USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume II > Part 20
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In 1890 Mr. Williamson commenced read- ing law, borrowing two volumes of Blackstone from Hon. William McKittrick for that pur- pose. Part of his reading was under the supervision of Judge W. P. Early, who had been his teacher in the Pleasant Hill school, and part under R. E. Dorsey, a Staunton law- yer. In September, 1890, he entered the St. Louis Law School for a one-term course and in May, 1891, was given a license to practice law by the supreme court of Illinois. In July of the same year he located at Mount Olive, and during his eight years' residence there built up a good business. In September, 1899, he moved to Edwardsville, where he engaged in the practice of law. In 1905 he became a member of the law partnership of Warnock, Williamson & Burroughs, a firm of the highest standing in the Madison county bar and with a large share of the legal business transacted at the county seat.
In politics, always a staunch Republican, during his residence at Mount Olive he served as local committeeman several years and has taken an active part in county politics. In 1892 he delivered his first public speech, and since then has taken part in all the campaigns in the interest of Republican success. In the forty-first general assembly he was chief en- rolling and engrossing clerk of the house, and in the forty-third assembly was reading clerk of the house. He has never been a candidate for office except in local affairs, having served as member and president of the Mount Olive and Edwardsville school board. He has been chairman of a number of county conventions in both Macoupin and Madison counties, and was the reading clerk at the National Repub- lican convention in Chicago in 1908. Also he has acted as reading clerk of the Head Camp
Thos Williamson
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of the Modern Woodmen in every national meeting for the last fourteen years. His fra- ternal affiliations are with the A. F. & A. M., in which order he has attained the thirty-sec- ond degree, and is a Knight Templar and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is also af- filiated with the Knights of Pythias, the Mod- ern Woodmen and the American Federation of Musicians, having held a card of member- ship with the last named body since its or- ganization at Mount Olive. He is grand lodge officer of the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Williamson was active on behalf of the United Mine Workers in their strike of 1898, as well as for years before that time, and still represents them as attorney in the state when such services are required. After the "Vir- den riot," a fund of about thirty thousand dol- lars was raised by the United Mine Workers and similar organizations and he was chair- man of the committee for the distribution of this fund.
On October 14, 1891, Thomas Williamson married Miss Mattie L. Binney, daughter of Walter P. Binney, of Olive township, and their children are four in number, namely: Bessie E., Jessie C., Thomas Binney and Rob- ert W.
Mr. Williamson has always taken a great interest in school work and education and it was indeed appropriate that he should be made president of the Edwardsville Board of Edu- cation. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and of its Board of Trustees. In the strictly professional organizations he is affili- ated with the Illinois State Bar Association and the. Madison County Bar Association.
The subject is a speaker of force and elo- quence. One of his finest speeches was that delivered at the Memorial services of the S. B. Phillips Post, No. 379, Grand Army of the Republic, held on May 30, 1910, at Litchfield, Illinois. This has been preserved by publi- cation in pamphlet form and has received hosts of encomiums. The closing paragraphs are herewith quoted.
"Since the close of the Civil war the spirit of forgiveness has grown from year to year until we, today, recognize no north, no south, no blue, no gray-but one grand, glorious country-one nation and one flag.
Why this manly, magnificent spirit of forgive- ness was shown with such splendor as to dazzle the understanding of the earth is a question easily answered. Our first settlers when they came westward, battling with the furious storms of the Atlantic, landed on our New
England shore and there entered into solemn compact to fight each other's battles, had but one thought -- the love of home. To them it was the same as to us, the dearest spot on earth, and this love has been the firm founda- tion against which the storms of war have driven and beaten in vain, and this love showed forth in the most heated and terrific combats. When the troops of both sides were preparing to meet each other in conflict, among the hills and valleys of old Virginia, the camp fires of each army glistened from the hillsides. So close were the two great armies that voices could be heard back and forth ; it was evening ; the golden sun just setting in the west sent its rays of brightness across the hill tops and the troops gazed in silent admiration at the bril- liant scene. Suddenly the strains of music broke the stillness as a Union band poured forth the melody of the Star Spangled Banner. Scarcely had the air been completed when a Confederate band sent back its challenge in the stirring notes of Dixie. This was followed by the playing of popular airs on each side and each effort was followed by the exultant cheers of the respective partisans-then from a dis- tant camp fire came the strains of another band, the melody familiar to all, and as its music echoed from hill to hill, every band in each army joined in the sweet refrain, heads uncovered and bowed and tears stole down many a hardened cheek and many trembling voices joined in the words. It was "Home, Sweet Home," ---- a grander, more sublime moment never closed the curtain of night.
