Colp & Arnold. Their machinery sales extended over into Missouri, as did their threshing interests, and for some years they did considerable business in Seott and Stoddard counties, that state. They also entered the saw-mill business and cut much lumber out of the vast forests which abounded there a score of years back. In the early nineties they decided to curtail their business, and gradually withdrew from the field as threshers and salesmen and by 1894 they had largely closed up their former affairs and that year erected the Carterville flouring mill, a hundred-barrel mill, which is now their chief interest, together with handling and dealing in grain.
For a time Mr. Colp was one of the active dealers in and developers of coal lands in Williamson county. Associated with S. T. Bush, he put down the first shaft of the Colp Coal Company, four miles north of Carterville. Selling this proposition, they leased some twelve thousand acres of coal lands in the county and opened a mine at Lake Creek, under the name of the Lake Creek Coal Company, and when they had sold this took up leases under the original charter, "The Colp Coal Com- pany," and purchased lands as well near Marion, developing still another property and selling it. At this time Mr. Colp became interested in the building of a railroad into the new coal field, and helped to organize and partly construct the Eldorado, Marion & Southwestern Railroad, and was for a time the president of the company. When it became evident that the golden days of mining coal in this section were rapidly passing. Mr. Colp slackened his pace as a speculator and as rapidly as possible entered upon an era of entreneliment, until now his mill and his farm constitute his live, active holdings. Progressive in all things, Mr. Colp was the first to introduce the self-guide traetion engine in Williamson county, the first to use the automatic straw-staeker and the first to take up with and introduce the modern wind-stacker, indicating his attitude toward the implements which saved labor and helped popularize new in- ventions.
On December 19, 1873, Mr. Colp was married to Miss Dora North. daughter of George and Fredonia North. early residents of Williamson county, where Mrs. Colp was born. The children born to this union are as follows: Mary. the wife of John A. Milford, of Olive Branch. Illinois: Monroe D., a merchant at Pittsburg, Illinois: Paul, who is as- sociated with his brother at that place: Leonard, a well-known attorney of Marion ; Loran R., who is in the service of the Western Electric Com- pany, at Chicago; Stella, who died in infancy ; Miss Effie, of Carterville ; and Harrison and Logan, who are connected with the Swift Packing Vol III-29
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Company, at Chicago, and the latter of whom finished his education at Delafield, Wisconsin.
FRANK BOUR, for many years the owner and proprietor of a thriving farm in the vicinity of Mounds, is numbered among the settlers of the Civil war period, having come to Pulaski county with his parents in 1864. Since the death of his father in September, 1875, he has been the head of the house, eventually succeeding to the ownership of the farm, and there he has lived, quietly and industrionsly, and has prospered in a measure coincident with his industry. There he has reared a family of six ehildren, and through his sterling qualities as a dependable, straight- forward man, has come to be recognized in his community as one of the really substantial men of the district.
Born December 14, 1858, in Ohio, Frank Bour is the son of John Bour, born in Wurtemberg-Schwabenland, Germany, in 1833. In Cin- cinnati he married Carolina Moser, a girl of German extraction, and after some little time in that eity he concluded to seek a new home in the farming district of Illinois. Coming down the Ohio river with his family, he disembarked at Mound City, then a point of importance as the base of the naval operations of the interior naval forces of the United States. John Bour had just been discharged from Company B of the Eighty- eighth Ohio Infantry, in which he had enlisted in Cincinnati some time previous. He, with his company, did guard duty at Camp Chase for some time and later the regiment was ordered to the front, Tennessee being the field of their activities. He participated in the duties of his command until he was discharged in 1864, and he left the army in a permanently disabled condition. He suffered constantly for the re- mainder of his life as a result of rheumatic afflictions contracted while in service, and the last years of his life he was practically a helpless in- valid. He settled on what is now termed the Bour Farm, and there he 1875, he had so far improved the property, which he found in a state of extreme wildness, that his family were able to continue with the cultiva- spent the remainder of his life. When he passed away in September, tion of the farm, and a maintenance as a result of their labors was prac- tically assured. He left besides his widow five sons and a daughter. They were Frank. Joseph, Charles, Bremen and Edward W., the latter of whom died in the same year as his father, as a result of a scourge of typhoid fever which attacked the family. The daughter, Adina, is the wife of W. Oliver Wallace, of Pulaski, Illinois. The eldest son, Frank, was but seventeen years of age when he virtually became the head of the house on the death of his father, and since that time his hand has been on the throttle. The substantial and attractive improvements which have materialized since he took charge of the homestead are all indicative of the solid character of the man and of his thrifty, progressive nature. Ilis farm of two hundred acres of fertile and productive land marks one of the garden spots of his locality.
