USA > Illinois > A history of southern Illinois; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 7
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In 1902 Judge Wilson abandoned milling and devoted his attention to the office of justice of the peace, to which he had been elected. Ere this the town had spread over the country ahnost like a prairie fire and the free and open condition of it gave the local court much business from the unlawful element that gathers in numbers about a new and wide- awake place. He was justice of the peace for three years, served also as one of the first aldermen, following incorporation, and was then elected mayor. During his first term the electrie line was built in here and a new impetus given to an enthusiastic and strenuous populace.
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As real estate began to boom Judge Wilson became a dealer in it, built a few houses as a speeulator and as a developer and eventually erected his own home, one of the best residences in Herrin, the same occupying spa- cious grounds in the north end of the city. In 1908 he was elected as a candidate of the Labor party, to the police magistracy, although he is a Republican upon state and national issues.
Judge Wilson came into Williamson county from near Akin, IHli- nois, and he was born in Benton, this state, near the site of the Franklin county jail. His birth occurred December 23, 1858, and his father was Larkin Wilson, who came to Illinois from near Princeton, Gibson county, Indiana. Larkin Wilson was born in Indiana, was a farmer's son and married Louisa Martin, a daughter of Bailey Martin, one of the widely known citizens of Franklin county, Illinois. Mr. Martin was a farmer and stoekman and formerly resided in Indiana. Larkin Wilson was a tanner both before and following his advent in Hlinois, having been en- gaged in that business at Owensville, Indiana, and at Benton, Ilinois. Abandoning that occupation. he moved to a farm and was identified with agricultural pursuits during the residue of his life. He was a stalwart Republican and was a supporter of church effort, although not a member of any religions denomination. Ile passed away in 1899 and his chil- dren were: William, who died unmarried ; JJudge Henry, of this review ; Mary, who passed away in childhood ; John O., a resident of Big Lake, Washington ; Charles, who maintains his home at Ilaniford, Ilinois : Alice is Mrs. George Williamson, of Benton, Ilinois.
The paternal grandfather of Judge Wilson died in Gibson county, Indiana. Ilis children were : John, who reared a family in Gibson county, Indiana : Mary, who became the wife of Dr. Henry Wilson and died in Franklin county, Illinois; and Larkin, father of the subject of this sketch.
Henry Wilson, of this notice, was educated in the public schools of Franklin county and for a time he also attended school in Perry county, Illinois. As a farmer he was modestly identified with public matters in Eastern township, where he resided, having been township collector and assessor on different occasions. He left the farm to engage in the manu- facture of lumber at Herrin and with the passage of time other matters developed to change the whole course of his life.
In November, 1881, Judge Wilson was married, in Franklin county, to Miss Naney E. Akin, a daughter of Robert Akin, a leading member of the Scotch settlers who ocenpied a large portion of the country about Ben- ton as refugees from the religions oppression of their native land. The Akins and MeClains comprise a large citizenship of Benton community and are noted for their allegiance to church work and as members of the Missionary Baptist faith. These clans perpetuate the memory of their deliverance by occasional convocations where the Scotch dress of the olden time is brought out and the youth of today are made to feel the sacred ness of the ties that once bound their forefathers to their native land The Akin family, now of vast numbers in linois, is wont to holdl fam- ily gatherings at Benton, and this practice has come to be somewhat his torie, in view of the programs, the Scotch dress and the sentiment ut- tered upon the occasion for their forced exile from the hills and vales of the highlands.
Robert Akin married Lueretia Atchison, and their children were : James, a farmer near Miami, Oklahoma: Charles, special pension ev- aminer in the United States service at Indianapolis, Indiana; land is the wife of Mandrake Summers, a farmer of Franklin county, Ilinois : Miss Malinda is a resident of Franklin county: Nancy E. is the wife of Judge Wilson, as already set forth; Eveline married Whit.
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field Conover, of Franklin county; Adeline is the widow of Samuel Shepherd, formerly of Franklin county ; Robert is a farmer in Franklin county ; Hiram is ex-county superintendent of Franklin county, where he resides ; Milton is a resident of Thompsonville, Illinois; and Hannah died as Mrs. William Moore.
The children of Judge and Mrs. Wilson are: Ethel B., of Big Sandy, Montana, who, with a girl friend, braved the environment of the fron- tier, took a claim and is gaining title to a home in that locality ; Charles is manager of the W. P. Rend store at Rend City, where he is likewise postmaster ; and James A. is a student in the engineering department of the University of Illinois.
