USA > Illinois > A history of southern Illinois; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 79
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Dr. William A. Dulany secured his early educational training in the common schools, and as a youth turned his attention to clearing land. He had, however, decided upon a professional career, and with this end in view went to work to secure a better education. He worked his way through Hayward and Ewing Colleges, and for ten years was engaged in teaching school in Jefferson and Wayne counties, the greater part of this time being spent at Spring Garden, Illinois. In the fall of 1901 he was able to enter St. Louis University, and graduated from the medical department thereof in the spring of 1905, since which time he has been successfully engaged in practice at Keenes. Dr. Dulany now travels over an extensive territory in Wayne and Jefferson counties, having a large clientele and a wide professional acquaintance. A elose student, careful practitioner and skillful surgeon, he keeps fully abreast of the various advances in his profession, and takes an active interest in the work of the county, state and national medical associations. In fraternal mat-
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ters he is well and popularly known as a member of the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen.
In 1894 Dr. Dulany was married to Nana B. Bruce, daughter of Lenard Bruce, of Marlow, Illinois. To this union two children were born : Jewel F. and Halsie, but Jewel died in her fifth year, and Mrs. Nana B. Dulany died in 1903. In 1906 Dr. Dulany was married to Miss Catherine Keen, daughter of James Keen, an old resident of Wayne county who now lives near Keenes, and two children have been born to them: Herman and Rabb. Dr. and Mrs. Dulany are widely known in religions eireles, and are consistent members and liberal supporters of the local Methodist Episcopal church.
THOMAS B. EcnoLs is a native of Pulaski county and has been a resi- dent of Southern Illinois all his life. Since 1881 he has been a resident of New Grand Chain, where he has carried on a general real estate busi- ness with undeniable success, and where he has come to be recognized as one of the foremost citizens of the community. He has been justice of the peace since 1869 with a break of ten years and he is now serving as presi- dent of the village of Grand Chain with all satisfaction to the residents of the place. Mr. Echols was first commissioned a notary public by Gov- ernor Altgeld and he has been similarly commissioned by each succeeding governor since that time. His war record is one of which he may be justly proud. He was in the military service from the first call of the government for troops in April, 1861, until the 28th day of January, 1863, and even after discharge from the army he was in the revenue ser- viee of the government for a considerable period.
Born at Lovers Leap. in old Caledonia, on April 29, 1842, Thomas Benton Echols is the son of Benjamin F. Echols, who was born near Sa- vannah, Georgia, October 12, 1812, who came to Illinois in 1834 in com- pany with his father. Jesse Echols. They settled near Caledonia where the elder Echols died. The widow of Jesse Echols was Sarah Elliott, before her marriage, and they were the parents of five children, namely : Joseph W. ; Benjamin F. : Betsey, who was twice married .- first to a Mr. Fallette, and then to Thomas Deloyster: Nancy became the wife of James M. Timmons and Mary A. first married Gilbert Leroy and later Thomas Frazier, now deceased.
Benjamin F. Echols was a young man of twenty years when he came to Illinois with his parents. He was untutored. save for the primitive work done at intervals in the country schools of the town where he was reared, and his life thus far had been in the main given over to manual labor, rather than to educational pursuits. When the Blawk Hawk war broke out Benjamin F. Echols was among the first to respond to the call for troops and he took an active part in the work of quelling the upris- ing. In civil life he was known principally as a merchant in and about old Caledonia, at which business he was as snecessful as were the average country merchants of his day. He was a Democrat of ardent faith and enthusiasm, and early in the history of Pulaski county he was elected eireuit elerk and recorder of the county, being chosen in 1846 and sery- ing until 1849 with an efficiency and capability which won from his fellow citizens praise of a high order. Mr. Echols was a warm personal admirer of Thomas II. Benton, the great Missouri statesman, and was for many years his staunch supporter. In later years, however, he experi- eneed some differences of opinion with the gentleman from Missouri, and so great was the feeling between them that Mr. Echols threatened to change the name of his son. Thomas Benton Echol, who had been named in honor of the friend of former days. Benjamin F. Echols married Sarah R. Arter, a daughter of Daniel Arter, M. D., who came to this
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seetion of Illinois from Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1832. Mr. Echols died in 1850 leaving a family of six children. Ann, the eldest daughter, had been twice married,-first to Thomas J. Green and second to Benjamin Pearson ; Victoria married Josephus Moss and is now deceased; Thomas Benton ; Daniel A., who served in the Seventy-seventh Illinois Infantry and is now an inmate of the Soldiers' Home in Danville, Illinois: Sarah E. married Legrand Wood, and after his death she beeame the wife of H. A. Hannon and now resides at Cairo, Illinois, and Benjamin F. is a resident of DuQuoin, Illinois. Mrs. Echols contraeted a second marriage in later years, her second husband being Louis Jaecard, and the children of her second marriage are Adelle J., the wife of Lewis Miller, and Louis E. Mrs. Jaeeard passed away in 1885.