"Brave soldiers! No monument could we erect that would last longer than the love for you that is written in the hearts of the people of this great nation ; may the hand of time lead you gently to your just reward-beyond hu- man power to give. May the rich blessings of peace fill your declining years and as your eyes close in death may you see this proud banner still floating in honor 'O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.'"
ALVIN A. NEFF. An esteemed and highly respected resident of Alton, Alvin A. Neff has for many years been intimately associated with the development and advancement of the industrial interests of this part of Madison county, as a painter and decorator having added much to the artistic beauty and orna- mentation of many buildings, both public and private, his work including both interior and exterior decorating. A son of Joel Neff, he was born September 4, 1831, in Edwardsville, Madison county, Illinois, of Swiss lineage.
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His grandparents on the paternal side im- migrated from Switzerland to America, set- tling near Wheeling, West Virginia, where his grandfather died shortly after his son Joel's birth. Later on his grandmother, Mar- gurite Neff, went to an uncle of his father, Adam Neff, a manufacturer at Cincinnati, Ohio.
Born near Wheeling, West Virginia, Joel Neff was there reared and educated. Al- though he was the only son of his parents, he left home when a young man, and in his search for a favorable place in which to locate visited several different states, finally settling in Madi- son county, Illinois, being a pioneer of this section of the country. Having previously acquainted himself with the cabinet maker's trade, he opened a shop at Edwardsville, and for several years made furniture for the new settlers. Removing with his family to God- frey township in 1832, he opened the first mine of coal in that vicinity, and for two years devoted his energies to the mining of coal. As the river steamers at that time used wood for fuel, he became discouraged in his new venture, there being but little demand for coal, even when it was delivered at the docks for three cents a bushel. In 1833 he assumed charge of the Alton House, the largest and best hotel in Alton, and conducted it for a year. He was subsequently employed for a number of years as a contractor and builder, likewise taking contracts to clear large pieces of the heavily timbered land lying in and around Alton. Along in the '4os he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and brought his mother to Alton, where she died at the age of eighty- four. Turning his attention then to agricul- ture, he was for awhile engaged in general farming, making a specialty of growing sweet potatoes. Going to Colorado in 1859, he took up one hundred and sixty acres of Government land near Golden, and, having fenced it, pas- tured dairy cows. In the fall of that year he started home and died en route, his body being laid to rest at Bloomington, Missouri. He married Marilla Wilder, who was born in Ver- mont, a daughter of James and Caroline Wilder. She survived him, passing away at the home of a daughter in Wichita, Kansas, at the age of seventy-nine years. She was the mother of five children, as follows: Alvin A., Henry, Robert, George and Abigail.
Brought up in Alton, Alvin A. Neff obtained his first knowledge of the three "r's" in a subscription school, subsequently completing his early studies at Shurtleff College. Begin-
ning life as a wage-earner when a boy, he worked first in a slaughter house, and was afterwards employed in the office of the Alton Telegraph. He was subsequently employed for awhile with his father at carpentering and other work. At the age of sixteen years he took his first lesson in painting, and later on studied drawing and landscape painting under a German artist. Hle formed a partnership with Charles Obermueller in the year of 1877, and opened a shop on Fourth street, between Piasa and Belle streets. The firm took con- tracts for painting, decorating and scenic work, and in addition carried a fine line of wall papers, paints, oils, etc., continuing the busi- ness until the death of Mr. Obermueller, in 1897, when Mr. Neff closed up affairs. He has since continued painting and decorating, however, having built up a large and lucrative patronage, and still devotes a portion of his time to landscape painting.
