USA > Illinois > Clay County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 67
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 67
USA > Illinois > Marion County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 67
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Col. Napoleon B. Morrison was born in Waterford, Vermont, Februray 12, 1824. and reared in New Hampshire by sturdy
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New England parents. He is the son of Moses F. and Zilpha (Smith) Morrison. Grandfather Morrison was of Scotch-Irish lineage from Londonderry, Ireland, who set- tled in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Our subject is a direct descendant of Samuel Morrison, who was a charter member of Londonderry. Grandfather Smith was a Revolutionary soldier. He was born in New Hampshire, where he spent his days on a farm. He had eight children, seven boys and one girl; all lived to maturity.
The subject's father was a graduate of Dartmouth College and became a physician, devoting his entire life to practice, having remained in the eastern states. He was an extensive writer and was assistant geologist of the state of New Hampshire. A number of his manuscripts are yet in perfect condi- tion, and they are considered of much value. He lived to be about seventy years old. He was a Christian man of advanced thought and culture, who could not be tied down to any dogma or creed. He followed his pro- fession with energy, enthusiasm and love, love for the science and love for the pa- tients, therefore he not only became well grounded in his profession but had hosts of loyal friends. He endeavored to discover the cause of disease and treat it from that standpoint.
Eight of his children grew to maturity. Two died in infancy. They followed the various avocations of educated men.
The subject of this sketch first attended the public schools in New Hampshire, later went to the academy at Newburry, Ver-
mont, where he prepared for college. He then took a course in civil engineering which profession he followed for a period of twenty years with great success in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Ohio and Illinois. In 1849 and 1850 he surveyed and located the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad from Chillicothe to Cincinnati, Ohio, which has since been absorbed by the Baltimore & Ohio Railway, and became a part of that great system. It is now known as the Bal- timore & Ohio Southwestern.
In 1862 he settled in Odin, Marion county, where he has lived ever since. Twenty-three years ago, from 1908, he opened the coal mine here which has been running successfully all the time since, and it has been under his immediate manage- ment ever since it was started. It is incor- porated and our subject has been the presi- dent from the start. The capacity is one thousand tons daily. Last year the mine produced two hundred and forty thousand tons. It is operated with two hundred miners and is always a very busy place.
The coal produced here is of a very high grade and always finds a ready market. Colonel Morrison also has large farming in- terests in this county, and an excellent stock ranch. He breeds high grade cattle, having some thoroughbreds. His cattle are usu- ally fattened on grass for the market, and no small portion of his yearly income is de- rived from his shipments of live stock which always demand high prices owing to their fine quality. His farms are kept in a high state of improvement and are up-to-date in
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every respect, showing that a man of un- usual soundness of judgment has their man- agement in hand.
Colonel Morrison has frequently been called upon to display his innate ability in public offices, having faithfully served for twelve years as Police Judge, and he served his people in a most praiseworthy manner in the legislature for two terms, during which time he won an enviable reputation as a law maker, and his advice and sound counsel were always listened to with the greatest re- spect by his colleagues in the house.
Colonel Morrison likes to tell of the early days. When he was born there was neither mill nor railroad in his section of the state. He was three years old when the first stone was hauled to build the Bunker Hill monu- ment. The entire railroad and telegraph system has been built up since he can re- member. He was in Chicago when the con- tract was let for building the Illinois Central Railroad. Mr. Morrison will soon be eighty- five years old, and is as active and hale as ever, being as active in his business manage- ment as at any time during his life. He built the first dwelling house in Odin. He has seen land sell under the government for twenty-five cents per acre that is now worth two hundred dollars per acre. He has long been actively associated with the locating and building of railroads, and is an enthu- siastic believer in the useful results obtained by means of railroad facilities.