When Thomas B. Echols was a boy of school age, educational methods had advanced but slightly from their primitive conditions in his father's youth, but he was permitted to partake of such opportunities as the oe- casion afforded and he attended the proverbial eabin-school with the oft- deseribed slab benches, and in common with the youth of his day and age, smarted under the rigorous discipline of the hiekory rod of the pioneer sehool-master who concurred in the wisdom of Solomon and proceeded not to "spare the rod and spoil the child." Those years passed by all too quickly, however, and he was still but a lad when he volunteered at the first eall for troops to put down the rebellion. He enlisted from Pu- laski county in April, 1861, in Company G, Eleventh Illinois Infantry, with Captain Rose and Colonel W. H. L. Wallace in command of the regiment, who later fell at Shiloh as a general in command of a division. It is not out of place to mention here that Pulaski county furnished more men for the Union army during the war period than it numbered in voters in 1860. For three months the regiment did little besides train for active service, and at the end of that time, when the time for which it had been assembled was expired, Mr. Echols reenlisted in the same com- mand and the regiment rendezvoused at Bird's Point until ordered to Fort Henry early in February, 1862. He took part in the eapture of that place and then accompanied his command to Fort Donelson and saw that fort capitulate after a ten days' assault. Here he fell ill and was re- turned home, but upon his recovery immediately rejoined his regiment at Pittsburg Landing and was wounded in the first day of battle, when he was shot through the foot and had his belt eut asunder by a flying missile from Confederate guns at the same instant. Ilis wound necessitated an- other furlough home. He rejoined his regiment at Cairo, Illinois, in July, 1862, there seeuring his discharge, and was discharged on July 23rd, 1862, by reason of surgeon's certificate of disability, produced by gunshot wound in right foot at Battle of Shiloh. August 15, 1862, he en- listed for the third time, joining the One Hundred and Ninth Regiment, Illinois Infantry as sergeant major of the regiment. The command ad- vanced to the front and took part in the defense of Holly Springs; from there the regiment went back to Memphis, at which plaee Mr. Echols was discharged. He eame back to Cairo and entered the government service as an aid in the revenue department on board river boats. ITis route took him up and down the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans, from Cairo to various points along that stream and from Cairo to points along the Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.
After the elose of the war Mr. Echols engaged in merchandise at the corner of Twenty-eighth and Commercial streets, Cairo, Illinois, but he left Cairo after a few months and located at Caledonia where he con- dueted a like business for two years. He was elected constable of his precinet and was appointed postmaster of the place, but in 1867 he moved to Grand Chain, where he has since resided, and where he is conducting a
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healthy real estate business, and is regarded with a high degree of fav- oritism by all who know him. Judge Echols is a Republican and has ever supported that party principles and given his aid in every way to the eause. In earlier days he has attended numerous state conventions of the party in its interests. He is an Odd Fellow and has served the lodge as a delegate to its Grand Lodge. He has performed a like service for the Knights of Honor and is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and of the Grand Army of the Republic.
On December 1. 1863, Judge Echols married at Caledonia, Miss Amine B. Brown, a daughter of B. and Elizabeth (Cooper) Brown. The children of Judge and Mrs. Echols are: Mabel A, the wife of Samuel Price of Grand Chain ; Sallie A. is Mrs. James S. Adams; Jessie A. mar- ried Andrew Moore of Grand Chain; Thomas E. was drowned in the Ohio river, November 27, 1897, and Hortense H. is the wife of Dr. J. E. Woelfle of Cairo, Illinois.
JOHN JOSEPH BROWN. From an orphan lad to a prosperous lawyer is a long leap yet this is just the gap that John Joseph Brown has bridged. He received his start through the kindness of others; his native ability and ambitious determination did the rest. The law firm of which he is the senior member, controls one of the largest practices in the state. As a man, his work has been epoch making, in particular his work on the board of commissioners of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary. He has occupied many publie positions of trust and has filled them all to the great satisfaction of those who elected him. This has been largely due to his finely trained mind and unquestionable intellectual attainments, as well as his sineere desire to do the thing which would benefit the greatest number. When a man is as much in earnest as he has always been, sue- cess is bound to come.
