USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume II > Part 88
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Until he was sixteen John, Jr., attended the local country schools. At that age he went to the city of St. Louis and took a three years' course at the St. Louis University. He then returned to his farm in Madison county, and has since devoted his life to progressive and intelligent farming and attaining splendid results.
On March 13, 1862, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Anderson to Miss Josephine Thompson, of Cass county, Illinois, whose parents were of fine old English stock. Of the nine children that blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson the following are still living: Susan is now the wife of Ed- ward Eustick; Belle is Mrs. James Axtell; Maud is living at home; Hattie is Mrs. Ho-
race Look ; Olive has married R. Guy Kneed- ler; and Sidney and Don C. are both un- married.
Mr. Anderson was christened and brought up in the Catholic faith, having been christ- ened in a Catholic church in St. Louis, Mis- souri. In the field of politics he is found beneath the Democratic standard. His first vote was cast for Stephen A. Douglas.
Mrs. Anderson passed to her eternal re- ward on the 22nd of May, 1911, after a life of singular sweetness and helpfulness to all who came within the sphere of her gentle in- fluence. Her husband still makes his home on his farm of one hundred and sixty acres located in Collinsville township.
JAMES HOXSEY, member of a leading South- ern Illinois family whose title has at different times and in various places been also ex- pressed as Hawksie, Hoxsie and Hoxie, was one of Madison county's earliest settlers after its boundaries were defined. He was born in Greenbrier county, Virginia, April 16, 1796. His father, Bill Hoxsey, or "William" as he chose to be called, was born in Rhode Island, November 30, 1776, and was married to Mary Gray in or near Richmond, Virginia, in 1793. Bill Hoxsey was the fifth son of Lieutenant- Colonel John Hoxsie, born May 21, 1737, and Hannah Bill, a daughter of Judge Bill, of Ex- eter, Rhode Island.
The Revolutionary war records show that John Hoxsie assisted in establishing Ameri- can independence as captain, lieutenant-col- onel and colonel of James Babcock's company, King's county and Kint regiment of the Army of Observation. James Mitchell Varnum was the colonel. (See C. R. VII, 324.)
Bill Hoxey and wife had five children born in Virginia. In 1804 they moved to Ken- tucky, where six children were born. There Mr. Hoxsey engaged profitably in the mer- cantile business until his health failed. He then decided to leave Kentucky, and sent his son James to Illinois to inspect the country. Being most favorably impressed with the pos- sibilities of Madison county, the excellent soil, fine timber, good water supply, etc., James de- cided that it was the acceptable region, and forthwith had a large double log cabin built. The parents and eleven children moved to Madison county in 1817. and the father and the eldest sons, John and James, secured quite a number of land grants in what are now known as Alhambra, Olive and Omphghent townships. Under the supervision of the father and James there was completed a large
James Housey
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two-story house. The frame was hewn from massive oak timbers and the interior wood- work was of black walnut. The site was a beautiful elevation on the edge of the prairie and quite near the Silver creek timber. For years the "Hoxsey Home," as the place was called, served a's a landmark for miles around. Being on the main road from Springfield and Carlinville to Edwardsville and St. Louis, and from Alton to Greenville in the other direc- tion, it was a center of hospitality and the principal "stopping place" for the politicians and prominent people en route between these cities.
The two youngest children were born in Madison county. Of this large family of fif- teen members the father, William Hoxsey, was the first to die, October 18, 1832. He died in his chair from a stroke of paralysis. This chair is preserved as an heirloom and is still in use by one of his descendants. John, the eldest son, having married Mary Martin and settled in the same locality, the care of the family and of the estate fell upon James and Alexander. The brothers had acquired con- siderable prairie and timber land and were engaged in farming and stock raising. Archi- bald was a physician, a large land owner and farmer. His first wife was Harriet, a daugh- ter of Preston Stephenson, and his second wife was Mary McCleary Highknight. Tris- tam Patten studied law, married Malvina An- derson and made his home in Carlinville, Illi- nois. Jane, the eldest daughter; became the wife of Beniah Robinson, one of Madison county's early surveyors and a man promi- nently identified with its interests in many ways. He and his family removed to Oregon. Eleanor married John Gray and settled near her family. Mary D. married Dr. John H. Weir, an old and well remembered practi- tioner of Edwardsville. Eliza married Daniel Anderson and later moved to Wisconsin. Ann Maria married Edward Dorsey, and both of them lived and died near Moro, in Madison county. Margaret became the wife of Ander- son Blackburn, a banker of Carlinville, who was afterward a mill owner at Godfrey. Martha died at the age of eighteen years. Lucy, the youngest child, married Michael Walsh, a dry goods merchant and the founder of the town of Walshville, Illinois. Alexan- der remained on the home place, never mar- ried, and died there.