In his fraternal connections Judge Wilson is a valned and appreci- ative member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Modern Brotherhood of America. His family are devont members of the Missionary Baptist church, in the different departments of whose work they are active fae- tors. Judge Wilson is genial in his associations, honorable and straight- forward in his business dealings and a man of mark in all the relations of life. Ile is a valued citizen and an efficient public servitor.
DR. JAMES JOSEPH MORONY is one of the best known and liked medi- cal men in Clinton eonnty, Illinois. His Irish ancestry has bequeathed to him the tender heart and sympathetic nature of the sons of Erin, and these qualities have rendered him very popular throughout the distriet.
James J. Morony was born at Deeatnr, Illinois, on the 6th of Sep- tember, 1865. He was the son of John Morony, who first saw the light of day in far-famed old County Clare, in Ireland, in 1819. John Mo- rony studied engineering in Ireland, and then took up railroad eontraet- ing. following this occupation throughout his aetive life. In 1848 he came to America and located at Decatur, Illinois. In his work here as a railroad contractor he built part of the Illinois Central and Wabash rail- roads. In 1853 he was married in St. Louis to Helen Godfrey. At that time she was living in St. Louis, but, like her husband, she hailed from the Emerald Isle. Four of the children born to them grew to matur- ity : Hugh C., a fireman in the St. Louis fire department ; Andrew C., an attorney in St. Louis; Joseph J. : and Patrick, who died in 1904, having reached the position of division freight agent for the Iron Mountain Railroad. Until within a few years of his death Mr. Morony followed a very active life, but as his health failed he retired and in 1898 he died at St. Louis. The death of his wife had occurred several years before, in 1893, at St. Louis. In polities Mr. Morony was a Republican, and the religious affiliations of both his wife and himself were with the Roman Catholic church.
Since the profession of his father forced him to often change his place of residence, the early life of the son was spent in a number of dif- ferent places, among them being, Decatur, La Place, Areola and St. Lonis. His education was obtained in the public schools of the above places. After leaving school he went to work in the railroad offices. Having no experience, he began at the very bottom and worked up until finally he reached the position of traveling anditor for the Terminal Railroad Association. Until 1892 he followed railroading and then, thinking that his taste for medicine was stronger than that for the railroad business, he gave up his position and entered the Marion Sims school. Ile had been in business for a good many years and was older than the average student. so the work was unusually hard for him, but he stuck doggedly at it and in 1895 was graduated from the institution. At first he was located in St. Louis and then, in 1897. he came to Breese.
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Here he has since remained, conducting a general practice and doing considerable work in the hospital of Breese. He has not cared for either polities or business, preferring to devote himself exclusively to his pro- fession. He is interested in the civic life of the city, however, and since 1900 he has served as coroner of Clinton county. lle votes the Democratie ticket, but is content to see others holding the offices. Ile is a member of the Roman Catholic church, and is associated fraternally with the Knights of Columbus. In his own profession he belongs to the State, County and American Medical Societies, and takes much interest in the work of these various organizations.
On the 17th of June, 1890, Mr. Morony was married to Katherine O'Brien, of St. Louis. They have become the parents of two children, Mary and Frank.
Willing tribute should be given to men like Dr. Morony, who sarri- fiee themselves willingly on the altar of duty, and give themselves freely in the service of their fellow men. He has lived and worked in Breese for many years and its townspeople have learned to put a high valuation upon his services. for they are given not only as a professional man, but as a friend.
GEORGE W. RICH. Union county is rich in her well-to-do farmers. The best citizenship, the sturdiest characters, the most dependable men, are, in part at least, to be found among those men who have lived close to the soil and by close attention to the duty nearest to hand have amassed comfortable fortunes and incidentally linked themselves indissolubly with the life and history of their city and county. Prominent among men of that type is George W. Rich, a resident of Cobden since his birth, and well and favorably known in Union county all the days of his life thus far.
