USA > Illinois > Clay County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 31
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 31
USA > Illinois > Marion County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 31
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Mr. Farquhar then came to Illinois, first settling near Galesburg, where he had for-
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merly lived. He remained there for one year, John, age six; Ersula, age four ; Ira Ennis, then moved to Richland county and pur- age one. Ennis M., the second child of the subject and wife, is single and is still a mem- ber of the home circle on the farm; Dessie B. is the wife of Walter Hall, residing on a farm in Denver township. Mrs. Farquhar has been an invalid for the past three years, totally helpless. chased the farm which he now owns in Den- ver township, consisting of two hundred and forty acres in this township and thirty-two acres just across the border in Noble town- ship. It was on February 14, 1870, that the subject came to this county, paying as high as twenty-five dollars per acre for some of this land. He has an excellent farm which he has greatly improved and he has good buildings on it ; also keeps some good stock on the place.
Mr. Farquhar was married January 18, 1870, in Fayette City, Pennsylvania, to Ma- ria Eckard, who was born April 1, 1839, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Rhine- hardt) Eckard, also natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married and where they lived all their lives, Mr. Eckard dying in 1876, and his wife in 1888. Both are buried in the Fayette City cemetery, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. They were the parents of eight children, all of whom grew to maturity, only three of them now living, Mrs. Far- quhar being the fourth in order of birth. She remained with her parents at home until her marriage to the subject. Mr. and Mrs. Far- quhar are the parents of four children, three of whom grew to maturity, one having died in childhood, namely: Frank D., who mar- ried Ida Cope, resides in Olney, Illinois, where he is interested in the marble works. One child born to them, died in in- fancy. Following are their children : Iola, who at this writing, 1909, is eleven years old; Alora, age eight; Aaron, age seven;
Our subject has held the office of Town- ship Trustee for twenty-one years in a very acceptable manner in this township. He is a very staunch Republican, although he never aspires for any political office. He voted first for Abraham Lincoln for his second term. The subject and his wife have always been active in church work, always attending the Methodist church, giving assist- ance to its work, both morally and finan- cially, although neither of them are members. The subject has held the office of trustee of the church for twenty years or more.
The subject has been very successful finan- cially and now owns one of the modern and valuable farms of Denver township, also a very desirable home. He is now sixty-eight years old and his wife is two years his senior. They live as nearly a retired life as a farm will permit and they are both held in high esteem by their neighbors.
WILLIAM WHAM.
He of whom this sketch is written is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Marion county, Illinois, where he has passed practically his entire life, and
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he is one of the successful and prominent citizens of Cartter, where he is the leading merchant, being well known to the people of that vicinity as a man of clean business prin- ciples and public-spirited, having attained prosperity through his own well directed ef- forts.
William Wham was born in this county in 1853, the son of William Wham, a na- tive of Tennessee, who came to Illinois when a young boy and settled in Marion county where he developed a good farm and always made a comfortable living. He was a charter member of the Masonic lodge, No. 130, at Salem. He became well known and influential. He passed to his rest in 1893. The mother of the subject was Lou- isa Anna Rainey, a native of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, who came to Illinois, when elev- en years old. She was a woman of many praiseworthy traits. She died some six years prior to her husband's demise.
Eight children were born to the parents of the subject, four of whom are living in 1908. They are named in order of their birth as follows: Margaret is the widow of James Mount, of Kell, Illinois; Martha I., living at Cartter, is the widow of William K. Storment; H. B. owns a farm near Cart- ter, Illinois; William, our subject, who spent his boyhood on a farm near Cartter, working during the summer months, and attending the country schools the balance of the year. His early life was spent in farming, trading and dealing in stock, of which he made a success. After abandoning this he went into the mercantile business in
1895 at Cartter, Illinois, and has been thus engaged since that time, having built up an excellent trade by reason of his courteous treatment of customers and his natural abil- ity. His store is known throughout this locality as the place where the best goods in the market can be obtained at reasonable prices, and his trade has constantly grown from year to year. Mr. Wham has pros- pered by reason of his well directed energy, and he has become the owner of the Park Hotel at Salem, the leading hostelry of that city, and he is also a director of the Salem National Bank. He also has a large inter- est in the Robinson oil fields in Crawford county. He was chairman of the building committee for the new building for the Sa- lem National Bank, which was erected in 1908. He also has valuable farm lands. All this our subject has attained by reason of his own unaided efforts, and every dollar he possesses was obtained in an honest man- ner.