Colonel Morrison's married life dates from 1853, when he was united in the bonds of wedlock with Lavinia M. Smart, daugh-
ter of Judge Hugh and Elizabeth (Hughes) Smart, of Ohio. Six children have been born to Colonel Morrison and wife as fol- lows: Sadie; Jean, who is the wife of Hamilton Rapp, of Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is an architect, plans and superintends the territorial buildings. Jessie, the sub- ject's third child, is deceased; Helen is the wife of Doctor Fyke, of Centralia, Illinois, and the mother of three daughters, Jean, Helen and Lavinia; Charles Hugh has charge of the coal mine and its interests, and is general manager of his father's business. He was a student of the State University at Champaign, Illinois, and as a business man he ranks high in the county, being well and favorably known to the business world; Vedie, the subject's sixth child, is deceased.
When Colonel Morrison came to Illinois there were neither settlements nor settlers in this part of the commonwealth on all of the broad prairies. From 1892 to 1898 he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, and was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. After an investigation he found there was but one professor and four students in the agricul- tural college of the state of Illinois. He at once set about remedying this condition, and it was due to his agitation and efforts that this department was brought up to its present day state of efficiency, it being rec- ognized at present as one of the most effect- ive departments of the State University. He has on his own farm an experimental sta- tion which is conducted under the supervis- ion of the Agricultural College at
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Champaign, and also of the agricultural department at Washington. He has as a result of his faithful work, been invited to accompany special trains which have trav- eled over all the trunk lines in Illinois, giv- ing lectures and practical demonstrations of the excellent work which has been accom- plished at the college. On the Illinois Cen- tral road he also visited the states of Missis- sippi and Louisiana in this capacity.
SIDNEY BREEZE.
Notwithstanding the fact that the life his- tory of the man whose name appears above has been closed by the hand of death, his influence still permeates the lives of those he came in contact with. His was a life of noble deeds and consistency to the truth in all its phases.
Sidney Breeze was born in Rome town- ship, Jefferson county, Illinois, February 15: 1842, and he passed to his rest July 2, 1889. He was the son of Owen and Margaret (Falkner) Breeze, the former a native of Indiana, and the latter of Kentucky. Owen Breeze came to Illinois when a young man, with his parents, and settled in Rome town- ship, Jefferson county, being among the pio- neers of that district. They engaged in farming, and both died in Grand Prairie township. They were the parents of three children. Martha Jane, who married Henry West, is living in Irvington, Illinois; Sid- ney, our subject; Harriet, who married Joseph Boles, of Jefferson county, this state.
Mr. Breeze, our subject, attended the
country schools, and the subscription schools and lived at home until his marriage, No- vember 26, 1863, to Maria Stonecipher, who was born October 14, 1843, in Harri- son county, Indiana, and a daughter of Ja- cob and Sarah (Riley) Stonecipher, the former having been born in Harrison coun- ty, and the latter of North Carolina. The Stoneciphers are of German descent, and the Rileys of Irish ancestry. Jacob and Sarah Stonecipher were the parents of six chil- dren, namely: William, a retired farmer, living in Centralia township; Franklin died during the Civil war, having been a mem- ber of Company H, Forty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. His death occurred in Tennessee. Sarah, the third child, married James Steward, of Centralia, Illinois. Henry and Etta, the fourth and fifth children, are twins. Henry is in the West. Etta is de- ceased. Marion was the second child in order of birth.
To our subject and wife eight children have been born, namely : Oscar L., a farmer in Jefferson county, Illinois; Alva, a hostler for the Illinois Central Railroad, living in Centralia, Illinois ; Gilla died April 5, 1884; Julia Ann married James Holland and is liv- ing in Centralia; Clara died June 11, 1900; Lawrence died September 14, 1875; Albert is living in Jefferson county, Illinois, on a farm; Zina, a farmer and clerk, is living at home.
The subject's children were educated in the home schools. Zina not only attended the home schools, but he also attended school at Jackson, Tennessee, in the South- western Baptist University, where he made
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a splendid record for scholarship. He has always remained at home with his parents. He clerked in a most successful manner in a store at Walnut Hill, and he has been equal- ly successful as a farmer.
