USA > Illinois > Clay County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 39
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 39
USA > Illinois > Marion County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 39
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Dr. Holt was born in Haines township, May 14, 1862, the son of Charles Wesley and Violindia (Wilkins) Holt. The father of the subject first saw the light of day in West Virginia, November 20, 1834, and was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Jack- son) Holt, the latter a native of South Caro- lina. Joseph, after going South, where he was married, settled in Virginia, and final- ly removed to Tennessee, where he lived until 1837, when he decided that he could better his condition by moving further west, and as a result, emigrated to Marion coun- ty, settling at Centralia. Later he took up his residence in Washington county, Il- linois, and remained there until the death of his wife, Elizabeth (Jackson) Holt, which occurred in 1847. After this sad event he went to Texas, and died there a few years later. The couple were survived by eleven children, Joseph, John, Eliza, Gordon W., Lee, Sarah J., Thomas J. Charles W., Nathaniel, Albert and Fletcher L.
Charles W. Holt, father of the subject, has spent all of his life in Marion county, Illinois. He was only three years old when the family removed to the state, making the trip with an ox team and pack horses. When a young man he worked on farms, and was employed at times as a laborer on public improvements. He helped to grade the Illinois Central road when it was con- structed, and this work was done with shov- els and wheel-barrows. Later he began farming for himself on forty acres in sec- tion 12, settling on his present farm in sec- tion 15, in 1865, which was almost an un- broken prairie at the time. This farm now consists of 220 acres of well tilled land.
The mother of the subject is a native of Marion county, being the daughter of Ben- jamin and Cloanna (Brewer) Wilkins, the latter a native of Kentucky. Her parents were early settlers of Marion county, and are both dead. The father and mother of the subject are members of the Baptist church at Pleasant Grove. Mr. Holt is a Democrat and has served in the capacity of school director. In connection with the cul- tivation of his farm, he gives considerable attention to stock breeding, raising a high grade of mules, horses, cattle, sheep, hogs. Dr. Holt, the subject of this sketch, lives on the farm with his father and mother, upon which is a building which is utilized by him as an office. He received a common school education, and in 1884 entered the St. Louis Medical College, and three years later graduated in medicine and surgery. He then returned to Illinois and began prac- ticing with Dr. A. P. Kell, at Fortville, but
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after a short time went to Xenia, Illinois, man, also natives of Switzerland, where where for one year he practiced with Dr. Shirley. At the end of that interval he re- turned to his father's farm, and since then has conducted his practice from that place.
In 1889 the subject was married to Josie Huff, who was born and raised in Haines township, and is the daughter of Thomas and Emma (Fulton) Huff. Seven children were born to the subject and his wife, six of whom survive. They are Hallie, Althia, Edna, Earl, Edgar, Ida and Roy. Althia is dead; Edna lives with her parents, and Hallie is a teacher in the Marion county schools. Dr. Holt is a member of the Ma- rion County Medical Society, and in politics he is a Democrat. He has served as School Director, and is a stockholder in a Salem bank. He has always taken a great interest in public affairs.
WILLIAM VAN ALMAN.
One of the owners of extensive farming interests in Richland county is the gentle- man whose name initiates this sketch, who resides in Preston township. His valuable property has been acquired through his own efforts-his persistency of purpose and his determination, and the prosperity which is the legitimate reward of all earnest effort is today his.
they lived and died. The father of the sub- ject was a farmer and died when the latter was ten years old, and he was only three years old, when his mother died. They were the parents of seven children, four girls and three boys, William being the youngest. He was reared in his native land and received a common school education. When nineteen years old he went through the regular drill required of all able bodied young men. He had left home when six- teen, having secured the required passport to leave his native section of Switzerland. He worked on farms and at dairy work for several years. In the latter part of 1849 in company with two older brothers and a cousin, he came to the United States in an old-fashioned sailing vessel, being fifty-four days making the ocean voyage, landing at New Orleans, where he says he saw his first "nigger." He came up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Louisville, Kentucky, where he arrived January 1, 1850. He soon went to Ripley county, Indiana, where his cousin lived, and in the following March went to Mount Vernon, Illinois. That same spring he came to Richland county, and went to work on a farm for seven dollars per month. He saved his money which he add- ed to what he had when he came to the United States. In 1852 he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Preston township, eighty acres of prairie and eighty acres of bottom land. He at once built a log cabin and began improving his place,
William Van Alman was born in Switzerland, July 5, 1828, the son of Christian and Anna (Milliman) Van Al- having bought a yoke of cattle and began
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breaking the prairie land, and being a hard worker, he was not long in making many changes on his farm. He bought more oxen and continued breaking land for his neighbors for ten years -. over one thousand acres in all. He operated a threshing ma- chine for thirty years, wearing out six ma- chines during that time, and doing a large and prosperous business in this line. He became prosperous and at one time owned three hundred acres. He is at this writing the owner of two hundred and fifty acres.