John Joseph Brown was born in New York City on the 15th of No- vember, 1852. He was the son of James and Mary Brown, who were born in Dublin, Ireland. The quick witted repartee, with which he so often disconcerts his opponents, is one of the traits which he must thank his Irish blood for. His parents met and married in New York, where the father was engaged in the boot and shoe business. When John was three years old, he lost both of his parents, and at the age of six found himself placed in the New York Juvenile Asylumm. In company with twenty-seven other boys he was sent to Finois to find homes among the farmers. It was a pathetie little company going forth so bravely to seek its fate, but the little fellows did not think so themselves. Any release From the asylum meant happiness for them, and it was with ex- «ited laughs and wondering eyes that the city waits greeted the vast green prairies. It is to be hoped that all these unfortunates were as micky in their foster parents as was John Joseph. He was indentured to William Henninger, of lagarstown, a farmer.
A new life now unfolds for the boy. The family in which he was placed were progressive, sympathetic with his young ideas, and were kindness itself. From his own nature the life on the farm, no matter how hard the work, could never be dull, for he had a soul, he was of that rare order of being who really finds "books in the running brooks " To him, therefore, the changing seasons were ever a delight, he hungered for the world of books, he longed to know many things that the birds and beasts could not teach him; therefore, after he had obtained all the knowledge possible from the country schools, through the kindness of Mr. Henninger, he was permitted to enter the Wesleyan University of Bloomington, Ilinois. Here he spent five years, and was graduated in 1881. During this time he had taught school to pay his expenses, and
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having had this experience, he now turned to this profession to earn his living, though he even then was determined to study law as soon as he was able. He taught school in Fayette county for six years, with such success that he was made principal of the Vandalia schools. IIe held this position for three years, instituting many much needed reforms and instilling into the schools new life and the enthusiastic regard l'or edu- eational work which he himself possessed to a large degree. Mr. Brown had no intention of remaining a school teacher long, so he took up the study of law in the offices of Henry and Farmer, and under their very able tutelage was admitted to the bar after two years of study.
He had the great good fortune to be taken into partnership by his brilliant preceptor, Judge William M. Farmer, and this association, in- valuable to him, lasted until the latter was elected circuit judge and was forced to give up his practice. He then formed a partnership with J. M. Albert and later went into the firm of Brown, Burnside and Bullington. He is at present a member of the firm of Brown & Burnside, which is one of the best known and most reliable throughout the state, and whose practice involves much valuable property and many very important eases. With his fine training under a lawyer of much experience and ability, his diligent study, and a mind peculiarly adapted to the intrica- cies of the legal profession, he has been very active in the political world, being one of the strong men of the Republican party in the state of Illinois. In local affairs he has taken much interest in educational mat- ters, being for fifteen years a member of the school board where he was able to accomplish many things because his own experience as a teacher had taught him what was most necessary and praetieal. His resignation from the board was forced upon him through the pressure of business. In 1886 he was elected to the legislature and served one term, making his presence strongly felt. He became especially prominent as chairman of the educational committee, and also did important work as a member of the committee on judiciary and practice. His efficieney was widely recognized and in 1888 he was appointed one of the commissioners of the Illinois Southern Penitentiary. Here his work is of especial note, and his big heart and sympathy for the prisoners and the laboring elasses were shown in the many reforms which he brought about. One in par- tienlar, the abolishment of criminal contraet labor, has been of inestim- able value, and the work of this board will long be remembered. Dur- ing the World's Fair he served as secretary of the World's Fair Commis- sion under Richard Yates. In business affairs he takes considerable in- terest, being one of the directors of the First National Bank of Vandalia.
In the fraternal world he is very eonspienons, giving considerable time to furthering the interests of some one of the various orders to which he belongs. He is a member of Temperance Lodge No. 16, of the An- cient Free and Accepted Masons, and in the same order is a member of the Vandalia Chapter, a Royal Areh Mason, a member of the Cyrene Commandery of Knights Templar at Centralia and of the Medinah Temple of Chicago. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and was its Grand Chancellor in 1896, and has been its Supreme Representa- tive for the past sixteen years; he is a member of the Elks of Centralia. and was grand master of the Odd Fellows of Illinois in 1904. One of the causes that lie closest to his heart is that of the Odd Fellows' Orphans' Home at Lincoln, Illinois, of which he is trustee. There are one hundred and sixty children there, who greet him on his frequent visits with en- thusiasmn, for here is one who understands. Ile is also a member of the Court of Honor, the Modern Woodmen of America and the National Pro- tective League.
