USA > Illinois > Clay County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Marion County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 50
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HIGGINS' PIPE DREAM.
From the Olney Times of April 9, 1908.
"In the fall of '66 or '67 Bryant Higgins asked Wilson and Hutchinson for desk room in this office during the winter which request was granted. He was then always very busy, figuring and plotting. One day, when no one was in he asked if we
wanted to know what he had been doing, and, expressing our curiosity, he read us what we thought to be the wildest, weird- est and most improbable scheme ever pro- posed or ever dreamed of by a sane man. He proposed that the Russian government should build a railroad commencing at Orenberg on the Ural river, which is the dividing line between Europe and Asia, thence east to Harbin, thence build a branch south to Pekin, China. From Harbin, east to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Ocean, a dis- tance of six thousand miles. This road has been built exactly as mapped and planned by Higgins, except they ran the southern branch to Port Arthur, which at that time was unknown, and they ferry Lake Baikal, while Higgins mapped his road around the north shore.
"To meet this road he planned a road to start at Duluth, west to Seattle, north from Seattle to Cape Prince of Wales, north of the sixty-seventh degree, near the mouth of the Yukon river, along the trail now trav- eled to reach the Klondike; then across Beh- ring Strait, either by ferry or bridging into Asia. He said this bridging should be done with concrete cassions for piers from island to island, like that now being done on the Florida coast.
"He had a chapter on isothermal lines by the trend of which the Japan current he claimed Alaska was destined to become thickly populated; that strawberries grew and ripened on the Yukon bottoms and that river did freeze until one hundred and fifty miles from the mouth. You who are old
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enough to remember if you look back forty years, can see how wild I deemed this when it was first read to me. After a few days, I said: 'Bryant, what are you going to do with your scheme?' He did not know.
"At that time S. S. Marshall was the representative of our district in Congress. I proposed we should send it to him to see what he could do with it. Marshall sub- mitted it to the Russian minister at Wash- ington and that part pertaining to Russia, I was informed was translated and sent to the government of Russia, and I have no doubt was the origin of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Afterwards Marshall gave the papers to a member of Congress from New York. Shortly after Higgins received a long letter from Charles Villard, whom he had never heard of, and they had quite a corre- spondence. I read that Charles Villard de- manded of his friends ten million dollars in ten days ; no questions to be asked. He got the money and out of that grew the North- ern Pacific, the Oregon Short Line, and later the roads running up into Alaska through British Columbia, and now building to Behr- ing Strait. I had not thought of this matter for years until lately I met Higgins and asked him to allow me to record the ar- ticle over again, when he informed me he had sent the only copy he had ever made with all his maps and figures to Marshall.
ENTIRE SCHEME MAY BECOME A FACT.
"This scheme of Higgins' contemplated the building of miles of railroad starting at Duluth, crossing Behring Straits, and con-
necting on the Asiatic shore with the Rus- sian end, and thus giving an all rail route from any point in the United States to any point in Europe. Since then eleven thousand miles have been built and in a few years more Higgins' dream will be a reality by the completion of his entire proposition, even possibly of the bridging of Behring Strait.
"The best of prophets of the future is the prophet of the past. So far he has never been known as the originator of the idea, and it was a mere accident that brought it to my mind.
"E. S. WILSON."
"Since the above was put in print, one thousand five hundred miles more of rail- road in Siberia, running northeast from Vladivostok, has been opened up for traffic."
MAY-DAY PICNIC FORTY YEARS AGO.
Fifty years ago the following persons held a May-day picnic on Fox river, at Water- town. (Watertown has long since faded out) :
K. D. Horrall and Sarah Baird; Devius Baird and Rose McWilliams, Clark Richard and Lizzie Nesbit, Arch Spring and Mary Spring, J. H. Roberts and Manda Gunn, Frank Powers and Sue Hofman, S. P. Con- nor and Ella Hofman, T. W. Scott and Lib Hofman, Charles Hollister and Lib Corroth- ers, Dan Edmiston and Hetty Whitney, Bry- ant Higgins and S. E. Marney.
Of the above, Mr. Baird married Rose McWilliams, who is now deceased; Mr.