James Hoxsey remained single until his fortieth year. He married Mary A. B. Harns- berger, July 19, 1836. She was a daughter of
"Squire" Ephraim Harnsberger and Rebecca Le Favre Mowry. Ephraim Harnsberger had moved with his family from Cadiz, Kentucky, and settled near the town of Alhambra, in Madison county, in 1802. Eight children were the descendants of James Hoxsey, four of whom died in childhood. In February, 1850, he moved to Upper Alton, but returned to the old homestead in September, 1860. After erecting a commodious dwelling on the site of the first one, and making extensive im- provements, he placed his business affairs in charge of his son, Thomas J. Hoxsey. Amid familiar scenes that recalled old and loved associations, with physical energies unim- paired, and in full possession of his mental faculties to the end, his remaining years were peaceful and enjoyable. He died June 27, 1873. The words cut on his monument in the old family burying ground-
"God's Noblest Work -- an Honest Man."
but faintly convey the true character and well spent life of one of Madison county's early settlers.
Mr. Hoxsey possessed the gift of narrative that held his listeners spellbound. His remin- iscences of the people or of friends of his day, of the growth of cities and adjacent com- munities, of politics and conditions of the . times, his firm adherence to the principles of the Democratic party, with incidents and anec- dotes thereto, were interesting themes. So also were the stories of his trips made to and from Virginia and Kentucky on horseback.
One in particular that he made with his sister Jane, whom the family physician ad- vised to take a journey very leisurely on horseback to her native state to restore her health, possessed elements of keen interest. Upon their return to Madison county they brought with them, carefully packed in saddle bags, enough young seedling apple trees to set out a large orchard. The trees throve in the rich, virgin soil, were free from disease, and in the fall of 1860, when Mr. Hoxsey returned to the homestead from Upper Alton, all of the trees were living and had grown to immense size. They were bearing fruit freely of a su- perior size and flavor when compared with apples of the present day. Some of these trees lived more than sixty years.
Thomas J. Hoxsey, the only surviving son of James Hoxsey, received his education at . Shurtleff College, Upper Alton. Although fit- ted by nature and education for a professional life, he preferred the more independent one of engaging in agricultural pursuits. His lib-
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eral advantages gave him position in business circles and political life and his affable and generous disposition made him popular among his associates. He was in every respect a true representative of the Hoxsey family-fear- less, liberal, hospitable and most public-spir- ited. For eight years after his father's death he resided, with his mother and three sisters, on the home place, devoting his time and ener- gies to managing the large estate left by his father. He died February 14, 1881, aged thirty-eight years, one month and twenty days, and was the last of three generations to be buried from the old homestead.
After deciding to make St. Louis, Missouri, their permanent home, in June, 1891, the mother and daughters disposed of the old home. Several years later the mother's health failed and she remained a helpless invalid un- til her death, November 17, 1897. The eldest daughter, Adelaide M., after years of devotion to her family, died February 7, 1899.
The only surviving members of James Hox- sey's family are the two youngest daughters, Mary I. and Jennie M. Hoxsey. They were educated in the Ursuline Convent, Alton, Illi- nois, and the Sacred Heart Convent, St. Louis, Missouri. Although St. Louis is their adopted home and being actively interested in its many Catholic charitable undertakings, especially the "Queen's Daughters" (Filiae Reginae Coeli) a religious charitable society of the Catholic church founded by Mary I. Hoxsey, December 5, 1889, and which has numerous associations and members in other states and cities, they still are loyal and deeply interested in every movement undertaken for the welfare of their native county.