He is deeply interested in religious matters, doing everything in his
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power to aid the cause of Christianity. His allegiance is with the Meth- odist Episcopal church, of which he is one of the board of trustees and of whose Sunday-school he has been superintendent for sixteen years.
On the 29th of May, 1883, Mr. Brown married Nellie G. Blackwell, who was born and educated in Vandalia. She was the daughter of Col- onel Robert Blackwell and of Mary Jane (Shusser) Blackwell, both of whom were natives of Ohio. Colonel Blackwell was a member of the upper house of the state legislature while the capitol was at Vandalia. He was the editor of the first paper published at Vandalia, and was one of its most prominent citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are the parents of one child, their accomplished daughter, Lucile. She is a graduate of the Vandalia high school, the Woman's College at Jacksonville, Illinois, and of Professor Kroeger's Academy of Music at St. Louis. She married Don Vest Buchanan of Tuscola, Illinois, where she now resides.
JAMES D. HARLAN. M. D. The paternal grandfather of Doctor Ilar- lan, J. D. Harlan, a Virginian gentleman of the old school. was born in 1800, but left his fair state for the blue grass regions of Kentucky while vet merely a lad. In 1827 he came to Southern Ilinois by wagon and set- tled on a farm in Wayne county, becoming one of the pioneers of that community. His diligence was rewarded with large crops. In the sum- mer of 1852 he as usual took a flat boat load of his produce down the river to New Orleans, the largest market within reach. While in New Orleans he became the victim of the awful white scourge and died with cholera after arriving near his home. His wife was left alone on the farm with a family of twelve children to care for. Through her great efforts most of these were reared and educated, although but one, Cyn- thia Harlan Friend, is now living.
W. E. Harlan, the son of James D. Harlan, Sr., and the father of the present incumbent of the name, was born in Kentucky in 1823. being four years of age when his parents moved to the Ilinois farm. At the time of his father's sudden death he devoted his energy to making the farm put forth a livelihood for his mother and small brothers and sisters. In connection with his agricultural labors he opened a small general store at Pine Oak. In about 1855 he married Miriam Holmes, an Ohio girl, the daughter of William Holmes, who was born in Pennsylvania. of Ger- man parents. They were the parents of six children, of whom Emma, the eldest, is now Mrs. Ochiltree, of Haddan, Kansas. Jennie is the wife of Mr. Lcihman, of Indianapolis, Indiana. Lillie Harlan Davis resides in Fairfield, and the brother, W. H. Harlan, lives on and cultivates the old homestead. Mr. W. E. Harlan was a Mexican war veteran, having served under General Scott in 1846 and 1847. Only his advanced age prevented his offering his services to his country for a second time in 1861. His use- I'ul life came to an end on the Wayne county farm in 1876. His wife. who is some ten years his junior, resides with her son on the old home place.
At the time of his death Mr. Harlan had accumulated an estate of spy. eral hundred acres, more than enough to keep his wife in comfort and educate the family of little ones. When the great sorrow came to the family the Doctor was but sixteen years of age, having been born on May 14, 1861. He had for ten years past attended the district schools of Wayne county, assisting, meantime, with the many chores of the farm. He was now almost ready for more advanced work and soon entered the Valparaiso Normal school. Following the normal training he attended the Southern Illinois College at Danville. In 1987. having determined to devote his life to the medical profession, he entered the Missouri Medi- cal College, situated at St. Louis, receiving his degree of M. D. in the
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spring of 1890. Doctor Harlan began his active practice at Mill Schools, but three years later settled in Fairfield, where he has become a most popular and successful physician. While he is conscientious and atten- tive in his life's voeation, he believes that even a busy physician should have some outside interests, thus better serving himself and his com- munity. Fairfield has benefited by his services as mayor of the little city. For the past sixteen years he has been chairman of the Democratic central committee of the county, holding ever an enthusiastic interest in the political situation of the state and nation. Ile is a member of the County, State and American Medical Associations and belongs to a num - ber of fraternal organizations, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Daughters of Rebekah, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, including the Blue Lodge and Royal Arch of Fairfield.
In 1892 he won for his wife Alice L. Keller, the daughter of J. M. Keller, of Effingham county. The Doctor and Mrs. Harlan have no family.
