USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume II > Part 49
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He located in Massachusetts, where the legislature awarded him ten thousand acres of land, and later he was elected a member of the legislature. In 1806 Aaron Burr sought his assistance in the famous southwestern con- spiracy, but without success. Subsequently when Burr was tried before the United States
WILLIAM E. WHEELER
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court for treasonable designs, General Eaton was summonsed as a witness against him.
Captain Nathaniel, youngest son of William and Elizabeth (Sykes) Eaton, was born at Brimfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts, in June, 1807. He was educated for a military career and graduated from West Point in June, 1827. In the fall of the same year he was assigned to the frontier post of Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis, which had only recently been established. On his journey to the west, made by way of canals, lakes and stage-coach, he was accompanied by his bride. After nine years' service with the regular army he re- signed his commission and settled at St. Louis.
Here he became interested in Missouri river transportation along what were then the great- est highways of traffic in the middle west. He was owner and commander of several boats well known on the Missouri before the war, one of them being the Kit Carson, which was burned in 1849. For about twenty years he was agent of the board of marine underwrit- ers at St. Louis. After his retirement he lo- cated at Alton, and lived here quietly until his death.
Captain Eaton married Miss Harriet Hay- den, who was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1808, and who died in Alton in February, 1888. Her parents were David and Betsy (Bishop) Hayden, natives of New England and of pure English stock. The children of Captain Eaton and wife were nine in number, five of whom died in infancy, and four grew to maturity.
AUGUSTINE K. ROOT, for many years one of the most active business men of Alton, was born at Montague, Franklin county, Massa- chusetts, December 8, 1829, and died in this city July 13, 1906. A business man of great ability, sterling integrity and high principles, he was intimately associated with the men who made Alton's commercial history during the last century, and accumulated a comfortable fortune.
His father was Elihu Root, of English an- cestry, and a native of the same town in Massa- chusetts, but he afterwards moved to the town of Craftsbury, Vermont, where he bought a farm and pursued his vocation quietly until his death. He was survived many years by his wife whose maiden name was Lydia Kil- burn, daughter of one of the first Unitarian ministers in western Massachusetts.
Educated in Vermont and living there to his twentieth year, Mr. A. K. Root came west in September, 1849, and from that time until
his death was almost continuously identified with Alton as his place of business and resi- dence. His business career began as clerk in the store of Arba Nelson, a brother-in-law, and later for Topping Brothers. He then be- gan business for himself, in partnership with Anson B. Platt, the hardware firm of Root & Platt on Third street being a well known busi- ness house during the '6os. At the outbreak of the war times were so dull that he discon- tinued business temporarily and for a year was engaged in the sale of cattle to the govern- ment, with headquarters at Cairo. At the death of Mr. Platt in 1872 the business was closed out, and for several years following Mr. Root was in the agricultural implement busi- ness at St. Louis. He then became associated with Mr. J. E. Hayner in the same business, the firm being Hayner & Company, until the firm was dissolved in 1884. Mr. Root was also president of the Alton Roller Milling Com- pany, and was interested in a number of other enterprises. For the last twenty years of his life he did not participate actively in business. He took great pleasure in his beautiful home- stead on North State street, and spent most of his last years in the enjoyment of its comforts and the society of many friends.
Mr. Root and his family belonged to the Unitarian church, and he was one of the founders of this society in Alton.
He married, in 1865, Miss Harriet E. Eaton, daughter of Captain Nathaniel Johnson Ea- ton. Mr. and Mrs. Root reared five children : Henry, George Eaton, Lillian, Ralph Sellew and Harriet Hayden. Ralph is engaged in the brick business at Fort Worth, Texas. He married Cynthia Hope, daughter of Judge Alexander Hope, and they have two children, Hope and Ralph Eaton. Harriet married Archibald Mills, and has two sons, Archibald Root and Hayden Clark. Mrs. Root resides in the old homestead, and is actively interested in church work and various social and benevo- lent affairs of Alton.