After his marriage Sidney Breeze lived in Grand Prairie township, Jefferson county. In 1866 he moved to Rome town- ship, Jefferson county, Illinois. He bought a farm consisting of five hundred acres in one body, and he was a most successful agricul- turist, being known as a man of good judg- ment and industrious habits. In 195 the family moved to Walnut Hill, where they have since resided. They still own the old homestead. The subject was a loyal Re- publican, but he never aspired for office. Both he and his estimable wife were mem- bers of the Christian church for many years, and were always active in church work. Mr. Breeze is remembered as a man of gentle disposition which won him hosts of friends. In his fraternal relations he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having belonged to this order for a period of twenty-five years, lodge No. 710, Walnut Hill, and he took a great deal of interest in lodge work. He was a useful man, and his good deeds and honorable life will long be remembered by the people of Marion county.
WILLIAM A. HARTLEY.
The subject of this sketch wears the proud title of one of the "boys in blue", a title that anyone might justly be proud to
bear, for such privilege does not come to many men in a country, and we of the after- math are glad to respect those of this class, but this is not the only reason why the sub- ject of this sketch is entitled to representa- tion in a work of this nature, having been a man of industry, honesty and influence during his long life in Marion county.
William A. Hartley was born in Jefferson county, Grand Prairie township, February 25, 1841, the son of Hugh Hartley, who was born in 1805, and who married Nancy Huckleberry. The former was a native of Virginia and the latter of Indiana. William Hartley, the subject's grandfather, a shoe- maker by trade, was a native of Virginia, having been born and grew up in Monon- gahela county. In 1816 he came to Clark county, Indiana, and later moving to Charlestown, Indiana, where he died in 1844. Then Hugh Hartley, the subject's father, came to Jefferson county in 1839. He was married in Indiana. He purchased two hundred acres of wild land in Grand Prairie township. He improved the place and lived there until his death in 1871. His wife died in 1896, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years.
In early life he devoted his time to shoe- making. He was in Chicago when city lots were selling for five and ten dollars each. He served during the Black Hawk war of 1832 in Arkansas, where he remained until the close of hostilities. He was a great reader and debater. He was an active Dem- ocrat, although he never held office. He was a member of the Methodist church, and
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was well known and highly respected by all who knew him. Nine children were born to the parents of the subject as follows: John W., who was in the Mexican war dur- ing the second year of the war for one year. He was in Company H, Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the second year of the Civil war, having been lieutenant in General Palmer's regiment, having served two years when he lost his voice and was compelled to resign. He was the first City Marshal of Decatur, Illinois, and lived there the rest of his life. He was also the first man to run a bakery in that city. He died there in 1901. The second child was named Mary Ann and is deceased; James R. is living in Grand Prairie township, Jefferson county, Illinois. He was formerly a teacher and painter by trade. He was in Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, having served over one year. Martha J., who died in November, 1904, remained single and lived at home. Alfred died in infancy; Hugh, the sixth child, learned the bricklayer's trade. He made a trip overland by Pike's Peak to Cal- ifornia and was there two years. After he returned he went to Louisiana. He was in the Confederate army, and died three months before the close of the war, having been buried at Richmond, Virginia. Wil- liam A., our subject, was the seventh child in order of birth; Clara, who became the wife of Rev. J. C. Baldridge, a Methodist minister, is deceased. He lives in Chicago. Andrew J. lives at Irvington, Illinois, and is a stock dealer and engaged in farming.
The subject was educated in the home schools. After he left school, Mr. Hartley was one of the brave sons of the North, who offered his services in suppressing the re- bellion, having enlisted August 18, 1861, in Company C, Eleventh Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, at Centralia as a private. He was sent to Bird's Point, Missouri, remaining there until February 5, 1862, where he was drilled. He then went to Fort Henry, ten- nessee, remaining there four days, when he marched to Fort Donelson and was in the battle there, the regiment he was in losing six hundred men out of seven hundred and fifty in killed, wounded and prisoners. He was at Fort Donelson until the middle of March, 1862, when he went to Shiloh, and was in that battle. He was wounded April 6, 1862; he was shot through the right shoulder and was sent to a hospital in Tennessee. He ran off from there and went back to his regiment and the captain ordered him back to the hospital. He was later sent home, where he remained until in August, 1862, when he went back to his regiment, remaining until November 20th, following when he was discharged at Cairo, Illinois, after which he returned home. His health was poor and in the spring of 1863 he went to Memphis, Ten- nessee, where he clerked in a wholesale house, where he remained until the follow- ing October, when he returned home and began teaching school at Grand Prairie township, Jefferson county, devoting the following thirty years to teaching in that county, and the following ten years to teach-
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ing in Marion county, mostly in Centralia township, having taught fourteen terms in one district. He became well known as an able instructor and his services were in great demand. In 1889 he moved to Walnut Hill, Illinois, where he taught in the winter and worked in a store during the summer months, having worked five years for D. B. Kell.