Mr. Wham was united in . marriage in 1874 to Emma C. Adams, the refined and accomplished daughter of James Adams, of near Salem. Her father is a well known farmer. One child, born to the subject and wife, died in infancy. Mrs. Wham is postmistress at Cartter, which position she has creditably filled for the past fourteen years, having been appointed by Grover Cleveland and re-appointed by every Pres- ident since. She is a woman of rare execu- tive ability as well as many pleasing traits which renders her popular with all classes. Mrs. Wham's mother, Mrs. Paulina Adams,
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is living at Springfield, Illinois. The father of the subject's wife is deceased. They were both natives of Virginia and scions of well known old southern families. Mr. Wham's grandfather was also named Wil- liam Wham. He was a native of Ireland, and a man of sterling qualities.
Our subject is a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge, Chapter at Salem, and the Commandery at Centralia. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Wham are mem- bers of the Christian church at Cartter, be- ing liberal subscribers to the same. Mr. Wham was Chairman of the Board of Su- pervisors of Marion county, having been elected as an independent and was a good official, having ably disposed of the duties of this important trust in a manner that re- flected much credit upon his ability.
GEN. JAMES STEWART MARTIN.
It is a great badge of honor to have the distinction of serving the government in the conflict with Mexico, assisting in the ardu- ous campaigns until the stars and stripes were unfurled on the citadel of the Monte- zuma, and also, less than two decades later to have been permitted to serve the na- tional Union in the four years of polemic struggle between the states. Among the conspicuous figures of these great inter- necine conflicts is the well remembered gen- tleman, whose name forms the caption of
this biographical memoir, who, although his life history has been closed by death, his influence continues to pervade the lives of those with whom he came in contact. He was always mindful of his duty to his fellow men and ready with word or deed to assist them in the struggle up life's steep path. No man in his day and generation in this locality exercised a greater influence for the civic, material and moral uplift of the community than General Martin, for his life was that of the patriot, the Christian gentleman, the true American nobleman.
General James Stewart Martin was born August 19, 1826, in Estillville, now Gate City, Scott county, Virginia, the son of John S. and Malinda (Morrison) Martin, pioneers of that part of the Old Dominion state and a fine old Southern family of great influence in their day, his father having been a man of considerable political prominence and highly educated. He served as County Clerk, Circuit Clerk, and Master of Chan- cery for about twenty years. The mother of the subject, who was born in Sullivan county, Tennessee, was a woman of many commendable attributes, noted for her broad charity and high culture, and before she was called to her rest, in 1828, she emancipated her slaves. The subject's father moved to Illinois in 1844 and settled on a farm seven miles north of Salem, where his son, our subject, resided for a period of three years, assisting in develop- ing the farm from its primitive state into a highly productive place ..