In 1884, the exact date being April 23 of that year, Frank Bour mar- ried Miss Sallie Palmer, daughter of Pleasant Palmer, a well known farmer of Villa Ridge community. He was a native of Hardin county, Tennessee, and settled in Pulaski county in middle life. Mr. Palmer's first wife was Mahala Biggerstaff, who bore him three children. They are Mary J., the wife of William Lacky, of Pulaski county; Frances, who married John Burkstaller and resides at Roswell, New Mexico; and Harriet. the wife of David Dugan, of Charleston, Mississippi. For his second wife, Mr. Palmer ehose Harriet E. Lacky, a daughter of Cyrus Lacky, and a granddaughter of Thomas Laeky, the founder of this numerous family in Pulaski county, and a settler of 1814 from North
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Carolina. Mrs. Palmer still lives, and makes her home with her only child, Mrs. Frank Bour, Mr. Palmer having passed away November 18, 1893, at the age of seventy-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Bour are the par- ents of Minnie, Frank, Robert, Henry, Clyde and Claud, the latter two being twins.
ALBERT M. ROSE, judge of the Fourth judicial district of Illinois, was born in Edwards county, Illinois, on September 22, 1862. He is the son of Dreaury and Caroline (Aekison) Rose, the former a native of Grayson county, Kentucky, where he was born in 1828. He died in 1895, November 7th, at his home in Edwards county, Ilinois, having settled there in 1854. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that business all his life. A Democrat in his political affiliations, he was always en- thusiastic in his support of the party, and he has in his time held many of the publie offices of his township and county. The mother survived him until 1905, when she passed away at the family home in Edwards county. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church during their lifetime and were honest and diligent workers in the church. The father of Dreaury Rose was a native of the state of Kentucky, but who settled in Clay eonnty in later life and became well known and pros- perous in that county. F. Ackison, the maternal grandfather of Albert Rose, was a native of the Keystone state. He came to Illinois early in life, and was one of the pioneer farmers of Southern Illinois, where he attained a fair degree of sneeess in his business. He died in Clay county at an advanced age.
Mr. Rose was edneated in the common and high sehools of his home town and later attended Vincennes University, at Vineennes, Indiana, graduating in 1888 from that institution of learning.
Immediately upon his graduation he began to teach school, in the summer seasons spending his vacations in the study of law, in which he was ambitious to rise, and which efforts his later career have fully and amply justified. Ile studied under the tutelage of Barnes & Ramsey, of Louisville, Illinois, and his labors were so well expended and his instrue- tion of so high an order that in 1890 he was admitted to the bar. He began the practice of his profession in 1891, his only resources being his health, brains, education and his dominant will to succeed, while his liabilities were fairly represented by a debt of one hundred dollars incurred in opening an office. He first entered a partnership with John A. Barnes, this alliance continuing until 1896; his next partner was John R. Bonnie and this arrangement endured for two years, when he entered a partnership with W. H. Dillman. Some time later he severed his connection with Mr. Dillman and entered a partnership with Mr. I. D. MeCullum, which continued until the election of Mr. Rose to the office of cireuit judge of the Fourth judicial distriet, in November, 1906, of which important office he is still the incumbent. Judge Rose has always been an enthusiastic Democrat and a supporter of any ticket that party puts in the field. He is a Mason and a Red Man, and with his family is a member of the Christian church. In addition to his legal duties. Judge Rose is the owner of a fine farm in Clay county, which is in every way a credit to the progressiveness and good judgment of the man from the point of view of its prosperity and its woll kept ap- pearanee.
On December 28, 1892, Judge Rose was united in marriage with Miss Inlua Branson, daughter of James M. Branson, M. D., who was promi- nent for years in medical circles in Wayne county. Illinois, where he enjoyed a goodly measure of prosperity and popularity. He died in 1898, at his home in Wayne city. One son has been born to the union of
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Judge and Mrs. Rose,-Robley, born July 13, 1894, now a student in the Louisville high school.
JOHN B. MCGUYER, one of the most successful and highly esteemed citizens of Akin, prominent in banking and business circles and a self- made man, has proven by a long and honorable career that it is not neces- sary for a youth to have financial advantages or the help of influential friends to give him his start in the commercial or financial world, but that industry, integrity and perseverance, when directed along the right channels, will invariably bring success. Hle was born in Kentucky, De- cember 3, 1863, and is a son of William D. and Kelita (Sharp) MeGuyer.