Much of the land acquired by their father at an early day is still in their possession. It has been a pastime to them to improve it, and a satisfaction to observe its valuation increasing from year to year in proportion as the county and the adjacent cities of St. Louis and East St. Louis advance, which general growth is in many respects phenomenal.
In conclusion it may be observed that the founder of the Hoxsey family in the United States was Ludwick Hawksie, who came to Sandwich, Massachusetts, in 1650. He mar- ried Mary Presbury in 1664, and marks of his cellar are still to be seen on the south side of Spring Hill, Sandwich. He belonged to the Musketeers, who were sent to General Mus- ter in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, in July 1660. In 1661 he was elected one of the raters or assessors of the town and on February 3,
1675, he was admitted as Townsman by vote of the General Assembly. He took the oath of fidelity on July 11, 1678. His fifth child, John, born March 3, 1667, who married Mary Hull and moved to Rhode Island, reared a family of whom the second son, Joseph, who was born February 25. 1708, and who mar- ried Deborah Babcock, October, 1728, in North Kingston, Rhode Island, was the father of Lieutenant-Colonel John Hoxsie, the pro- genitor of the Hoxsey family in Madison county, Illinois.
WILBUR L. MCCORMICK. Among the hon- ored and respected farmer-citizens of Col- linsville township is Wilbur L. McCormick, owner of one of the most advantageously situated and most desirable farms in the county. This consists of three hundred and three acres, all within the pleasant boundaries of Collinsville township, and here he has re- sided for thirty-seven years. He is widely and favorably known; is the friend of all public-spirited measures and for the past nine years he has held the office of school trustee.
Wilbur L. McCormick is a native son of this section, his birth having occurred in Col- linsville, Illinois, December 27, 1870, and he is thus still to be numbered among the younger generation. He is the son of the Hon. George M. and Lucretia (Gillham) McCormick, and his paternal grandfather was Francis McCor- mick. The subject's father was one of that gallant array of sterling citizenship which offered its life upon the altar of the integ- rity of the Union, enlisting at the outbreak of hostilities between the states as a member of the Twenty-second Ohio Volunteer In- fantry and during his services rising from the ranks. He served from beginning to end of the conflict. The father and mother were married in 1868, and their union resulted in five children, of whom four survive at the present time, namely: Wilbur L .; Wade ; Mame, wife of Charles Huskinson, of Alton ; and George, of the State Bank of Collinsville. After returning to the life of a civilian, the father went to Missouri, where for several terms he taught school, and later on took up a farm in that state. He removed from Missouri shortly prior to the '70s, coming to Collinsville township, Madison county, and here engaging in the great basic industry. He was an influential and highly respected citi- zen and was soon recognized as the proper material for public office. For eight years he held the office of county treasurer and his services as such amply recommended him for
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the higher office of state senator from the forty-seventh district of Illinois, to which he was elected for a term of four years. He has now retired from the more strenuous activi- ties of life and is residing in Alton, secure in the enjoyment of hosts of friends.
Wilbur L. McCormick has passed virtu- ally his whole life in Madison county. He continued as a student in the public schools until the age of eighteen years, and at that early age began his career as an agriculturist, taking up his abode upon a farm in Collins- ville township, upon which he still makes his home. On the 19th of August, 1899, Mr. McCormick laid the foundation of a happy marriage and congenial life companionship by his union with Miss Ada Gloger, a native of Germany, and their interesting children are: May and Wilbur, Jr., both in school, and Mildred and Georgia Marie.
Mr. McCormick plays an active part in the many-sided life of the community. He is one of the most enthusiastic and valued of the members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Collinsville, which he was one of the leaders in building ; he is a tried and true Republican and has supported the men and measures of the party since his earliest vot- ing days. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he carries life insurance. As his name indicates, he is of Irish descent, his forefathers having been natives of the Emerald Isle.