James S. Martin, our subject, received his
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education in the public schools of his native community in Virginia, making such notable progress and manifesting such a thirst for the higher learning that he was subsequently placed in Emery and Henry College, Wash- ington county, Virginia, where lie made a brilliant record for scholarship. A lad of strong patriotism from his early youth which continued to increase with advancing years, he was glad to have an opportunity to enter the army during the Mexican war, having enlisted in Company C, First Regi- ment, Illinois Volunteers, in the spring of 1847, and he made such an excellent soldier that he was made third sergeant of his com- pany. The regiment was mustered into ser- vice at Alton, then transported to Fort Leavenworth and marched across the plains to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He performed conspicuous service during the strenuous campaign against the Mexicans. After the war, while on the homeward trip, his com- pany nominated him for County Clerk of Marion county, and the people here ratified their action upon the arrival of the men at Salem. He was duly elected and in a most able and creditable manner discharged the duties of the same for a period of twelve years. He was also Master in Chancery for two terms, in which he also showed his su- perior ability in official capacity. Being an ambitious man he sought every means pos- sible to improve himself and to be of the greatest service to his fellow men, conse- quently while holding these offices he de- voted his spare moments to the study of law, and upon admittance to the bar, July 4,
1861, formed a partnership with B. F. Marshall and D. C. Jones and opened an of- fice in Salem. Owing to the great strength and prestige of this well known trio their legal business was heavy from the first and the reputation of the firm soon spread throughout this part of the state.
In 1862, when the clouds of rebellion were the darkest and the lambent flames of discontented citizenship of the South were the most direful, our subject realized that every loyal son of the North should do what he could toward preserving the integrity of the Union, consequently he sought and ob- tained permission from Governor Yates to raise a regiment, with the result that the famous One Hundred and Eleventh was mustered, and Mr. Martin was selected as the man most worthy and able to command it, therefore he became colonel of the same. It was composed of seven companies from Marion county, one from Clay and one from Clinton county, the regiment comprising nine hundred and thirty men and officers, and it was mustered into service September 18, 1862, and joined General Davies at Co- lumbus, Kentucky. Our subject served in the capacity of colonel all through the war, his services showing that he was a man of much military courage and genius, having from time to time led his men into the brunt of the fighting. During 1863 he was in command of the post at Columbus and later at Paducah, Kentucky. From there he went to Florence, Alabama, whither he was or- dered by General Sherman, and he later went into winter quarters at Pulaski, Ten-
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nessee. From March 16, 1864, he served with the Sixteenth Army Corps, until the close of the struggle, having seen much hard service during that time, being with Sherman on his march to the sea and having led his regiment at the great battles of Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Fort McAllister and received the surrender of the commander of this fort. He was brevetted brigadier general in July, 1864, and participated in the grand review in Washington City, and was mustered out in Springfield, Illinois, in June, 1865.
After the war General Martin plunged into the active affairs of civil life and won signal distinction in the field of politics and business. He launched into banking in Sa- lem, building up the nucleus of a large for- tune through his wonderful executive abil- ity. Taking an interest in Republican poli- tics after the war he was elected County Judge in 1866, overwhelming a Democratic majority of six hundred. He was nominated for Congress in 1872 and was elected over Judge Silas L. Bryan, father of Hon. Wil- liam J. Bryan. He ably served one term in Washington.
General Martin was appointed Commis- sioner of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary by Governor Cullom, September 4, 1879, which position he creditably served for four years. He served as a member of the Re- publican State Central Committee for a period of nearly twenty years, and was chair- man of the same during the canvass which elected Governor Fifer. He was a delegate to the National Convention in 1876, when
he voted for the nomination of James G. Blaine for President. As might be expected he was an interested member of the Grand Army of the Republic and was honored in the same by being elected department com- mander of Illinois for two terms. He was largely instrumental in 1882 in organizing the Southern Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Reunion Association, of which he continu- ously served as commander. In all the offi- cial positions, General Martin conducted himself as a most able and worthy exponent of the country's good, and proved at all times to be an unselfish public servant of the most humanitarian and altruistic mo- tives and principles.
The domestic life of our subject dates from 1852, when he was united in marriage with Jane Elston, of Salem, Illinois, to whom four children were born, three sur- viving. They are: Grace M., the wife of George O. Webster; Luther and John E. A complete history of the last child named is to be found on another page of this work. The subject's first wife passed to her rest in 1889, and in 1903 General Martin was married to Margaret Savage, of Ashland, Kentucky, who, with their daughter, Daisy, a cultured and refined lady, survive in 1908. Three brothers of the subject, Robert, Ben- jamin and Thomas, are also living in Salem.