Mr. Neff married, October 22, 1863, Mar- garet A. Logan, who was born near Carthage, Missouri. Her father, James B. Logan, a native of Huntsville, Alabama, was a son of John Logan, who started westward from Ala- bama with his family, intending to locate in Missouri, and died while on the way. James B. Logan subsequently entered the ministry, and preached in the Cumberland Presbyterian church at St. Louis and at Lexington, Mis- souri. During this time he was owner and publisher of the St Louis Observer and also editor of the Cumberland Presbyterian, which was eventually turned over to the Cumberland Presbyterian Board of Publication, located at Nashville, Tennessee. He also published a monthly magazine The Pearl, besides being engaged in other literary work. Coming from St. Louis to Alton, he organized the Twelfth Street Presbyterian church, of which he was pastor for nineteen years. Going then to Tay- lorsville, he had charge of the Presbyterian church of that place until his death, in 1878, at the age of fifty-eight years. Mr. Logan was twice married, the maiden name of his first wife, the mother of Mrs. Neff, having been Mary Stevenson. She died in early woman- hood, and he subsequently married Susan Hen- drick, who attained the age of seventy-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Neff had three children, George A., Marv and James Edgar. the last named died in 1900, when just completing his course of art studies in the Detroit ( Michi- gan) School of Fine Arts, and the daughter is also deceased. George A. Neff, the only surviving child, married Belle Jones, and they
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have four children, namely : Mabel, Paul, Har- riet and Ruth. Mrs. Neff is also deceased, dy- ing August 19, 1911, after several years of suf- fering. She was a faithful and valued mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, as is also Mr. Neff.
EDWARD J. BENDER, the successful farmer in Chouteau township, was born in Edwardsville, Illinois, May 9, 1867. He is the son of Har- mon B. Bender a native of Germany, who was a member of the First Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, serving in the Civil war. He married Mary Sido, the daughter of Frank Sido, of Edwardsville, Illinois. There were eleven children born to this union, ten of whom are living now. Harmon Bender died in Texar- kana, Texas, March 13, 1901, and his widow is still living in Chouteau township with her sons.
In 1872, when Edward was five years old, he moved with his parents from Edwardsville to Chouteau township, where they farmed. Edward attended school at Wanda until he was eighteen years old, at which time he went onto his father's farm and engaged in active farm labor; thus he has spent practically the whole of his life on the farm and naturally understands his business thoroughly. He now farms one hundred acres of land in Chouteau township, having added to the land his father bought years ago.
In 1895 he married Anna Secrest, a daughter of Oliver Secrest of Edwardsville. To this union four children have been born, three of whom are still living, Clara, Charles and Mary.
Mr. Bender is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America fraternal order, in which he carries insurance. He was chris- tened in the Catholic church, still adhering to the faith of his parents. In politics he is a Republican and has done good work for the county and for his party. He held the office of road supervisor for twelve consecutive years, to which fact it need not be added that he filled the office satisfactorily. He is a man who has many friends in the community, peo- ple he has known all of his life and who are fa- miliar with its every detail. They say that there is nothing in his career that he need blush to have known, that all his dealings have been open and above board, and all have been worthy.
ROBERT E. WALKER. Numbered among the thriving and enterprising farmers of Madison county, is Robert E. Walker, a well-known resident of Fosterburg township, where his fine and well-managed farm gives substantial
evidence of the excellent care and skill of the owner, presenting to the passer-by a pleasant picture of quiet country life. Mr. Walker is a native of this county, having first opened his eyes to the beauty of this world on January 8, 1865, a very short time before the death of his father, Robert Walker.
Born in Tennessee, Robert Walker married a Tennessee lassie, Tabitha Morgan, and sub- sequently removed to Madison county, Illi- nois, where he bought land and was engaged in tilling the soil until after the breaking out of the Civil war. Then, offering his services to his country, he enlisted in an Illinois regi- ment, and was killed, in April, 1865, at the battle of Petersburg. His widow was left with a farm of forty acres and eight little chil- dren to rear, as follows: Martha, Susanna, Catherine, Sarah, Margaret, Ellen, John and Robert. She toiled bravely to educate her boys and girls, keeping the family together until her death, in 1877.