DEIDRICH MEYER. The German type is one which has found many representatives in the New World and it has assuredly contributed its quota toward the onward march of prog- ress. Madison county is fortunate in pos- sessing a large representation of the German- American citizen, and prominent and popular among the same is Deidrich Meyer, a Madi- son county farmer. He was born in the Fa- therland, on January 5, 1850, and is the son of Friedrich and Christina (Pos) Meyer. Young Deidrich gleaned his education in the public schools of his native country, remain- ing a student at these institutions in Germany, world-renowned for their excellence, until the age of fourteen years. He then began to face the serious issues of life and became an assistant upon his father's farm. He con- tinued to reside under the home roof until the attainment of his majority, about which time he and his brother Henry, who had pre- viously come to the United States, decided to seek their fortunes in the land of wider op- portunity. Accordingly the subject severed
the old associations and set sail, filled with hopes and ambitions, many of which have been realized. They soon found their way to Collinsville and in this vicinity Mr. Meyer made his livelihood for a number of years as a farm assistant to a number of agricultural- ists. He continued to devote his energies to this work for several years, or until his thirtieth birthday, when he married and short- ly after became the proprietor of a farm of his own. On this fertile and well-situated tract of seventy-seven acres he engages in general farming.
Mr. Meyer was happily married on the 28th day of August, 1881, the young woman to become his wife being Louise Weiserman, daughter of Henry W. and Doris (Bade)' Weiserman, both natives of Germany. She attended school at the Pleasant Ridge school house. Two daughters and a son have been born to bless their union. The elder daugh- ter is Dora, who took a German and English course in the Collinsville school; Fred, also educated in German and English in Collins- ville, is at home, and he very materially as- sists his father; and Louise attended the Pleasant Grove school and studied German and English in Collinsville.
In the matter of politics Mr. Meyer has Democratic inclinations, but is for the most part independent and endorses what he con- siders the good man and the good measure, irrespective of party lines. He and his fam- ily are consistent members of the Evangelical Lutheran church of Collinsville. He has been engaged in farming for thirty years and is very well known in the county.
Both of Mr. Meyer's parents are deceased. The father never came to the United States, living and dying in the Fatherland. His elder brother, Henry Meyer, came first to America with an American friend who had been vis- iting in Germany. After living in the land of the Stars and Stripes for ten years Henry went back to his native land to visit his fam- ily, and at the end of his three months' so- journ returned with Deidrich and his sister Elizabeth. This sister is now a resident of the state of California. Deidrich Meyer comes of a family of nine children, only three of whom are living: Friedrich, a citizen of Germany; Mr. Meyer, of this review; and Elizabeth, who is the wife of Charles Gitsham. Henry, mentioned before, is now deceased.
C. G. HOFFMANN. There is no one nation that has contributed to the complex composi- tion of our American social fabric an. ele-
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ment of more sterling worth or of greater value in fostering and supporting our nation- al institutions than has Germany. Germany has given us men of sturdy integrity, indom- itable perseverance, high intelligence and much business sagacity, the result being the incor- poration of a firm and strength giving fiber ramifying through warp and woof. C. Gott- lieb Hoffmann is but one generation removed from the Fatherland, and he is a worthy rep- resentative of this fine stock in Illinois. He now engages successfully in market garden- ing in Collinsville township, on a valuable tract of sixteen acres, and he has proved an excellent public official, having acted for twelve successive years as township road commis- sioner and having also served as road over- seer, to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens.
C. Gottlieb Hoffmann was born in the city of St. Louis, on December 31, 1845, and is the son of Fred and Minnie ( Martin) Hoff- mann. Frederick, who was the son of Gott- lieb, was a native of Germany, who severed home ties in youth and came to this country in quest of the advantage offered by the newer country. He gradually made his way to the south-west and worked at various trades and occupations in and around St. Louis. The mother was also a native of Ger- many, and the only member of her family to come to America, her voyage across the Atlantic being made with a party of friends. She, too, found her way to St. Louis, and in that city made her livelihood until her mar- riage to Mr. Hoffmann. Fifteen children were born to their union, of whom nine lived to maturity and eight are now living, as fol- lows: Johanna, wife of William Langwish ; C. Gottlieb; Augusta, wife of Dr. Schott, of Troy; Julia, wife of Dr. Merll, of Collins- ville; Agnes, wife of Herman Roeter, of Cal- ifornia; Anna, single; Fredericka, single ; Sophia, single. The father, after living in St. Louis for a time, came to Collinsville township, where he became a representative of the great basic industry.