Thus after a most active, useful and ex- emplary life which the kind Heavenly Father greatly prolonged he passed to his rest, November 20, 1907.
The city of Salem owes a great debt of gratitude to General Martin for he aided in
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many ways in its upbuilding and general development as he did also Marion county, where he was for many decades held in the highest esteem by all classes, for he was universally regarded as a hero both in war and in peace, one of the component parts of the nation's substantial pillars, and the rev- erence with which the citizens of this lo- cality cherish his memory will serve as a greater monument than marble shaft or bronze obelisk. He was truly a brave and good man whose life was a continued sacri- fice for others, a benefactor in the true sense of the term. His career was fraught with untold blessings to the world, and when in common with all things human his earthly course was ended and he was called to a higher plane of action, the memory of his noble deeds and honorable achievements continued to constitute a record to which each passing year will give additional luster.
J. D. TELFORD.
In such men as Mr. Telford there is pecu- liar satisfaction in offering their life his- tories justification for the compilation of works of this character-not that their lives have been such as to gain them particularly wide notoriety or the admiring plaudits of men, but that they have been true to the trusts reposed in them, have shown such attributes of character as entitle them to the regard of all.
J. D. Telford was born in Marion county,
Illinois, September 2, 1848. He is the son of Samuel G. Telford, a native of Jef- ferson county, Illinois. Grandfather James Telford, a native of South Carolina, came to Jefferson county as early as 1822, and moved to this county in 1836, when the father of the subject was nine years old, and like most of the sturdy pioneers of that early time, was compelled to undergo many pri- vations and do much hard work in estab- lishing a home, but being a man of sterling qualities and indomitable energy he con- quered the many obstacles that confronted him and led a useful and influential life as a farmer there, as did also his son, father of our subject, who seemed to inherit much of the older Telford's better traits, and, indeed, the family characteristics have come on down to our subject, who is carefully order- ing his life so as to carry out the early praiseworthy characteristics of his ances- tors. Samuel G. Telford spent his life on the farm, having lived on the same farm for sixty years. This was taken out of the new prairie land, but the wild soil was soon transformed into highly productive fields. He was a soldier in the Union army, having enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty- sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and ren- dered gallant service until the winter of 1864. He is still living in 1908 near Cartter, Marion county. The mother of the subject was called to her rest in 1882. Her maiden name was Mary Baldridge. She was a na- tive of Illinois, but her people came from North Carolina.
James Telford was an Abolitionist and
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was an historic character in his day, having played an important part in the famous un- derground railway when Illinois was ad- mitted as a free state in 1818. He came to this state because he was opposed to slavery. His wife's maiden name was Kell, and she was also a native of South Carolina. They were the parents of eight children, five of whom are living at this writing, the father of the subject being the only one of the boys living.
Samuel G. Telford and wife were the parents of nine children, named in the order of their birth as follows: J. D., subject of this sketch; Joseph, of Alma township, Marion county ; Margaret J., deceased ; Eva, who is married and living in Ashville, North Carolina; Alice, the wife of William Wyatt, of Durant, Oklahoma; Kate, wife of Doctor Richardson, of Union City, Okla- homa; George B., who is living in Kansas; Arthur, a farmer of Marion county; Belle, who became Mrs. Arnold, is deceased.
J. D. Telford, our subject, lived with his father until he was twenty-three years old, assisting with the work on the old home- stead and attending the country schools during the winter months. Having applied himself well to his text-books he became fairly well educated, and later has added to this by home reading and coming in contact with the world. The happy and harmonious domestic life of the subject dates from January 19, 1872, when he was united in marriage to Sarah A. Wyatt, the estimable daughter of John and Margaret Wyatt, a highly respected family of Marion county,
natives of Tennessee, who came to Marion county in 1860.
The following children have been born to the subject and wife, all of whom are well established in life and give promise of suc- cessful futures: Dr. A. T., who lives at Olney, Illinois; E. D., is an attorney at Salem, this county; Ula, is a stenographer in the Life Savings Station at Chicago; Omer F. is a farmer in Marion county ; Oran is a member of the family circle at their home in Salem, as is also J. D., Jr. The Telford residence is modern and always cheerful.