Olney was a hamlet of only a few houses -mean wooden structures-when Mr. Van Alman came here. William Van Alman was united in marriage October 7, 1862, to Elizabeth Mattingly, who was born in Jasper county, Illinois, the daughter of George and Elizabeth Mattingly. The sub- ject and wife are the parents of thirteen children, six of whom grew to maturity. They are, Matilda, Stephen, died when thir- ty-two years old; Charles, Emma is the wife of William Lamkin, who lives in Louis- ville, Kentucky; Fred W. is a farmer in Preston township; Louise is the wife of Ed. Williams, living on the old homestead.
Politically Mr. Van Alman is a Demo- crat, having always supported the principals of that party. He and his wife are mem- bers of the German Reformed church in Preston township.
Mr. Van Alman was the first person to break the banks of the Ambrose river to cross with a wagon in this section. He was the first person to subscribe fifty dollars for the construction of a bridge across this stream, where a ferry used to be main-
tained. He built the first ferry across the Ambrose river in the pioneer days; in fact, he built four ferries before a bridge was constructed. His name is associated with progress in the county of his adoption and among those in whose midst he has so long lived and labored, he is held in the highest esteem by reason of an upright life of fidel- ity to principles.
WILLIAM F. BUNDY.
Holding distinctive prestige among the enterprising citizens of Marion county, is William F. Bundy, whose record here briefly outlined, is that of a man who has been the architect of his own fortunes, a self-made man, who, by the exercise of talents with which nature endowed him, has successfully surmounted unfavorable environment and rose to the position he now occupies as one of the influential attorneys of the city hon- ored by his residence. He is a creditable representative of one of the old and highly esteemed pioneer families of southern Il- linois, and possesses many of the admirable qualities and characteristics of his sturdy ancestors who figured in the history of the early days in this section of the great Prairie state. Isaac Bundy, the subject's father, was born October 4, 1828, in Rac- coon township, this county, where he de- voted his manhood years to agricultural pursuits and became known as a most ex- emplary citizen, for many years a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, always doing his full share in the promotion and
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growth of his part of the county. On June er of the subject, was the daughter of Rev. 7, 1849, he was united in marriage with Amanda M. Richardson, after he had re- turned home from the Mexican war, in which he served with distinction, having en- listed in Colonel Newby's First Regiment, on June 8, 1847, and soon afterward began the long and arduous march from Kansas City, Missouri, to Albuquerque, New Mex- ico; after the close of hostilities, marching back over the same route. John A. Logan, afterwards a conspicuous general in the war between the states, was then a second lieu- tenant of Company H, of the famous First Regiment, which did such effective work in the land of the ancient Montezumas, in which regiment Mr. Bundy served until his honorable discharge on October 13, 1848, having been a member of Company C. This was usually referred to as the Illinois Foot Volunteer Regiment, in which General James S. Martin, whose sketch appears in this volume, was a private. Isaac Bundy was also in the Civil war, having enlisted as a private at Springfield, Illinois, Novem- ber 18, 1861, remaining at Camp Butler, near that city for a time. He was appointed chaplain, October 7, 1862, and after serving faithfully until October 24, 1864, resigned on account of illness and returned home in Raccoon township, where he spent the re- mainder of his life, passing to his rest De- cember 13, 1899, his death having been deeply lamented by the people among whom he had so long lived and by whom he was held in such high esteem.