George W. Rich is the son of William Carroll Rich, who was born November 18, 1819, in Alabama. He came to Illinois in 1832 with his father's family, and he is distinguished today as the oldest living resident of Union county. In 1843 William C. Rich married and settled on the farm on which he now lives. During the years of his activity he acenmu- lated a traet of land containing several thousand acres, which he has but lately deeded to his heirs. He is also known to be the oldest bank presi- dent in Illinois, being the president of the First National Bank of Cob- den sinee its organization. In 1843 Mr. Rich married Millie C. Guthrie. the daughter of Anslon Guthrie, a native of Tennessee, where she was bor in 1823. The Guthrie family came to Illinois in about 1829, and have been residents of the state since then. Mr. and Mrs. Rich were the par- ents of a family of twelve children, named below as follows : Mrs. Saman- tha Tripp, deceased ; Mrs. Kate MeMahon ; Matilda, twice married, her first husband having been W. C. Monroe, of Anna, deceased, and her ser- ond husband is John Halterman, an official in the Anna ( Illinoist Hospi- tal ; Lafayette married Miss Anna Lingle : Mrs. Eliza Condon ; Mrs Maria Hilton : Amalphous, died September 8, 1593, at the age of thirty-five years ; William J. ; Lon, still in the home of the family ; Lizzie, a success- ful teacher for twenty years; George W., of Cobden ; and one that died in infancy.
George W. Rich was born in Cobden, Enion county, Illinois, on May 8. 1867. His education was in advance of that of the average country youth, his publie school training being supplemented by n course in the Anna Academy, in which he spent three years devoted to close and care. ful study. In 1889 he began teaching school, to which he gave five years in all. He was thus employed from 1859 to 1893, when he discontinued the work and later. in 1900, he again taught for one year. In 1993. Mr.
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Rich was elected village marshal of C'obden, and so well did he carry out the duties of his position that he was retained in that office for a period of eighteen years. In 1884 he engaged in the commission and brokerage business, which he carried on until 1909. At that time he eliminated the brokerage feature of the business, but is still engaged in the buying and selling of country produce. With an eye single to the future, and realiz- ing the intrinsic value of the lands lying in the vicinity of Cobden, Mr. Rich has gradually acquired a goodly acreage thereabouts. He has four hundred and twenty acres of fertile land in the neighborhoods of Wolfe Lake, twelve miles west of Cobden, and near to Cobden he has a par- ticularly valuable tract of eighty acres. Fifteen acres of this he has planted to peaches, and the remainder of the land is devoted to apples and the small fruits. Mr. Rich has no politieal inclinations whatever. Hle is well content to leave the engineering of the politieal machinery to others, and beyond the immediate demands of good citizenship gives no attention to affairs of that nature. He is interested in but one fra- ternal society, that being the Masonic order, of which he is a member of Lodge No. 466, at Cobden.
On June 22, 1894, Mr. Rich married Mary E. Hardin, daughter of L. T. and Elizabeth (Farrell) Hardin, natives' of Tennessee, who be- eame residents of Union county in 1836. Mr. and Mrs. Rich are the parents of four children, one living, A Paul, and three others deceased, namely, Ryde, Louis and Margaret.
WARREN E. McCASLIN. A publie-spirited and highly esteemed eiti- zen of Greenville, now serving his sixth year as county clerk of Bond county. Warren E. MeCaslin comes of pioneer ancestry, and is a fine representative of the native-born residents of Southern Illinois, his birth having occurred, July 14, 1867, in Bond county.
His father, the late William G. MeCaslin, was born in Bond county, Illinois, July 13, 1829, and died in the very house in which he first drew the breath of life on February 13, 1907, at the advaneed age of seventy- eight years. The son of a pioneer farmer, he sneeeeded to the occupa- tion in which he was reared, spending his whole life in agricultural pur- suits. He married Mary J. Steele, a daughter of Walker Steele, a well- known agrienlturist of Bond county, and she still lives on the old home- stead. Six sons and five daughters were born of their union, Warren E. the subject of this brief personal record, being the seventh child in sue- cession of birth.
Warren E. MeCaslin received a practical education in the common branches of learning while a boy, while on the home farm he was well drilled in the agricultural arts and sciences. Entering upon a profes- sional career at the age of twenty years. he taught school two years, after which he took a commercial course of study at a business college in Danville, Indiana. Returning to Bond county. Mr. MeCaslin resumed his educational work, teaching in various places, for three years being principal of the Mulberry Grove schools. In 1906 he was elected county clerk of Bond county, and filled the office with such ability and fidelity that at the expiration of his term. in 1910, he was honored by a re-elec- tion to the same office without opposition. Politically Mr. MeCaslin is a straightforward Republican. Religiously he is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and fraternally he belongs to the Modern Wood- men of America ; to the Court of Honor and to the Knights of the Mac- cabees.