The subject is engaged in farming and real estate, largely interested in fruit grow- ing, at which he is highly competent, having long taken an abiding interest in horticul- ture. He has two large orchards containing six thousand and five hundred apple trees of excellent variety and quality. He de- votes much of his time to the care of his orchards, which are among the most valu- able in this part of the state, and useless to add that the financial returns from the sale of his fruit are usually quite satisfactory. Politically Mr. Telford is a stanch Repub- lican and having been actuated by a laudable desire for political preferment, his friends elected him to the important office of Sher- iff of Marion county, the duties of which he faithfully performed to the satisfaction of all concerned for a period of four years, having been elected in 1882 and serving until 1886. He is well grounded in his po- litical convictions, and always lends his aid in supporting his party's principles, en-
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deavoring to place the best men possible in local offices. He is a well informed man, not only on political matters and current events, but he is well read on scientific, liter- ary and diverse subjects which make his conversation interesting as well as instruc- tive, and he is generally regarded as one of the substantial men of Marion county.
BENJAMIN F. RODGERS, M. D.
In giving the life record of the subject of this sketch the publishers of this work be- lieve that it will be an incentive to the young who may peruse it to lead nobler lives, have higher ambitions and accomplish more for their fellow men, for his life has always been led along a plane of high en- deavor, always consistent with the truth in its higher forms and ever in keeping with honorable principles. He is the scion of pioneer ancestors of the most sterling qual- ities who did much in their day for the com- munities in which they lived, and Doctor Rodgers is a worthy descendant of his for- bears, thus for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he was one of the patriotic sons of the North, who, when the tocsin of war sounded, left his hearthstone and business to do what he could in saving the country from treason, the biographer is glad to give him just representation in this work.
Dr. Benjamin F. Rodgers was born in York, Pennsylvania, in 1829, the son of
Joseph D. and Mary (Hamilton) Rodgers. Grandfather Rodgers, who came to America in 1776, settling in Maryland, was a weaver by profession and a soldier in the Revolu- tionary war. He lived to be ninety-four years old, and the grandmother of the sub- ject lived to her ninety-sixth year. They were the parents of a large family.
The father of the subject, who was born in Maryland, moved to Pennsylvania when a boy, later to Ohio, where he spent the bal- ance of his days on a farm. There were eleven children in this family, six of whom lived to maturity. The subject's parents were Presbyterians and the father and moth- er both died at the age of sixty-four years.
The subject of this sketch was nine years old when he moved to Ohio, where he re- ceived a fairly good education by attending the subscription schools of his community. He clerked in a store in Ohio for two years, then learned to be a shoemaker ; but neither of these lines seemed to suit his tastes, be- lieving that he was capable of rendering a better service to humanity, consequently he began the study of medicine, in which he made rapid progress and he soon entered a medical college. After completing the pre- scribed course with honor, he began prac- tice in Ohio, and later located at Elizabeth- town, Kentucky, having soon gained a firm foothold. But believing that better oppor- tunities awaited him at Belleville, Illinois, he removed thereto in 1849, and afterwards removed to Jacksonville, and at that place the doctor enlisted in September, 1861, in the Union, enlisted in September, 1861, in
B. F. RODGERS, M. D.
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
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the Second Illinois Light Artillery, and so efficient were his services that he was com- missioned captain of Company K. His rec- ord in the army is a most creditable one. He was at the battle of Fort Donelson, at Jack- son, Mississippi, and was in the siege of Vicksburg. Engraved on a monument erect- ed at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in honor of Company K, Second Illinois Light Artillery, are the words :
"Battery K, Second Light Artillery, Capt. Benjamin Rodgers, "Fourth Division Sixteenth Corps.
"Entered Campaign About May 20, 1863. Served with the Division Dur- ing siege."
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