WILLIAM ERASTUS WHEELER. With the demise of William Erastus Wheeler on May 17, 190I, was removed from Edwardsville, one of its most distinguished and public- spirited citizens, whose salutary influence will not soon be lost in the community of which he was so highly esteemed a member. For sev- enty-five years a resident of Edwardsville, his long and honorable career included the suc- cessful assumption of some of the most im- portant public responsibilities of the commun- ity. His useful citizenship furnishes a cri-
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terion for coming generations. Although a decade has passed since the immortal part of him passed on to the "Undiscovered Country," it may be truly said of him .
"The sweet remembrance of the just
Shall flourish when he sleeps in dust."
William E. Wheeler was born in Edwards- ville, March 14, 1826, the son of Captain Erastus and Mrs. Julia Wheeler. Captain Wheeler was a native of Onondaga county, New York, where he was born. He served through the war of 1812 as a private, taking part in the battle of Lundy's Lane. A few years afterwards he cast his fortune with the new state of Illinois in the year of its birth, 1818, locating at Edwardsville. He served as captain in both the Black Hawk and Mexican wars. Captain Wheeler was a typical pioneer, one who was very likely to be "master of his fate." He was an able justice of the peace for many years, a financier of marked ability, and acquired title to a considerable portion of the land on which the castern portion of Ed- wardsville is now built. He married Mrs. Julia McMullen, nee Butler, a native of Eng- land, who had come to Edwardsville a few years previously from New York city. She was a school teacher, accomplished, mild-man- nered and dignified, and always retained her English accent. The children of Captain and Mrs. Erastus Wheeler were Lucy A., who married at the age of sixty; Mr. Alvin Wheeler, of Davenport, Iowa; Eliza, who married John Leavitt ; Julia, who married John Olive; William E., the subject of the sketch ; and John S., who married Miss Lizzie Arthur.
Conditions were indeed primitive in those early days, and the family lived in a house, built of hewn logs, near the spot where the St. Boniface parsonage now stands. William had finished the meagre school course provided, at the age of fourteen years, but all life was a school to him, and at its close he was a highly educated man in many ways. When he had decided upon a vocation, he learned surveying under the instruction of the well-known Ben- aiah Robinson, and soon became exceedingly proficient in the work to which his country- man, George Washington, had devoted many years of usefulness. His work associated him with much history making, and he located and laid down part of the state line separating Kansas and Nebraska. He also located the line of the Indianapolis and St. Louis railroad (C. & A.), between Alton and East St. Louis. He knew Madison county like a book, estab- lished many of its landmarks, and was more familiar with landlines within its boundaries than any other man of his time. At the pres-
ent time it is of interest to note that over forty years ago. he reported to the county court a plan, with plat attached, for the diversion of the waters of Cahokia Creek, which plan has recently been adopted by the East Side Levee and Sanitary District substantially as reported by Mr. Wheeler. He was considered an ex- pert civil engineer and authority on surveying. Monuments placed by him are found to be so mathematically accurate that they are uni- formly left undisturbed. In complicated cases in county surveying he was appealed to as referee whenever he would consent so to act, and his decisions were accepted as final.
At the age of twenty, Mr. Wheeler went with his father to the Mexican war, serving as sergeant in the company of which his father was captain. He was in the battle of Buena Vista and in the thickest of the fight, as his regiment held an important position in repuls- ing a desperate cavalry charge of the enemy. When the Civil war plunged the nation into desolation Mr. Wheeler organized a Demo- cratic company at Edwardsville to support the cause of the Union, and tendered the services of himself and his company to Governor Yates, but the body was not put into commission for political reasons.
He was elected sheriff of Madison county in 1862, and as such was ex-officio tax collector of the entire county. Here he showed great executive and financial ability, and on account of his services he was afterwards put in charge of the county's financial affairs as chair- man of the board of county commissioners (three). During his term he thoroughly re- organized the financial affairs of the county, and put it upon a sound footing ; ascertained, adjusted and settled all of the old floating debts, and brought order out of chaos. Hc checked reckless extravagance, and by his ex- ample inaugurated a system of economy of ex- penditure of public money before unknown. He found the county insolvent, and left it solvent,-its credit first-class at home and abroad.
As mayor of Edwardsville in 1891-2-3 he applied to the city's administration the same ability shown in other affairs. In politics Mr. Wheeler was an ardent, honest Democrat, sel- dom seeking office, but ever ready to assist his friends. Always in close touch with the agri- cultural interests of the county, Mr. Wheeler, in his later years, was operating as landlord over nine hundred acres of land, most of which had been cleared by him. He was a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was affiliated with the fraternity for fifty-two years. Practically all his life was passed in Edwardsville, and at the
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
time of his death he was the oldest native-born resident of his town and one of the oldest Mexican war veterans remaining.