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Rickard married Miss Nesbit, both deceased; Mr. Roberts married Miss Gunn, the latter deceased.
Arch Spring and Miss Spring are living. Mr. Powers, now deceased, married Miss Hofman. He is dead. Mr. Connor married Ella Hofman. She is dead. Lib Hofman is dead. Charles Hollister was killed at Cor- inth, October 5, 1862. K. D. Horrall mar- ried Miss Baird. Dan Edmiston married Miss Whitney. Both are dead. The writer married Miss Marney, and of the couples here mentioned, eight married and of the eight, the writer and his wife, K. D. Horrall and his wife, are all that are now living, who were afterward married.
CHARLES DEAN.
Americans are not hampered by the shackles of class distinction and it is every one's privilege to build the structure of his life as he sees fit. This gives us what is often termed the self-made man, a good ex- ample of which is found in the subject of our sketch, Charles Dean, of Alma township, Marion county. Mr. Dean is a descendant of that sturdy type of pioneers that pushed westward along the highway marked out by Daniel Boone in the early days of our country's history. His father, Samuel Dean, was a native of Maryland, and his mother, Cerena (Bishop) Dean, was born in Tennessee. When he was quite young his mother died, leaving the father surviving with several children. Thrown largely upon
his own resources thus early in life, the boy developed that spirit of self-reliance and energy that forms such a marked character- istic of the self-made American.
In 1875 Mr. Dean was married to Sarah E. Rush, who was born in Marion county, Illinois, November 14, 1851. She was the daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Hatfield) Rush, the latter still living at the age of seventy-three years, in 1908.
Mr. and Mrs. Dean have become the par- ents of three children, two of whom, Dollie and Daisy, died when quite young; the third, Noah, is now a practicing physician at Alma. As a boy he showed a keen in- terest in his studies and manifested consid- erable aptitude for the study of natural phenomena.
As he approached manhood he decided to make medicine his profession, and his suc- cess in this field demonstrated his fitness for his chosen calling. He resolved to pursue his medical studies at some school of un- impeachable reputation, and finally entered the Iowa State Medical College, Keokuk, Iowa. Here he applied himself so vigorous- ly that he soon attracted the interest of the instructors and won the admiration of his classmates. His previous experience of four years as a teacher in the Marion county public schools, gave him a broad founda- tion for his later efforts and he finished his work with a standing of third in the gradu- ating class. Since establishing himself in practice he has joined in marriage to Miss Ester Delassus, of Patoka, a lady of most excellent culture and accomplishments.
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As a result of his years of hard and steady work, Charles Dean has brought his farm of eighty acres to a high degree of productiveness and has gained a wide repu- tation as a stockdealer, rivaling in this re- spect the excellent reputation of his father before him. Although a Democrat in poli- tics, Mr. Dean has never given any atten- tion to questionable political methods, stand- ing at all times for a square deal for every- body concerned. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Methodist denomination and are held in high esteem by both neighbors and friends.
WILLIAM H. LESEMAN.
From many parts of the world people have come to enjoy the advantages of the great state of Illinois, and few have re- gretted their corning. Although the per- centage of Prussians, compared with the number of inhabitants of that country and the number of immigrants from her sister nations who have settled in the land of the free, is not large, those found in this state are most progressive and they are always regarded as loyal and law-abiding citizens. The subject of this sketch is no exception to the general rule.
William H. Leseman was born in Price Ninon, near Backonen, Prussia, October 10, 1834, and when ten years of age was brought to America by his parents in 1843, first settling in Washington county, this
state, but not finding conditions exactly to their tastes there, finally came on to Marion county, where they located in August of 1884, and where they soon became assim- ilated with the new conditions and civiliza- tion, developing a good farm from the un- improved soil which they secured.
Our subject is the son of Henry and Christina Leseman, whose family consisted of three sons and an equal number of daughters, William, our subject, having been the second in order of birth. He is the only one of the family now living.
After receiving what education he could in the common schools of this county and working on his father's farm until he had reached manhood, our subject married Catherine Dewyer June 18, 1862, and soon thereafter began to work for himself on the farm. James and Catherine Dewyer were the parents of our subject's wife. There were eight children in this family, an equal number of boys and girls, Catherine, the wife of the subject, being the youngest and the only one of the children now living.