Amanda M. (Richardson) Bundy, moth-
James I. Richardson, of the Methodist Eis- copal church, who came to this state in an early days, and for some time was presiding elder of the Southern Illinois Conference, of the above mentioned denomination, hav- ing been located at Salem, McLeansboro, Benton, Spring Garden, Central City and many other charges in the southern part of the state. Although his education was gained by the pine knot and tallow candle, with a short term in the common schools, he developed a strong mind, and this, coupled with an indomitable will, enabled him to sur- mount many obstacles and accomplish much good. He was a large man physically, hav- ing stood six feet two inches in height. Be- ing a strong Abolitionist, he took an active part in "underground railroad" work, as- sisting to free the negro from slavery when- ever an opportunity came. His talents at- tracted public attention wherever he went, and he was sought for positions of public trust and very ably served as a member of the sixteenth General Assembly, from Ma- rion county. Many of his associates in the House at that time later became noted in many walks of life. Reverend Richardson served in the Black Hawk war of 1832, hav- ing been a member of the Spy Battalion, Mounted Volunteers, under Capt. William Dobbins, which was mustered in June 17, 1832, taking part in the battle of Kellogg's Grove, eight days later, June 25th, under eral Atkinson, in which engagement this company had fourteen horses killed, six wounded and three captured. The Spy Bat-
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talion, which was first organized in Marion county, May 4, 1832, was mustered out on August 16th, following. For his war rec- ord, his political service and his ministry, covering a period of over thirty years, Rev- erend Richardson was a noted character in Southern Illinois.
The subject's paternal great-grandfather, Jonathan Bundy, was also a well known character in this part of the state in its earli- est pioneer period. He came from North Carolina in 1817, having made the trip over- land with his family, consisting of the fol- lowing sons: William, Robert, Frederick and John. William, who remained single all his life, was a soldier in the War of 1812, having fought at New Orleans, under Gen- eral Jackson. Robert and Frederick reared families, the descendants of whom still live in Marion county, among whom is Wil- liam K., the oldest son of Frederick Bundy. John Bundy's family consisted of five sons, namely : Isaac, Bailey, Alexander, George and Samuel.
To Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Bundy, parents of our subject, the following children were born: Elizabeth Jane, who married Noah E. Barr, is living near Salem, Dent county, Missouri, their family consisting of four boys and three girls; Asbury and Samuel both died in infancy; Laura Alice married James N. Adams, and they are the parents of four boys and one girl, namely: Ernest J. Sanford, James O., Rollin and Maud, all living in Centralia, with the exception of James O., who is living in Idaho. Willlam F., the subject of this sketch, was fifth in order of birth, having been born in Rac- party, and in the forty-third General As-
coon township, Marion county, Illinois, June 8, 1858. He was educated in Southern Illinois Normal University, at Carbondale, Illinois, and decided to study law. He was married to Mary E. McNally, daughter of James J. and Sarah A. (Carter) McNally. Mr. McNally was born in Ireland, Septem- ber 8, 1836. After coming to America, he located in New York state, and when the Civil war broke out he enlisted in the Thir- ty-fifth New York Infantry and later in the Twentieth New York Cavalry. In the latter he became second lieutenant in Company E. Mrs. McNally was born in Constableville, Lewis county, New York, April 16, 1843. She married Mc McNally September 21, 1862.
To Mr. and Mrs. William F. Bundy the following children have been born: Donald M. (deceased) ; Dorothy E., Sarah Pauline, and Margaret M.