On April 7, 1859, Mr. Wheeler entered into a happy marriage with Miss Piety F. Hatcher, of Ridgely, this county. Her father, Creed Haskins Hatcher, a prominent farmer, was a native of the Green River country, Kentucky, and had left his native state, where he had been a slave-holder, in 1856, to locate in Illi- nois. His wife was Ann Wickliffe Gill, a na- tive of Virginia. They were married in Ken- tucky, where Mrs. Wheeler was born in 1842.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Wheeler are Anna Wickliffe, the wife of Charles H. Burton, of Edwardsville; Lillie Julia, wife of Erskine Mansfield, of Colum- bus, Ohio; Margaret Elizabeth (deceased), wife of C. R. Dodds; William Erastus, Jr., of East St. Louis; and Daisy, wife of W. A. Yule, of Pittsburg. Mrs. Wheeler's large home in Edwardsville has for many years been noted for its hospitality and social charm.
For the last twenty years of his life Mr. Wheeler had practically given up business ac- tivity, and in the quiet of his home and fireside sought a high order of literary pursuits. Though a skeptic, he was a student of the Bible, as well as of Shakespeare, Byron and other classics. His retentive mind enabled him to store a fund of interesting and valuable information, though he studiously and modestly avoided making any show or display in that direction. He was a man of strong convic- tions, dignified and courteous in his manner, and of the greatest courage, morally and physi- cally. All obligations he discharged with fidel- ity-his word was as good as his bond. Of handsome and commanding appearance, his six feet of height made him a notable figure in anv gathering.
For the last ten years of his life it had been his custom to pass the winters in the South for the benefit of his health. Most of the winters had been spent in Citronelle, Alabama, where he made many friends. In speaking of his death the Citronelle Times used the following language :
"We note that Colonel Wheeler was seventy- five years old-we note it with surprise. We recall his fine soldierly bearing, the gallant manner, the fine courtesy, marking him a gen- tleman of the Brahmin caste. We marvel that the years did rest so lightly, but we realize how powerless to seam the countenance and wither the sympathies is the procession of years when illumined by the sunshine of the soul."
THOMAS W. ISAACS. It is not to be gain-
said that Madison county is a community of more than usual prosperity and progress and no one element contributes as much to this as its splendid agricultural standing. One of the most highly honored and representative of those whose lives have been devoted to the great basic industry is Thomas W. Isaacs, whose extensive and advantageously situated farm consists of one hundred and fifty-five acres in Madison county and two hundred and ninety-five in Montgomery county. Mr. Isaacs is helpfully interested in all that per- tains to the well-being of this section of the great state of Illinois. He belongs to one of the families long founded in America, the Isaacs having taken up their residence in this country in days preceding the Revolution. In fact, several of his ancestors participated in the great struggle for freedom and more of the history of the subject's house, both pater- nal and maternal, will be given in succeeding paragraphs.
Thomas W. Isaacs was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, October 25, 1845, the son of Abraham and Mary (Eaton) Isaacs. He was one of a family of large proportions, six of the number being alive in 1911, namely: Richard, Charles, Thomas, Henry, Abram and Cath- erine, the latter wife of Reed Ayres. Young Thomas was reared upon a farm in Macou- pin county and received his education in the district school. Upon his father's homestead he became familiar with the many secrets of seed-time and harvest and early came to a decision to adopt farming as his own voca- tion. Now, in addition to general farming, Mr. Isaacs is an extensive live stock raiser, his cattle being of high quality. He makes a specialty of the raising of Poland hogs.
Mr. Isaacs was married first December 6, 1871, to Hattie Snedeker, and their union was blessed by the birth of a son, George A., who is a well-known farmer in Madison county. The wife and mother died in 1881. Mr. Isaacs was married the second time Jan- uary 17, 1883, to N. Almira Robb, of Mont- gomery county, Illinois. They share their home with two promising sons,-Thomas Ralph, born May 12, 1891, now a student in McKendree College; and Robb, born June 5, 1893, also a student in the same institution of learning. Mr. and Mrs. Isaacs belong to the Methodist Episcopal church at New Douglas and are very active in its affairs. The former was early in life a Republican, but now he devotes his energies to the cause of Prohi- bition, which he esteems one of the most im- portant of public issues.