The following children have been born to our subject and wife, there being eight, seven of whom are still living; Eddie, de- deased; Katie, Henry, James, Albert, Wil- liam, Alice and Walter.
Mr. Leseman is the owner of one hun- dred and sixty acres of very fertile land, lo- cated in Alma township, all under a high state of cultivation. He carries on a general farming with that discretion and energy that always insure success and as a result of his able management of the place he
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reaps excellent harvests from year to year, they came to Illinois and bought thirty-seven making a comfortable living, and laying up an ample competency for his old age. He keeps his fields in an excellent condition, carefully rotating his crops and thereby re- taining the original richness of the soil. He has a good and comfortable dwelling which is nicely furnished, and also a good barn, and considerable farming machinery, and good stock. All this he has made himself by his own energy and wise economy.
In politics our subject is a loyal Repub- lican and takes a great interest in political affairs. In his religious belief he seems to favor the Methodist denomination, how- ever, his parents were always Lutherans in the Fatherland. The faith of the subject's wife's people was that of the Catholic be- lief, however, they later turned Protestant, and are now Methodists. Our subject has always been known as a man of honesty and integrity and he has many friends in his community as a result of his well regulated life.
STEPHEN SNUFFIN.
Mr. Snuffin is well known and respected in German township, where for many a day he has lived and prospered. He was born on November 22, 1846, in Union county, Ohio, being the son of Levi and Cathiryne (Clark) Snuffin. His father was born and reared in Ohio and his mother was a native of Ken- tucky. Their marriage took place in Ohio, where they lived on a farm until 1860, when
acres of land in German township, for which they paid about ten dollars an acre. It was prairie land, unimproved, but well fenced. Levi Snuffin built a plank house upon the land and other buildings, and put the land into a state of cultivation. Here he remained and died at the age of sixty-two, being buried in Stolz cemetery in German township. Mother Snuffin survived for several years, dying June 20, 1906, aged eighty-five years ; she is also buried in Stoltz cemetery. They were the parents of eleven children, nine of whom grew to maturity, the subject being the third in order of birth.
Stephen Snuffin remained with his parents until his marriage. When the Civil war broke out he was but seventeen years old, and, filled with the martial fervor of the time, he stealthily left home one morning at three o'clock, with the intention of enlisting at Ol- ney, but his father put a bar to his military career by reaching Olney in time to com- pel him to return home. Stephen's marriage took place on April 14, 1867, when he mar- ried Margaret Stoltz. She was born No- vember 23, 1847, in Richland county, Illinois, being the daughter of Henry and Savilla (Peoples) Stoltz. Her father was a native of Illinois, having been also born in Richland county. Her mother belonged to a Kentucky family, coming to Illinois with her parents when she was about three years old. Her mother and father, on their marriage, settled on a farm in German township, where they remained several years. They then sold their land and bought nineteen acres in ancther lo-
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cation in German township, which, at the husband and therefore did not receive an ex- time of their deatlis, contained over one hun- tended education. dred acres. Mrs. Stoltz died in August, 1872, In politics Stephen Snuffin is an uncompro- mising Republican and has taken quite an ac- tive part in politics in German township. He served as a county road supervisor for sev- eral terms. He never aspired to hold any po- litical offices and has contented himself as a worker in the cause. aged fifty years. Henry Stoltz died in March, 1900, aged seventy-five. Both were buried in Stoltz cemetery, German township. They were the parents of ten children, Mrs. Snuf- fin being second in order of birth. An elder brother served in the Civil war in the Fifth Illinois Cavalry, having died at Vicksburg from small-pox while in service.
Stephen Snuffin and his wife at the time of their marriage, settled on a farm in Richland county, and although they have moved sev- eral times since then, they have never left the county. During their married life six chil- dren have been born to them, two of whom are now dead. In the regular order the chil- dren were named: Henry C. (deceased) ; Ella S., Alvord, Edgar (deceased) ; Edwin. Samuel married Della Jeffries, now deceased. His wife is buried in Kirksville, Illinois, and he has no living children. Ella married War- ren Musgrove. They reside on a farm near Electra, Texas, and have four children; two boys and two girls: Lawrence, Lex, Maurice and Ethel. Alvord and Edwin Snuffin are un- married.