William MeGuyer, grandfather of John B., was a farmer in Bedford county, Tennessee, where he spent his life, and from whence William D. McGuyer came to Illinois in 1868 and settled on a farm in Hamilton county. He followed farming throughout his life, won success in his undertakings, and at the time of his death, in 1907, left a good property, on which his widow, also a native of Bedford county, Tennessee, and a faithful member of the Baptist church, now resides.
Jolin B. McGuyer received his education in the common schools of Hamilton county, and it was the intention of his father to rear him to agricultural pursuits. The son, however, had ambitions to enter the mercantile field, and in 1890 secured a position in the store of H. C. Vise, with whom he remained fourteen years. At the end of this time, through careful economy and industry, he had accumulated enough means to enter the business field on his own aecount, and subsequently bought the stock and fixtures of W. S. Mouse, successfully conducting that estab- lishment until 1908, at which time he sold out to the Akin Mercantile Company. During the next year he went to West Franklin and engaged in a clothing business, but in 1910 moved to Macedonia, where he is interested in the same line with Mr. Vise. In June, 1910, Mr. MeGuyer assisted in establishing the Farmers Exchange Bank of Akin, of which he was elected cashier and in which he is a heavy stockholder. This insti- tution, one of the substantial and reliable banks of this section of the state, was capitalized at ten thousand dollars, and has average annual deposits of thirty-five thousand dollars. He also holds stoek in the Bank of Macedonia, and is the proprietor of a flourishing hardware business at Akin. In his fraternal affiliations he is a prominent Mason, having served as master of Royal Lodge, No. 807, A. F. & A. M., at Macedonia, and also belongs to H. W. Hubbard Chapter, No. 160, R. A. M., at Mount Vernon. Mr. McGuyer's belief in the future of this section of the state has been shown by his investment in various pieces of valuable real estate, and he is the owner of an excellent farming property in Hamilton county. In his fraternal and social connections, as well as in business, he has surrounded himself with numerous acquaintances throughout the city and the county, and in honest opinion of so honorable a man to the community it can be stated, without the slightest fear of contradiction, that his loss would be a severe blow to the business in- terests of the city and to his scores of friends.
PRESLEY G. BRADBURY. Many people who believe that a thorough reform in our governmental and public affairs is necessary agree with Shakespeare, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." They may not be quite so blood-thirsty as this, but they have an idea that the world might be better off without them. If such people could know the real true lawyers among whom is found Presley G. Bradbury, they might at least censure such opinions, for he believes and impresses all who know him as a lawyer that justice is something more than a name. Mr. Brad-
RBradbury
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bury shows by his work and deeds that no real lawyer has to descend to the trickery and wiliness that is sometimes associated with the men of his profession, especially if they deal with criminal cases. That a success- ful practice can be built up by honest means he has proved overwhelm- ingly, for he is one of the best known lawyers in the state. But he possesses a brilliant mind, the ability to draw deductions and to reason things out logically, the power of presenting a case simply and force- fully, and a personality that dominates any court room. Mr. Brad- bury, therefore, is a man who has the high regard of all who have come in contact with him, and in his own county is loved and venerated not only in his publie capacity but as a man among men.
Presley G. Bradbury was born in Crawford county, Illinois, on the 6th of October. 1847. He was the son of John S. Bradbury, who was born in North Carolina on the 17th of August, 1822. His parents were farmers and their little place was near Rolla, North Carolina. Here John Bradbury spent the first six years of his life, and then his parents, John and Mary Bradbury, decided to go west. They had a small cart with one horse, and piling this with the pots and pans and feather beds, the family set out, ignorant of what dangers they would encounter on the way. indeed not even knowing their destination, only knowing that somewhere in the great prairie country to the westward they were going to find a place where the land cost nothing and where with industry they could bring up their family of six children. The mother had the seat of honor on the cart but the rest of the family walked. The short fat legs of little John, who was the youngest, found the way a weary one, but the old horse did not travel very rapidly, and occasionally John would have a short ride alongside his mother. The little fellow preferred to trudge along with his hand in his father's, for was he not almost a man. This was in 1828, and they finally came to the end of their journey and found a resting place near West York, in the northwestern part of Crawford county. Here the father spent the rest of his days, following the busy life of a pioneer farmer. Hle did not live very long after coming to Illinois, however.
John Bradbury followed his father's example and became a farmer. He became a man of great prominence in the community, and at the time of his death was about the oldest resident in the township of Hutsonville. He was affectionately known all over the county as "Unele" John Bradbury, and to quote another's words, "Of him it can be truly said that never during his long and active life did he eause a widow to mourn or an orphan's tear to fall." At the time of his death he was worth about $25,000. Hle died in 1910, on the 1st of April. John Bradbury was twice married, his first wife being Jemima Buckner, who died after seven years of married life, leaving three chil- dren: Catherine, who is now the wife of Harper Reynolds; Presley G .; and James L., a merchant at Graysville, Illinois. Ilis second mar- riage was to Naney Inekaby, who died in 1906. By this second mar- riage Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury became the parents of ten children, Andrew; John; George; Aurora: Willis: Albert, who is deceased ; Alice ; Nannie ; and Laura and Milam, both of whom are dead.