The name of Mr. Isaac's grandfather was
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
Richard Isaacs; that of his great-grandfather, Richard Isaacs; and his great-great-grand- father, Jacob Isaacs, was an Englishman who founded the family in this country. The latter had three sons, all of whom served in the war of the Revolution, one on the Tory side and two on that of the Colonists. One of the latter was Richard Isaacs I, the direct forbear of him whose name inaugurates this review.
Mr. Isaacs' mother, whose maiden name was Mary Eaton, was a daughter of Thomas and Sarah (King) Eaton. Her grandfather, Henry Eaton, was a native of Wales. He was born in 1750 and came in young man- hood to the United States, locating in Phila- delphia in 1773. He served in the Revolu- tion and died in 1782. llis wife, Violet Wal- lace, was a daughter of James Wallace, who immigrated to the United States about the year 1750. The subject's grandfather Eaton was born in Ireland and was left an orphan, being reared among his relatives until the age of fourteen years, when he learned the blacksmith trade, and as soon as his appren- ticeship was served began making an inde- pendent livelihood. In the year 1800 he set- tled in the territory of Mississippi, locating at Natchez, and later removing to Kingston, where for many years lie worked at his trade. There he married and not long after that event removed to Jefferson county, Kentucky, where he lived for many years. In April, 1836, he severed his Blue Grass associations and came westward to become an Illinois pi- oneer. He eventually took up his residence in Edwardsville, where he lived until his de- mise, in 1849. He was a man of excellent character and well-deserved standing and en- joyed the highest general esteem. His wife, Sarah (King) Eaton, was born in Adams county, Mississippi, October 2, 1787. In 1772 her maternal grandfather, Richard Swagey, became desirous of obtaining a large tract of land and was so eminently successful that he became possessor of twenty thousand acres of land, for which he paid twenty cents per acre. Thomas Eaton's wife died shortly after he came to Edwardsville, but this noble woman lived long enough to see realized the great cle- sire of her heart-a home established in the free territory of Illinois.
JOSEPH VOLZ, a retired farmer and stock- man, is now living in Alhambra, Madison county, Illinois. The man who has devoted his life to one occupation may justly be re- garded as somewhat of an authority on all
matters pertaining to that calling. Mr. Volz stands in that relation in regard to farming, the primal need of the human race. It is because of his acknowledged acquaintance with the various branches of agriculture that he has been so successful in his undertakings.
Germany, that great country from which have come so many of our best farmers is the birth place of Mr. Volz, where his nativ- ity occurred on the 15th day of February, 1852. Ile is a son of John and Barbara ( Wothre) Volz, of German birth and descent. Father and Mother Volz spent the carly years of their married life in their native land and became the parents of six children, -- John, Peter, Fred, Adam, Lizzie and Joseph. Mr. Volz, Sr., was a wagon-maker by trade, and he was both industrious and skilled, but the opportunities for advancement in his country were not very great, and he deter- mined to try his fortunes in America. In 1860 he crossed the ocean in a vessel bound for New Orleans, thence he and his family went up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, where they stayed until after the close of the Civil war, and during the five years of his resi- dence in that city Mr. Volz worked at his trade and succeeded in making money. The entire state of Missouri was, however, in a very unsettled condition, and Mr. Volz deemed it best to move and invest his money in land. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Alhambra township and he prospered in his agricultural efforts, living on his farm until his death, August 21, 1887. The following year, March 29, 1888, his widow was summoned to the life eternal.
Joseph Volz has little recollection of his German home, of the voyage across the At- lantic or the arrival in America, but he does remember the school in St. Louis where he received his education. He was thirteen years old when the family took up their resi- dence in Alhambra township, and he immedi- ately commenced to assist his father in the cultivation of the farm and gradually made himself acquainted with all classes of agri- cultural work. After the death of his father Mr. Volz still remained on the farm, super- intending its management, as he had taken full responsibility for several years during his father's life-time. Thus he continued on the old home until 1908, when he retired from active connection with the farm, bought for himself a fine, comfortable residence in West Alhambra and there he is living today, with his wife and four of his sons. At the time
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he moved to Alhambra from his farm he had so increased his holdings until he owned one hundred and ninety-eight acres of land.