Our subject was united in marriage April 27, 1865, to Rebecca J. Boggs, a native of North Carolina, the daughter of Joseph B. and Mary (Wyant) Boggs, both natives of North Carolina. Mr. Boggs came to Marion county, Illinois, and settled in Rac- coon township in 1858. Both he and his wife are now deceased.
One son has been born to the subject and wife, namely: George, who was born March 16, 1866. He was educated in the home schools, and is in the Sentinel office at Centralia, Illinois. He married Flora Pierson ; they have one son, William A.
Mr. Hartley has been Supervisor for four- teen years and in the spring of 1908 he was re-elected for two years. He was clerk of the town of Grand Prairie, and was Jus- tice of the Peace at Walnut Hill for six years. He has always been an active work- er in the Republican ranks. In his fraternal relations he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Walnut Hill, having joined the lodge there in 1882. He has held all the offices and attended the Grand Lodge. He is also a member of the American Home Circle, also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic No. 600 at
Walnut Hill, of which post he is now adju- tant, having held all the offices in this post. The subject and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, having been identified with the same for the past forty years. Mr. Hartley has been industrious and success has attended his efforts, and he has become widely known.
FRANCIS M. BATES.
The subject of this sketch is one of the sterling citizens of Centralia township, Ma- rion county, where he has long maintained his home near Walnut Hill, being known as one of the progressive men of the com- munity and always interested in movements looking toward the development of the same.
Francis M. Bates was born in Jefferson county, Illinois, in Rome township, May 15, 1841, the son of James and Elizabeth (Bostwick) Bates, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Maryland. The father grew up in Maine and was well edu- cated. He left that state when a young man and went to Ohio, where he engaged in farming, having devoted his life to the farm. Later he went to St. Clair county, where he bought land and where he lived for several years. Then he went to Jeffer- son county, Illinois, in the early thirties ; he got a farm there in Rome township, and settled on land which he purchased for one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. His
37
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND REMINISCENT HISTORY OF
death occurred there in 1860, and his wife Chester, Illinois; Mary married Joseph died in 1873. He held no offices, but was Root a farmer of Centralia township; Wal- ter is a farmer in Raccoon township, this county ; Flora married Irvin Smith and is living in Centralia township; Mettie is the wife of J. Smith, of Centralia township; Homer is a miller living at Shattuc, Il- linois. an old-line Whig and later a Republican. He was a member of the Baptist church, and she of the Methodist church. They were the parents of thirteen children, name- ly : Benjamin, James, Sarah A., Belle, George, Francis, Wesley, Mary J. Five children died in infancy.
The subject of this sketch attended the home schools, principally subscription schools. He remained at home until he was twenty years old, when he married on Feb- ruary 20, 1861, to Nancy Martin, a native of Bedford county, Tennessee, and a daughter of Willis and Jane (Stamper) Martin, both of Bedford, Tennessee. They grew up in that country, and were married there. They came to Jefferson county, Illinois, where Mr. Martin secured wild land and settled near Mt. Vernon. He was one of the brave "boys in blue," having enlisted ยท in the One Hundred and Tenth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry. He fell sick at Nashville, Tennessee, died and was buried in the Na- tional cemetery in 1863. His wife survived until 1893. Nine children were born to them, six of whom grew to maturity, namely: Nancy, William, Mary, James, John, Martha.