After the death of his mother, Robert E. Walker made his home with his brother John for nine years, and under his instructions gained a practical knowledge of the work of general husbandry. On attaining his major- ity, Mr. Walker rented forty acres of land, and met with such encouraging success in its cultivation that he rented twice as many acres. In 1888 he bought eighty acres of land in Fos- terburg township, and in 1909 purchased forty acres more. In 1911 he bought the old Walker homestead of forty acres, and has now one hundred and sixty acres of as rich and produc- tive land as can be found in his neighborhood. In addition to carrying on general farming with most satisfactory results, Mr. Walker is engaged in the dairy business, owning eighteen head of Jersey cows, which produce on an average three thousand pounds of milk each year, and is much interested in the raising of fine poultry, keeping about a thousand Leg- horn and Plymouth Rock chickens. He has also a cider press, and manufactures cider for the custom trade, it being run by a six-horse power engine, the plant having a daily capacity of forty barrels.
Mr. Walker married, November 26, 1885, Helen J. Ballinger, who was born in Missouri, July 20, 1863, a daughter of James and Ma- tilda Ballinger. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are the parents of nine children, two of whom died in infancy and one, Harry, born in 1898, died March 12, 1910, while six are living, namely : Matilda, born in November, 1887; Carrie, born June 19, 1889; Iva, born February 18,
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
1891 ; Bert, born April 20, 1894; Fannie, born October 20, 1900; and Clarence, born July 16, 1907. Mr. Walker is a member of the Horse Thief Detective Society and a Dairy Union, and religiously he belongs to the Salem Bap- tist church, of which he is an active member. His wife is a working member of the same church. She has been a Sunday-school teacher in this church twenty-five years. She is also a natural born poet and can change any prose into rhyme. When Mr. Walker and his wife were married, in 1885, they started out on their matrimonial journey with thirty cents in cash and no real estate whatever. Hence God has blessed wonderfully the labors of their hands.
JOHN J. DAUDERMANN. It is the privilege of Mr. John J. Daudermann to live in the home which his father made in the county, where his grandparents endured the hardships and reaped the rewards of pioneers, in short to be the representative of a family which has contributed a generous share to the develop- ment of the region and to carry out worthily the work of his ancestors.
Philip Daudermann, the father of John, was born in Germany. His wife was Marie Kraft, whose parents came from Germany and set- tled in St. Louis, where Marie was born in 1837. Her marriage to John Daudermann took place in Saline and they settled on a farm a mile north of the present site of Al- hambra. Then all was wild uncultivated land, infested with wild animals. Railroads were not thought of and such roads as existed were scarcely passable for any but ox teams. The first home of the young couple was a one-room log cabin. Such conditions seem discouraging to a generation used to the conveniences of modern civilization, but they did not daunt the sturdy founders of the commonwealth.
Hard work and careful management brought increasing competence and comforts to Mr. and Mrs. Daudermann. They im- proved their dwelling and beautified it with surrounding shade trees. Little by little they added to their land until they owned three hundred and seventeen acres of fertile ground. Nine children were welcomed into their home : four sons, Edward, Jacob, Henry and John J. ; and five daughters, Lizzie, who died at the age of eleven months, Mary E., Anna A., Emma L., and Bertha C. They were all sent to the Big Rock district school and also to the Ger- man school of Alhambra, as their parents were eager to give them all possible advan- tages.
Until they were grown up the Daudermann children assisted on the farm and the boys have continued to follow agricultural pursuits. Henry is a thresher, residing in Alhambra with his wife, Lena Gehrig Daudermann and his three sons, Walter, Louis and Leonard. Jacob married Emma Daudermann and is a farmer in Alhambra township. He has one daughter Nora M. Mary E. Daudermann is Mrs. Frank Wyle, of St. Louis. Her husband is in the employ of the E. G. Lewis Publish- ing Company of University City. Their family consists of three daughters : Elsie, May and Ora Wyle. Bertha resides in Leef town- ship and is the wife of Fred Leuscher, a farmer of that section. Her elder son is a namesake of the subject of this sketch, and one, who was born October 9, 1911, is not yet named.
In 1900, on August 19, Philip Daudermann was taken from the midst of his devoted home circle, the wife of his youth and the loving sons and daughters whose happy youth and young manhood and womanhood had afforded him so much pride and satisfaction. He finished his course and ended a life of useful and suc- cessful endeavor. He had seen the work of his hands established and he departed in peace to the land of the unreturning.
John J. Daudermann now manages the farm his father left, and by his efforts is making it more and more valuable. The widowed mother makes her home with him, and two daughters, Anna and Emma, also comfort her loneliness and help bear the burden of the housekeeping.