The early life of Presley G. Bradbury was spent on the farm near West York where he was born. His introduction to the school room eame to him in the school at York, and he completed the course offered in the common schools of his day. Ile then began teaching, and for seven years followed this profession. We now think of a boy with his education as a mere infant, but he proved perfectly well able to handle his pupils. He was not content with the amount of knowledge he had, and so while he was teaching he attended several terms at the
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state normal schools at Bloomington and Carbondale. In this way he acquired a good education, and was made county superintendent of schools in 1873. Meanwhile, after his day's work in the school room was over, he had been spending the rest of the time poring over law books. He had the great advantage of having as a preceptor Judge Robb, who was considered one of the ablest lawyers in the state. He was admitted to the bar in 1876, and resigned his position as superin- tendent of schools to take that of state's attorney. He began to prac- tice as a partner of Judge Robb's, and this partnership lasted until the death of Judge Robb in 1890, on the 10th of February. This partner- ship was of great benefit to Mr. Bradbury, for the older practioner not only had had a wide experience, but he had a splendid charaeter, and had much to do with forming those high ideals for which Mr. Bradbury is well known. Mr. Bradbury held the office of state's at- torney for two consecutive terms. After the death of Judge Robb he took F. W. Lewis, who had been a student in his office, into partner- ship. This association lasted for two years, until Mr. Lewis was elected state's attorney. In the spring of 1893 Mr. Bradbury formed a part- nership with Joseph A. MeHatton, and this connection continued until 1908, when it was dissolved by mutual consent. Until 1909 Mr. Brad- bury practiced alone, and then he formed a partnership with Duane Gaines that has lasted up to the present time. For four years Mr. Bradbury served as master in chancery under Judge W. C. Jones.
Mr. Bradbury is an enthusiastic politician and a strong supporter of the Democratic party. He has frequently made political speeches, but he does not eare for the prizes to be found in the political ring, preferring to do the work and let others have the plums. In his re- ligious affiliations he is a Presbyterian and has been an elder in the church for a number of years. He is an active member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which order he has been a member since 1871, and he is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias in the Robinson lodge.
Mr. Bradbury was married on the 31st of December, 1879, to Jennie Kelly, of Sullivan, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury have five chil- dren, the eldest of whom, John Landis, is dead. The others are: Frances C., who was married in September, 1910, to A. J. Goff of Robinson, Illinois ; Palmer G., who is living at home; William E., who has recently graduated from the high school at Robinson; and James Stanley, as yet in the public school.
JOEL DUNN. Undoubtedly there has been no more important agency in the development of any country than the great work done through civil engineering, and the men who have possessed the judgment and foresight, eombined with the necessary technical knowledge, have accomp- lished results that have changed the life and commerce of not only lo- ealities but of nations. No reference need be made in this connection to the lately completed Roosevelt Dam, nor of the present stupendous operations at Panama, for mueh nearer home changes have been wrought that have proved of the utmost importance to present and future resi- dents of Illinois, and those who have brought them about still live and plan worthily for further endeavor. Joel Dunn, who is acknowledged to have done very much efficient work, in the way of drainage engineering. is one of the competent, experienced and trusted men of his profession. Ile was born January 20, 1846, near Lovington, in Moultrie county, Illi- nois, and is a son of Thomas and Catherine ( Freeman) Dunn.
Thomas Dunn was born in 1813 at Clarksville, Indiana, of Kentucky people, although on the maternal side the ancestry was directly of Hol-
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land. On account of the early death of his father, Thomas Dunn was reared by his grandfather and in 1833 he came to Moultrie county, Illi- nois, where he embarked in the stoek business and engaged in farming. In 1859 he moved to Bement, Piatt county, entering then into the general mercantile business, which he continued to follow until he retired, his death occurring ten years afterward, in 1878. He was a Democrat in poli- ties and as an intelligent man was always more or less interested in public matters. He was an elder in the Campbellite (Christian) church. In 1843 he married Catherine Freeman, of Moultrie county, who died in May, 1907, at the age of eighty-three years. Of their family of ten children there are three survivors: Joel; Mrs. Betty Kelly, residing at Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Mrs. James Hicks, residing at Monticello, Illinois.
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