Mr. MeCaslin married, in 1887, Gussie A. Goad, a daughter of Wil- liam M. and Amanda J. Goad, who are now living, retired from agricul- tural pursuits, in Greenville. Mr. and Mrs. McCaslin have three daugh-
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ters and an adopted son, namely : Ruby E., wife of Ralph G. Bowden, of Collinsville, Illinois; Gladys A., deputy county clerk; Cora Pearl; and James Y.
GEORGE W. ROBERTS. At this juneture in a volume devoted to the careers of representative citizens of Southern Illinois it is a pleasure to insert a brief history of George W. Roberts, who has ever been on the alert to forward all measures and enterprises projected for the good of general welfare and who has served his community in various official po- sitions of important trust and responsibility. He served twelve years as a magistrate of Ilerrin's Prairie precinet, in Williamson county, and for several years was the efficient incumbent of the office of school treas- urer. He devoted the greater part of his active career to agricultural pursuits but at the present time, in 1912, is living retired on his tine little estate just outside of Herrin.
George W. Roberts was born in Robertson county, Tennessee, on the 26th of March, 1838, and he accompanied his parents to Illinois in Sep- tember of the following year. He is a son of Ephraim A. Roberts, known by his associates in Tennessee as "Young Ephraim." and a native of Virginia, where he was born in 1811. In early life Ephraim A. Roberts went with his father, Ephraim Roberts, to Tennessee, where he was reared on an old plantation worked by slaves. Ilis mother was a Harris and she bore her husband a dozen children, but died before all of them grew to maturity.
Ephraim Roberts, Sr., was one of the old-time men of the south. 1Ie carried on his farm with slave labor, owned and operated a distillery, as was customary with men of means in those days, and seems to have been a robust figure. He was three times married, but had children only by his first wife. Those were: William; Riley; Winnie, wife of Calvin Holdeman : Ephraim A., father of the subject of this review ; "Booker." or Pleasant, as he was christened ; JJesse B .; Polly, who married Caven Mason ; Naney became the wife of Meredith Long, the son of Ephraim's second wife; Martha became Mrs. Robert Thompson ; Rachael married a Mr. Parker; and Elizabeth married her cousin, Jabez Roberts, who passed his early married life in Texas and after the war settled in Ar- kansas. All the above except Elizabeth, Ephraim and Jabez, passed their lives in Tennessee, where the father was called to the life eternal in 1854, at the age of sixty-eight years.
Ephraim A. Roberts, Jr., married Miss Mary Williams, a daughter of Rey. JJohn Williams, a Baptist minister who died in active religious work in Robertson county, Tennessee. Mr. Roberts died not long after his advent in Illinois, and subsequently his widow married William Par- sons. They had one son, JJohn S. Parsons, a resident of Herrin, Illinois. The Roberts children were: Nancy, who died in childhood ; George W., the immediate subject of this review ; and Amanda, who married Cap- tain David G. Young and went to Dade county, Missouri, where she passed away.
George W. Roberts has always lived in the atmosphere he now breathes. No other community has contributed aught to him and his efforts have all been put forth here. He acquired enough education us a student in subscription schools to enable him to assume the role of school-master himself. During his boyhood persons aspiring to feel made up their school by going around and "getting up their scholars" on a cash basis or other arrangement with the patrons of the district When a teacher came to the home of young Roberts his mother seldom had the money with which to pay tuition for her son and if she couldn't get in a "pattern of jeans" or a batch of carded wool or some of the
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products of the farm George did not get to go to school. By actual count, Mr. Roberts found that he was in school a few days more than fourteen months. Ile knew when he took his first school, before the war, that he was not properly equipped for the work but, like many of the teachers of that time, he became the hardest student of his elasses and eventually made himself not only proficient as a teacher but a decided scholar as well.
He moved to a farm adjacent to the east line of Herrin when he mar- ried, in 1861, and he continued to reside there for a number of years, teaching school during the winter terms. Often, at night, he eut the supply of wood for his household while he should be absent and his chores about the farm became a matter of "night work" during the short days of the year. He continued teaching for a time during the period of the Civil war and today the evidences of the constant sharp- ening of his intellect and the polish of his mother tongue manifest them- selves in the syntax of his conversation. Finally abandoning the school- room, Mr. Roberts gave his full time to the management of his farm. He raised grain and stoek and from his profits he added to the extent of his dominions until he owned something over five hundred acres of fine land. When the mining of coal was begun in this locality overtures were made him for a portion of his farm and he parted with some of it in 1895. In 1900 he disposed of the remainder of the old estate to the Big Muddy Coal & Iron Company.