Doctor Harlan has been successful not alone in his profession but in his financial ventures as well. He now owns two hundred and forty aeres of land in one piece, not to mention his real estate in and about Fair- field. No physician of these parts is more widely known and trusted.
CAPTAIN JOSEPH B. SCUDAMORE. Eighty years a resident of the state of Illinois, and since his boyhood a useful and valuable member of society is the remarkable record of Joseph B. Seudamore of Wayne City. As a veteran of the Civil war he rendered invaluable service to the Union, serving in the war with honor and distinction. As the original owner of the land upon which Wayne City now stands, and as one of the prime movers in the establishment and npbuilding of the city, he is rightly called the "Father of Wayne City," and all his life he has been foremost in good works in whatever community he found himself situated. Since 1868, when he bought land in Wayne county on which Wayne City was laid out in 1882 by him, he has been prominent in business eireles of the community, and has given of his time and energies without stint or sel- fish consideration to the manipulation of city and county affairs of a eivie and political nature. On the whole, his life is a veritable record book of worthy service to the commonwealth and nation, and the many fine and excellent attributes of his wholesome nature have been used in a highly ereditable manner for the furtheranee of the common good.
Born on August 23, 1832, in Gallatin county, Illinois, Joseph B. Seudamore is the son of George and Rebecca (Buek) Sendamore, na- tives of England and Southern Illinois, respectively. George Seuda- more settled in Gallatin county when a young man and there passed his life in industrious attention to his business. He died before the breaking out of the war, having reared a family of seven children. They were named : George, now deceased; Thomas, also dead; . Joseph B., of this re- view ; James A .; Elizabeth, deceased; Sarah, deceased; and Rebecca. married and living in Middleton, Ilinois.
When the elder Sendamore died Joseph B. was left an orphan at the tender age of twelve years. and the struggle for existenee devolved npon him straightway. He worked here and there on neighboring farms for some years, and when the Civil war broke out he was among the first to respond to the call to arms. He enlisted in Company G of the One Hundred and Tenth Illinois, and was named second lieutenant, soon afterward being promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and later to a captaincy. With his company and a regiment he participated in a num- ber of the hottest engagements of the war, and saw service in Kentucky,
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Tennessee, Mississippi and other states. His first term of enlistment ex- pired in May, 1863, and he re-enlisted in March of 1865 in Company L of the Sixth Cavalry, as a private. He was made commissionary ser- geant, and remained with this regiment until the close of the war. Dur- ing the interval between his first mustering out and his second enlistment he served as recruiting officer, so that he was practically in the service from the beginning to the close of the war.
In 1865 he settled on the Hamilton and Wayne county line, where he remained until the spring of 1869, when he came to what is now Wayne City, but which was then a tract of farm land. He bought a quarter see- tion with the idea of going into farming. but after a short time the pros- peets for a city in the vicinity became so favorable that Mr. Seudamore with characteristic wisdom and foresight. anticipated the possible locat- ing of a young city in other quarters by platting his farm in city lots. This was done in 1882, and since that time the growth of Wayne City has been a thing of continuons progress. He operated a general store in the new town and was its first postmaster, and in numerous ways became eligible to the title which has been accorded him,-"The Father of Wayne City." Hle served a second term as postmaster, between 1902 and 1906, and has filled many another public office in a highly creditable manner. A Republican in his political faith. he has ever been active in the interests of that party and has given good service to the canse. Be- fore the war Mr. Scudamore was constable in Hamilton county for some years, and since the war he has been a notary public for thirty-two years and a justice of the peace for four years. He was township supervisor for five terms, and was elected a member of the state legislature in the Thirty-sixth general assembly between 1888 and 1890, in all of these of- fices performing valuable service in the interests of his city, county and state. He has served as president of the town board for five terms, and was the first mayor of Wayne City, an honor singularly appropriate to the founder of the city. Mr. Seudamore owns a Farm of ninety aeres. which he personally manages, and is the owner of a considerable quan- tity of town lots and residence property in Wayne City. He is generally conceded to be one of the most prominent figures in the history of the city and an important factor in the communal life of the city and county. Despite his advanced years and lifetime of arduous labors, he is still hale and hearty and takes fully as active an interest in the affairs of the community as he did twenty years ago. He still carries on a lively trade in the buying and selling of live stock although he has for the most part discontinued his breeding interests, being at one time one of the most extensive live stock breeders and dealers in the county. He is prominent in fraternal circles, owning membership in the Masonic order. the Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, and in the Grand Army of the Republic.
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