The subject of our sketch received but a limited education in his young days. He attended the free common schools in German township, but owing to the necessary work to be done on the farm his attendance was anything but regular. He, however, mas- tered reading, writing and spelling. Mrs. Stephen Snuffin in her young days had edu- cational difficulties very similar to that of her
In the religious world, while he and his family are not members of any particular church, they have always attended the Meth- odist services and have liberally contributed to the support of the same church.
The home life of Mr. and Mrs. Snuffin is very peaceable and happy, the children they have reared being a constant and unfailing source of satisfaction to them.
GEORGE W. CAMPBELL.
One of Xenia's most prosperous mer- chants is Mr. Campbell, who needs no intro- duction to the people of his township and county. During the years of his residence, from the close of the Civil war when he, with nothing more than half a dollar in his pocket, arrived in the township to the pres- ent time, his progress has been marked and rapid. A veteran of that war, his life uncov- ers one of those unhappy family tragedies which that crisis in our hstory brought about, especially in the states of Virginia nad Mary- land, when the spectacle of father and son taking different sides in the quarrel was seen.
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George W. Campbell fought and bled for the Union, and his career in a business sphere since that time has been another suc- cessful struggle.
He was born in Virginia on August 18, 1843, the son of George Campbell and Amanda Wilcox, his mother, a native of Pennsylvania. His grandparents on his fa- ther's side were of Scotch-Irish descent and came to this country from Scotland. His father migrated to Virginia where he mar- ried and followed the occupation of a farmer. When the war broke out the elder George espoused the Southern cause, becoming a member of the Eighth Confederate Cavalry, and, having gone through the conflict died at Rock Island, Illinois, some years after. His wife died in 1878.
George W. Campbell, at the outbreak of the war, was a member of the First Virginia, later the Ninth Virginia Volunteers, who supported the Northern banner, and this placed father and son in different camps. On account of his fighting against the Confed- eracy he was harshly dealt with by his par- ents who forbid him to return to the paternal home. His father was a prosperous farmer and upon his death the management of his estate falling to his wife, she disinherited her son George W.
Our subject saw four years' service in the Civil War, engaging in thirty battles, be- ing twice wounded and twice taken prisoner. He was wounded at the battle of Sumner- ville, being shot in the thigh, and again at Sugar Creek, a ball entering his foot. In this last engagement the Union forces suffered
defeat in the morning, completely turning the tables in the afternoon when they com- pletely routed the enemy.
George W. Campbell came to Xenia almost absolutely penniless, after doing a man's part to preserve the consolidation of his country, in the winter of 1867. He obtained work as a painter and afterwards learned carpentry and the cabinet-making trade. About thir- ty-six years ago he started in the undertaking and furniture business. Ever since he has engaged in that line his success has been marked. He met with trials and setbacks during the early period of his business life but they were of a temporary nature and nev- er obstructed his steady prosperity.
He married on September 6, 1874, Addie Morris, a lady whose parents came from Ohio, bringing her with them when she was but three years old. Mrs. George W. Camp- bell bore her husband one son, William, who has been a constant source of comfort to his parents during their life. He is a licensed embalmer and is associated with his father in business. Some years ago he marred Ada Corson, of Xenia. They have two children.
Mr. Campbell is a Democrat in politics and a sturdy adherent of the Democratic ticket. He has never been ambitious to hold public office, but he has served for a time as Mayor and Alderman. George W. Campbell and his wife are members of the Baptist church and zealous in church affairs. He is, himself, a prominent member of the Masonic Fra- ternity in Xenia and a leading member of the local branch of the Grand Army of the Re- public.
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George W. Campbell, in addition to his large mercantile business, is a large real es- tate owner in Xenia, and the owner of resi- dential as well as business property. His store is a spacious one, being eighty feet by thirty-five feet, the business being conducted on two floors.
The subject of our sketch is deservedly popular with the people of every creed and class in the community, and the well merited success he has won during the course of an eventful life is but his just deserts.