In 1884 Mr. Volz was united in marriage to Miss Mary Long, whose birth occurred in Chicago in 1860. She is a daughter of John and Sophia Long, natives of Germany, and her brothers and sisters were John, Louis, William, George, Reggie and Lizzie. Mr. Volz took his bride home to the old homestead on which he had spent his youth and early manhood; the following year Father Volz died and six months later the mother followed, their last hours and days having been eased by the attentions of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Volz. In course of time Mr. and Mrs. Volz became the parents of eight children, their only daughter dying in infancy. The names of the sons are, -- John H., Joseph L., William (deceased), Henry J., Edward August, George P. and Louis P. The sons were all educated in the public schools of Alhambra; John H. his grandfather's namesake is married to Sophia Eiler and is engaged as one of the section men of Alhambra. Joseph L. resides in Edwards- ville, where he is employed by the La Clare Company Grocery Store; he married Miss Tarcie Callender. The other four sons live with their parents, sharing in the esteem which their father and mother enjoy in the com- munity. The family are all members of the German Evangelical church of Alhambra, and in politics Mr. Volz is a stanch Republi- can. He has lived a good life, has brought up his children to be worthy citizens and has himself done much to further the betterment of the county which he honors by his resi- dence.
A. R. MONTGOMERY, part owner of the Ce- ment Tile Manufacturing Company and pro- prietor of a store in Moro, is possessed of those sound business abilities which have raised him to commercial leadership in this part of the country. Far-reaching as Mr. Montgomery's influence has become, he is looking to the future as having something greater in store than has already been achieved, and as to his ambition is united an unusual capacity for work, his . expectation will undoubtedly be realized to the utmost.
Born at Moro, Illinois, A. R. Montgomery made his first entrance into the world October 18, 1881. He belongs to an old family who have for several. generations been identified with the commercial, agricultural and politi- cal advancement of Madison county. Wil- liam Montgomery great-grandfather of A. R.,
came to this part of the country about 1835; there he entered a section of land about two and a half miles south of Bethalto, and there his son James was born and passed his entire life until his marriage; indeed he spent sev- eral years of his wedded life on the old home- stead which his father has taken up. When his son William was a young lad, James Montgomery, with his family, moved on to a place which was situated one mile east of Moro-a half section of land. On this farm William Montgomery grew up and when he was twenty years old he went to Kansas and took up a claim near Wichita's present site. After remaining there only six months he re- turned to Moro township and married Miss Julia Cox. He did not return to Kansas, but took his bride to Raymond, Montgomery county, Illinois, where he located on a farm and stayed there for the ensuing two years. Then coming back to Moro he went into busi- ness with a man named J. P. Smith, first as an employe, and in 1878 he bought out his em- ployer and took entire charge of the business, remaining active in the interests of the store until his demise, September 3, 1907. During the years of his mercantile career he was also active in other ways; served three terms in the Illinois state legislature, as representative from the Forty-seventh Illinois district, and his record while incumbent of this high office was absolutely beyond reproach. Mrs. Wil- liam Montgomery lives with her son, A. R. She has another son, Wilbur, who is a music teacher at Alton, Illinois.
A. R. Montgomery grew up at his father's home at Moro, received his educational train- ing in the Moro township schools, and on completing the curriculum prescribed he en- tered Shurtleff College at Alton, where be- tween the years 1898 and 1901 he took the scientific course. In 1901 he went to St. Louis and took a business course in one of the commercial colleges of that city. Thus equip- ped for his battle with the world, he accepted a position with the Western Electric Com- pany of St. Louis, with which corporate em- ployer he remained for eighteen months. Re- turning to Moro, he acted as manager of his father's store until 1903, when he went into partnership with his father and on the death of Mr. Montgomery, Sr., the son assumed sole control of the business and still continues its superintendence. In the spring of 1911 he, with R. E. Wilson and E. R. Starkey, or- ganized the Cement Tile Manufacturing Company, which has already given promise
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