Fourteen children, nine of whom reached maturity, were born to the subject and wife as follows: William, a miller, liv- ing in Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Spencer is a miller at Walnut Hill, Illinois; Luther is a blacksmith at Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Ida is the wife of Zelter Patton, who is living in
After his marriage Mr. Bates located near Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and took up farming, which he made a success of until he heard the call for brave sons to save the Union, consequently he enlisted in Company E, Eightieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as as private, on August 25, 1862, at Mt. Ver- non and was drilled at Centralia. His first engagement was at Perryville, Kentucky, on October 8, 1862, where he was wounded, having been shot through the left wrist. He was sent to the hospital at Louisville, Ken- tucky, where he remained for three months and was discharged on account of disability, much to his regret, for he desired to see fur- ther service and do what he could to help suppress the rebellion.
After his army experience he came home and worked at farming for several years. Then he engaged in the milling business at Dix, Jefferson county, Illinois. In 1875 he came to Walnut Hill, and bought an inter- est in the Walnut Hill Flour and Feed Mills, later he bought the entire plant and finally sold the mill in 1905. Since then he has devoted his time principally to farming. He purchased a farm of eighty acres in Raccoon township, and also other land, which he sold, but he still owns a small
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place which is well cultivated. Mr. Bates has always been a hard worker and success has attended his efforts. He formerly voted th Republican ticket, but in late years has voted the Prohibition ticket. He is a mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic at Walnut Hill, also a member of the Metho- dist church at that place. Mr. and Mrs. Bates are fine people and they enjoy the friendship of all their neighbors and exten- sive acquaintance owing to their good lives.
HORACE BRONSON.
Among the highly respected and influen- tial citizens of Centralia township, Marion county, Illinois, is the subject of this sketch, whose long and active life has been one of usefulness and honor, a native of the great Empire state, which has sent so many of its best sons into the West. He has kept up the state's reputation for sterling citizenship and loyalty to the government.
Horace Bronson was born in Oneida county, New York, November 14, 1831, the son of Allen and Triphena (Hudson) Bronson, both natives of Chautauqua coun- ty, New York. Allen Bronson devoted his life to farming and in 1859 he came to Illi- nois, and located in Grundy county. He later went to Dennison, Iowa, and in 1893 went to Odell, Illinois, where he died in 1894, his wife having died in the state of New York. The subject's father married a second time, his last wife being Kate
Douglas, of New York state. She died in Grundy county, Illinois. Mr. Bronson was a loyal Republican and an influential man in his community. His wife was a member of the Methodist church. The following children were born to Allen Bronson by his first wife, namely : Horace, our subject ; Jay was a soldier in the Civil war in the Seventy sixth New York Volunteer Infantry and located in Detroit after the war, where he engaged in business; Walter, a farmer at Pontiac, Illinois, served in the navy during the Civil war; James Gordon served in the Fourth Illinois Cavalry during the Civil war after which he located on a farm near Pon- tiac, Illinois, where he later died; William, a farmer at Odell, Illinois; Isaac, also a vet- eran of the Civil war, is a farmer at Odell, Illinois. The following children were born to the second marriage: Byron is in the United States Signal service, having been stationed in the West for many years; Fred is a conductor on the Burlington Railroad, located at Galesburg, Illinois; Charles is also a conductor on the Burlington at Gales- burg.
The subject attended the home schools in his native community and remained a mem- ber of the family circle until 1852, when he went to California by water, where he worked at mining for four years, then went back to New York state and first married in 1856, Margaret Wright, of Utica, New York. She died May 14, 1871. His sec- ond wife was Ella Fitzgerald, a native of Centralia, Illinois. She died in 1875. He married a third time to Elizabeth Eberts,
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of Camden, Ohio. The subject had three children by his first wife, namely: George, who is living in the West; Frank, an elec- trician in Chicago; Ellen is deceased. The subject had no children by his second wife, but four by his third wife, namely; Grant, a carpenter living at Centralia, Illinois, who married Mary Thurston, and they are the parents of one daughter, Mabel; Albert J. is living at home; Walter is also living at home; Horace is deceased.
In 1857 the subject came to Centralia, this state, and took up farming, which he made a success of until 1869 when he moved to Champaign, Illinois, where he farmed and raised broom corn with great success for a period of thirteen years, and in 1882 he came back to Centralia and located where he now lives, just south of the city of Cen- tralia in section 30, where he owns thirty- six acres of valuable land, where he carries on fruit raising and farming. He also raises some stock.
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