Politically Mr. Bundy is a Republican, and he has been called upon to serve in va- rious official capacities, among which was that of City Attorney, also City Clerk of Centralia, for several terms each. When he was young in the practice of his profession he represented the Forty-second District of Illinois in the General Assembly in the House of Representatives, both in the forty- second General Assembly (1901 to 1903), and in the forty-third General Assembly, (1903 to 1905). During the forty-second General Assembly he was chairman of the important committee of Senatorial Appoint- ment and he was also a member of the Steering Committee of the Republican
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sembly he was chairman of the Committee on Judicial Department and Practice. Mr. Bundy took a very active part in the Legis- lature while a member and won a record of which anyone might be justly proud. He was a member of the Republican State Cen- tral Committee for the Twenty-third Con- gressional District of Illinois from 1906 to 1908. Under the appointment of the Gov- ernor, our subject is serving as one of the trustees of the Southern Illinois Normal University at Carbondale, his alma mater, having been appointed early in 1908. He has ever kept in touch with the interests of his city and county and is an ardent advo- acte and liberal patron of all worthy enter- prises, making for their advancement and prosperity. As a lawyer he is easily the peer of any of his professional brethren through- out the southern part of the state and the honorable distinction, already achieved at the bar is an earnest of the still wider sphere of usefulness that he is destined to fill, as he is yet in the prime of manhood and a close observer of the trend of the times and an intelligent student of the great questions and issues upon which the thought of the best minds of the world are centered.
CHARLES W. HOPKINS.
Charles W. Hopkins, retired hardware merchant of Clay City, Illinois, is well and favorably known at the present time as the owner of one of the "banner" farms, for-
merly the property of his parents, of Clay county. For fifteen consecutive years Clay City was the scene of his successful en- deavors as a hardware merchant. He has not yet reached his fiftieth year, and while he has already "made good" as a citizen and a business man, many years of in- creased prosperity await him in his farming pursuits.
The subject of our sketch was born in Mason county, West Virginia, on January 12, 1860, and was the son of William and Adriana (Donnelly) Hopkins. Both par- ents were natives of old Virginia, and came of good stock. William Hopkins married in his native state, resided on a farm there, and was a member of the convention called to partition the state into the present di- visions of east and west. He ran boats on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for thirty- five years. During that time he was cap- tain of "The Tigress," which General Grant pressed into service at Cairo, Illinois, dur- ing the progress of the Civil war. All through its meteoric career in the military service he remained its captain under com- mand of the gallant Grant. At Pittsburg Landing, Grant made his headquarters upon on the boat, and he and the elder Hopkins had many chats together. Later then ran the blockade at Vicksburg successfully, but when they had safely passed the last battery "The Tigress" sank, having been shot through the hull. At this time Captain Hopkins was home on a furlough, and ow- ing to the loss of his boat was discharged from the service. He then moved with his
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family to Illinois, and settled in Clay county, in the winter of 1865, having bought nearly one thousand acres of land. This he was easily able to do as at the time of his arrival in Illinois his capital amount- ed to something like seventy-five thousand dollars. He had previously sold a farm in Virginia for forty-three thousand dollars. The farm settled in Clay county is now the property of the subject of our sketch. In 1883 William Hopkins retired from his farming activities and moved with his fam- ily to Flora, Illinois, where he afterwards died on July 25, 1887, aged sixty-nine years. William Hopkins married three times. Our subject was the youngest of three children, and his mother died when he was only three years of age. One of his brothers, Andrew, by name, is now dead. His father afterwards married Marian Kel- ly, who died in 1873. Later he espoused Kate Wilson, who still continues to survive him. His second marriage brought Wil- liam Hopkins three children, all of whom grew to maturity though only one is now living. His third marriage brought him one son, Frank, who lives with his mother in Evansville, Indiana.
Charles W. Hopkins remained in the pa- rental home up to the time of his marriage which occurred on the 15th of March, 1883, with Mary E. Brissenden in Clay county, Illinois. For a mimber of years he lived on a farm near Clay City. In the spring of 1886, he and his wife removed to Fur- nas county, Nebraska, where he purchased a farm of three hundred and twenty
acres. There they remained three years, when Mrs. Hopkins returned to Clay coun- ty, Illinois, on a visit. There she died on May 25, 1887, being buried in the Clay City cemetery. Our subject soon sold his Nebraska property and went back to live in Illinois in the fall of 1888. His marriage resulted in the birth of two girls, Adrianna, now the wife of Clayson Black, of Clay City, who is engaged in the grocery busi- ness, and Sarah A., who lives at the family residence. Shortly after his return to Il- linois, Charles W. Hopkins engaged in the hardware business in Clay City, continuing in the same for fifteen years to a day. De- cember 24, 1889, he married Mary Barnes, of Clay county, where she was born April I, 1861. She was the daughter of Joseph and Ellen (Gardner) Barnes, natives of In- diana. They married in the Hoosier state and came to Illinois in 1857, settling in Clay county, where they remained until their deaths. Mrs. Barnes died December I, 1866, aged thirty-three years. Her hus- band married secondly Lou Chapman, a widow, but their married life was of short duration as she died within two years. Jo- seph Barnes died April 27, 1891, aged fifty- five years, and was buried in Xenia. His first wife was buried in Oskaloosa. They were the parents of five children, of whom two died in infancy, our subject's wife be- ing the third in order of birth.