For a new home Mr. Roberts bought a small square of land adjacent to Herrin on the north and improved the same. Here his wife lived out her life and here he is passing the deelining years of his life. Ile was married, March 28, 1861, to Annie Herrin, a daughter of Alfred Jaek- son Herrin, one of the early settlers of Williamson county. Mrs. Roberts was born in the vicinity of Herrin and she died in 1901. The union was prolific of the following children : William J., who died April 10, 1897; Ephraim A., who died January 17, 1902; George Edgar, who died De- cember 16, 1891 ; Ida is the wife of William Fultz and they reside with her father; Artemisa passed away unmarried, Deeember 5, 1899; and Clara is the wife of Harry Grandstaff, of Carbondale, Illinois.
Mr. Roberts owns to some partisanship as a Democrat during his vig- orous life. Ile was a elose observer of events as a result of neighborly antipathies during the war of the Rebellion. His antecedents were in- tensely southern and many of his kin were in the Confederate serviee. He remained out of the army out of regard for his eonvietions and found no good reason for reforming his polities during subsequent events. He served twelve years as a magistrate of his precinet, for a number of years was school treasurer and has ever allied himself with the temperanee sentiment of his community. He was chairman of the Temperance League a few years back when an anti-saloon campaign was waged and when almost the whole county was placed in the "dry column." He has been upbraided for his share in thus "driving out the very life of a growing town like Herrin" but his conscience is his guide and it has suf- fered no punishment as a result of his attitude toward saloons. In early life he united with the Methodist Episcopal church but the animosities engendered between church people by the issues of the Civil war broke up the congregation and he found himself without a chureh home. Sub- sequently he united with the Baptists, his wife having been a devout member of that faith, but the Baptismal doctrines of the body were in- sisted upon so strongly that, rather than be rebaptized, he asked for a reseinding of the vote that had made him a member of the church and withdrew. He holds saered the Christian religion and his life is gov- erned by the same precepts that brought consolation to him and his fam-
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ily in the junior years of his life. Ile is past master in the time-honored Masonic order and has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge of the state. Though venerable in years, Mr. Roberts is still erect and he re- tains in much of their pristine vigor the splendid physical and mental faculties of his prime. He is held in high esteem by his neighbors, and the citizens of Herrin love and honor him for his kindliness and true gentlemanly spirit.
FRANK GEORGE KUHLS, M. D. One of the men who has achieved suc- cess in his chosen walks of life. almost before the flash of youth has faded from his countenance, and has made his name a representative one in his community in the profession of medicine is Frank George Knhls, who has been established in practice at Breese, Illinois, since 1898. Dr. Kuhls is a native of this city, and was born August 31, 1876, a son of Frank and Gertrude (Miller) Knhls.
Frank Kuhls was born in Westphalia, Germany, November 6, 1836, and after attending the schools of his native place he began to assist his father in working at the carpenter trade. When he had reached the age of sixteen years he entered the German army to serve the customary three years, and when he had secured his honorable discharge, with the rank of lieutenant, he left the Fatherland and came to America, follow- ing the trade of cabinet maker for four years in St. Louis, Missouri. IIe came to Breese, Illinois, at a time when there were but three houses here, and during the twelve years that followed he continued to work at the trade of cabinet maker, at the end of that time selling out to engage in business as a carpenter. For the past three years Mr. Kuhls has been living a retired life. Ile is very well known to the older generation of business men in Breese, who remember him as a man of excellent busi- ness ability and honest and upright business principles. Mr. Kuhls was a Republican until the election of President Garfield, at which time he joined the ranks of the Democratic party, in which he has been a hard and faithful worker, although he has never cared for office for himself. He is a faithful member of the Catholic church. On May 3. 1862, Mr. Kuhls was married in St. Joseph's church, St. Louis, to Miss Gertrude Miller, who was born in Warburg. Germany, and she is still living and makes her home in Breese, being seventy-two years of age. They had a family of five boys and three girls, Dr. Kuhls being the youngest son.
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