The early boyhood of C. Gottlieb Hoffmann was passed in St. Louis, where he attended school until the removal of his parents to Illinois. He then attended the schools of Collinsville township until the age of four- teen years, when he began to devote his young energies to assisting his father in the farm work. He was married February 11, 1877, to Katherine Soellerer, a young German wom- an, who died in May, 1886, leaving six chil-
dren, five of whom survive at the present day, namely : Minnie, wife of Frank Neubauer ; . Fred; Henry; Anna, unmarried; and Julia, wife of John G. Geisler. Mr. Hoffmann was a second time married in the year 1887, to Maria Lorrens, daughter of John Lorrens, a native of Germany. This marriage has been blessed by the birth of a son, Arthur, who is at home.
Mr. Hoffmann is a valued member of the German Lutheran church of Collinsville, and his children received their educations in the parochial schools. He is a staunch Republican who has given heart and hand to the men and measures of the party since his earliest voting days, and it was his distinction to cast his first ballot for the martyred Lincoln, in the second campaign. For twelve years, as previously mentioned, Mr. Hoffmann held the office of highway commissioner and before this was ward overseer for a good many years, being the first overseer in the township after its organization. He secured his present property in the year 1873, and has made a great success of his gardening, disposing of his products at various markets.
JAMES M. MATTHEWS is the proprietor and resident of the old Matthews homestead three miles north of Collinsville, a place that has been familiar to nearly three generations of citizens in this part of the county. The sub- stantial brick farm house which is his home was built in 1845, and about it cluster most of the associations and memories of this fam- ily. It was at this homestead that Mr. Mat- thews was born, May 25, 1859, and here he has spent most of his life, and achieved a prosperous career as farmer and stock raiser.
His parents, former well known citizens of Madison county, were Anderson Johnson and 'Harriet (Walters) Matthews, the father a native of Virginia and the mother of Penn- sylvania. When the young Virginian left his native state for the west he located first at St. Louis, where, being a bricklayer by trade, he engaged in contracting and did a prosperous business. In that city he met Harriet Walters, who had come west with her parents, and after their marriage they purchased, in 1845, the farm north of Col- linsville and built the house where they spent most of the years remaining of their lives. Here the mother died in 1885. The father some four years before his death moved back to St. Louis, where he died in 1901. There were six children in the family, of whom three are now living : Anderson J .; Andrew J. ; and
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James M. Roy, of Chicago, is a step son, the father having married twice, his second wife being Emma (Gregory) Gregory.
With the exception of two years Mr. Mat- thews has been a farmer all his active ca- reer. When he was nineteen years old he engaged in the shoe business at St. Louis, but two years later sold out and returned to the farm. He received his early education in the district schools about Collinsville, and has been one of the progressive, intelligent citi- zens of this locality for many years. The old homestead which he bought consists of one hundred and ninety-three acres, and under his management has been one of the most pro- ductive places in the county. For the past fourteen years he has been a member of the board of his school district. In politics he is Republican, and he and his family are mem- bers of the Episcopal church of Collinsville.
In November, 1879, Mr. Matthews married Miss Sarah Gregory, of Springfield. She is a daughter of Isaac Gregory, who was born in Sangamon county. They have seven living children : Ollie, a graduate of the public schools of St. Louis, is the wife of Ed Frankle; Bessie and Florence are both grad- uates of their home district schools; Lexus, who graduated in the district schools of North Dakota; Emmett, a graduate of the district school and now in St. Louis; Ralph, aged fourteen ; and Jerome, aged nine.
BENJAMIN J. JONES, SR., ex-mayor of Maryville, Illinois, now mine examiner, has been identified with this place for nearly a dozen years.
Mr. Jones is a native of Wales and a son of Welsh parents, John and Margaret (Thomas) Jones, both of whom died in the old country. In their family of eight chil- dren he is the youngest and the only one now living. He was born November 14, 1847, and was reared in a village, where he attended school up to the time he was fourteen, when he went to work in a mine. For seven years he was engaged in mining in Wales, then, in 1868, at the age of twenty-one, he came to America, landing at New York City, from whence he directed his course to the mines in Summit county, Ohio. Later he continued his way westward into the neighboring state of Indiana and found employment in the mines near Crawfordsville. Ohio, however, held an attraction for him, and he went back there and was married. His next move was to California, from there he went to Ala- bama, and from Alabama he came up into
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