Charles W. Hopkins sold his hardware business on February 19, 1904, remained in Clay City until April 29, 1906, and then moved to the old homestead of his parents,
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where he now lives. He owns approximate- ly five hundred and seventeen acres of some of the best land in Clay county. His pres- ent married life has also been a happy one, three children having been born to him; two boys and a girl-William B., Charles L. and Hazel-all of whom live at home with their parents.
Our subject has always been politically a Republican and has served as Supervisor, as member of the County Board in Clay county for two years, as President of the Town Board in Clay City for three terms. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Jefferson Lodge No. 1437, at Clay City. Mrs. Hopkins is a. member of the Methodist church in Clay City, and has always taken an active part in church af- fairs.
JOSEPH A. ENGLE.
The present Mayor of Claremont, Rich- land county, Joseph A. Engle, is a veteran of the Civil war. He was born December 12, 1829, in Vigo county, Indiana, and was the son of John and Hannah Engle. His father was a native of the Blue Grass state, coming from Kentucky to Indiana with his parents in early life. There they settled upon a farm in Vigo county, where subse- quently the older couple died. John Engle at the time of his marriage bought a farm of eighty acres in Parke county in the same state. The newly married couple remained there but a short time, returning to Vigo
county and purchasing a farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres. About this time Joseph A. Engle, the subject of our present sketch, was born. Later ninety-six acres adjoining land was added to the family property. Work upon the farm went on steadily with good results, and it became the permanent family residence. Here his father's death occurred in 1863, and his mother's the following year. At the time of his father's death he was in the army, but was home on wounded furlough when his mother's death took place. His parents are buried in Sulphur Springs Meeting- house cemetery, which is but a mile and a half from the farm where they died. Jo- seph worked manfully on the farm in early life and was of much assistance to his par- ents. In his youth the homestead was a log cabin and the land was in a very raw state. He helped materially to change the existing condition of affairs.
His mother was born on the Ioth of Jan- uary, 1812, and belonged to an old Indiana family. Up to the time of her marriage she lived with her parents on a farm on the banks of Deer creek in Perry county. Her father's death preceded her mother's by several years. During her married life she reared ten children, the oldest of which was Joseph.
In his sixteenth year Joseph A. Engle was apprenticed to the blacksmith trade in Terre Haute. At the end of his term he opened shop for himself, where he contin- ued to work and prosper until the outbreak of the Civil war. His business as a black-
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smith necessitated the use of three furnaces and the help of several skilled assistants. Plows were manufactured in his establish- ment and numerous wagons and buggies were quipped. At this period of his life his marriage with Rhoda C. Howell took place in February, 1851. His wife was born in the state. Her father died when she was quite young; her mother, whose maiden name was Gookins, survived him for sev- eral years.
His marriage resulted in a family of five children-three boys and two girls. Four grew to maturity, one child dying at the age of two years, while its father was away on active military service. His wife closed a happy life at the age of sixty-six on June II, 1897. She is buried at Sod- dom cemetery. Her children's names are: Olive, John H., Samuel A., William and Mary, who died in infancy, as above record- ed.
Joseph A. Engle in July, 1862, joined Company B, of the Eighty-fifth Regiment Indiana Volunteers, under Col. John P. Beard, in the western division of the army commanded by Sherman. His company moved to the front via Indianapolis, Cin- cinnati and Covington, his company first engaging the enemy at Thompson Station. Being unwell at this crucial period he did not participate, but his brother, who was also on the ground fought in the engage- ment. He was a flag bearer to the company and was captured, being immediately shipped to Libby prison, from which place he was later discharged on account of chronic sick-
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