WILLIAM THOMAS WILKINSON.
In the subject of this review we have a representative of one of the most honored pioneer families in Marion county and one who is recognized as one of the most pro- gressive farmers of his locality, owning and operating in a most successful manner at this time three farms of great value. He is regarded by all who know him as being a most capable and energetic man, broad minded and sound in his business principles.
third in order of birth. Our subject's mother's name in her maidenhood was Har- riet A. Nichols. She married H. C. Wil- kinson in Marion county, Illinois.
Our subject spent his early life on the home farm and attended the district schools where he applied himself in an able manner and gained a fairly good education.
Mr. Wilkinson has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and he has been emi- nently successful in his chosen work, hav- ing by sheer force of individuality, business acumen and persistency won his way from an humble beginning to a place of promi- nence and comparative affluence in his county, owning three farms, consisting col- lectively of three hundred and sixty-eight acres. One hundred and forty acres is in Meacham township, one hundred and forty acres in Alma township and sixty-eight acres in Kinmundy township. All these farms are under a high grade of cultivation and yield the owner a comfortable compe- tency from year to year. They all show that the owner is a man of the best modern methods of agriculture. On each of these is located a good house and out buildings. Mr. Wilkinson has various kinds of good stock on the farms.
William Thomas Wilkinson was born in Meacham township, this county, January 21, 1859, the son of H. C. Wilkinson, who Mr. Wilkinson married Prudence Kenedy on August 17, 1882, in Marion county, Illi- nois. She is a native of Washington county and the daughter of James P. and Elizabeth (McBride) Kenedy, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Ran- dolph county, Illinois. The wife of the sub- was born in Kentucky in 1825, and who passed to his rest at the early age of forty- six years, but not until he had stamped his individuality upon the community where he lived. He was the father of seven children, three sons and four daughters, three of whom are now living, the subject being the ject was one of a family of eleven children,
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she being the eighth in order of birth. Her parents were United Presbyterians but she worships with her husband, as do all the family, in the Methodist church, of which Mr. Wilkinson is a steward.
The following children have been born to the subject and wife: Bert E. is a tele- graph operator in Wyoming in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad; Claude E., Jennie P., Charles H., Irene. Bert E. mar- ried Alice Hiddleson, living in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and they have one child. Claude E. married Stella Danison. Jennie P. mar- ried John R. Telford, who lives in Kin- mundy township. Claude is a teacher in the county schools, and he farms one of his father's places. He has a good wife and a nice home. He was educated in the Kin- mundy high school.
Our subject is a loyal Democrat, and he has faithfully and conscientiously served his community as Township Collecter and as Road Commissioner for three terms. He has always taken a deep interest in public affairs and his support can always be counted on in all movements looking to the general good of the locality where he lives. Considering the hardships and obstacles of his early life he deserves a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished, for his father died when he was fourteen years old and he and John H., his brother, had to help their mother raise the rest of the children. This developed a strong independent and sturdy manhood and a frugal and thrifty mentality which is very largely re- sponsible for his subsequent success in life.
Prosperity seems to have attended every worthy effort he has made, with the result that before the evening of life advances upon him he finds himself and family very comfortably situated, and the future, what- ever it may have in store for him and his, inspires no shadow of fear in his breast.
JOHN A. PEIRCE.
Who is there who is not proud of his fam- ily tree, be it of ever so short a growth? A great many find a fascinating pleasure in looking back over the vista of the years with their memories of Plymouth Rock and Revo- lutionary struggles to trace their line of an- cestry through the labyrinths of history. The family memory of the subject of the present sketch runs back to the sixteenth cen- tury when its originators emigrated from England, and some members of his family hold an heirloom in the form of a Bible print- ed in 1608, the pages of which have been thumbed by succeeding generations of the Peirce family down to the present time. John A. Peirce, the member of the family whom we wish to refer to at present, however, is not content to allow the memory of the past to overshadow the future. As a practical and industrious skilled mechanic he has upheld the family tradition of progress and push, and the activity of his life has won him a front place in the industrial world. His busi- ness today is the best equipped on the Balti- more & Oliio Railroad line of any of its kind between St. Louis and Vincennes.
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