Besides general farming, Mr. Daudermann gives his attention to the raising of black Po- land China hogs. He has only pure blooded stock, which is a good acquisition for the farmers of the county. In addition to his in- heritance from his father, Mr. John Dauder- mann owns forty acres in partnership with his brother Edward and twenty-six which he and Jacob Daudermann have bought together. In his political views, Mr. Daudermann favors the policies of the Democratic party, but he is interested in issues rather than in factions and believes in supporting the best man. In all respects he is an excellent representative of an excellent family, and is esteemed for his true worth throughout the community.
JAMES T. CORBETT, who occupies a note- worthy position among active and esteemed citizens of Alton, has spent his life within its limits, and since attaining manhood has taken a warm interest in the welfare of town and
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county, at all times using his influence to ad- vance the prosperity of his community. A son of Thomas Corbett, he was born May 12, 1873, coming from English ancestry.
His paternal grandfather, Thomas Corbett, was born and reared in Kidderminster, Wor- cestershire, England. In early life he settled at Birmingham, England, where he carried on teaming and became noted as a horseman. He married Mrs. Mary (Wall) Robinson, a native of Warwickshire, and widow of John Robinson, who died in early life, leaving her with three sons and one daughter. Of their union four children were born and reared, namely: Elizabeth, Emma, Thomas and Jo- seph.
Thomas Corbett was born at Birmingham, England, September 17, 1843, and there grew to a sturdy manhood. In 1866, at the age of twenty-two years, he bade good-bye to his par- ents, sisters and brother and immigrated to the United States, locating at Alton, Illinois, where he had an uncle living, Mr. James Cor- bett, who, with his wife, came to this coun- try from England and spent their last years in Alton. Making his advent to this city in Jan- uary, 1866, Mr. Thomas Corbett first found employment as a brick moulder, a trade which he had learned in the old country. In 1868 he embarked in business as a brickmaker on his own account, and continued it for over forty years, being busily employed at all times. He married Melinda Malson, who was born in Cleveland, Hamilton county, Ohio, a daugh- ter of Abraham Malson and granddaughter of Jacob Malson, their union being solemnized in 1870. Jacob Malson, a Southerner by birth, enlisted as a soldier in the war of 1812. and lost his life while in service. He married and left a widow with six small children, whom she .reared to habits of industry and thrift, her death subsequently occurring at the family residence in Cleveland, Ohio, at a ripe old age. Born at Cleveland, Ohio, Abraham Malson grew to manhood on the home farm, and dur- ing the Civil war served as a soldier in the Eighty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, being a member of Captain Carlin's company for three years. He spent his last years of life at Upper Alton, Illinois. Abraham Malson mar- ried Catherine Rudisal, who was born in Ohio, near the city of Cleveland, a daugh- ter of David and Ellen Rudisal. She died in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the age of fifty-six years. Seven children were born of the union of Thomas and Melinda (Malson) Corbett. namely : Mollie; Mary Elizabeth ; James ; El-
len ; Emma, who died at the age of twenty- two years; Boston, who died when twenty- six years of age; and Thomas, who died in infancy.
Acquiring a practical education in private and public schools when young and in Shurt- leff College, and being well drilled at home in habits of honesty and thrift, James T. Cor- bett began when but fourteen years old to as- sist his father in the brick yard, and two years later entered the employ of the Chi- cago and Alton Railroad Company, being yard .clerk for two years. Returning them to the brick yard, Mr. Corbett continued there until 1896, when he became bill clerk for the Chi- cago and Alton Railroad Company. Subse- quently promoted to cashier, he held the posi- tion until 1902, when he resigned to accept the office of book-keeper for the Stannard Tilton Milling Company. In 1906 Mr. Corbett was made superintendent of the business affairs of the Alton plant, and has since ably performed the duties devolving upon him in this capac- ity.
In August, 1899, Mr. Corbett was united in marriage with Nina Elizabeth Rutledge, who was born in Alton, a daughter of William and Hannah (Burton) Rutledge, natives of Eng- land. Mr. and Mrs. Corbett are the parents of four children, namely: Nina, Helen, Joy and Virginia. Fraternally Mr. Corbett is a mem- ber of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
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