USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, volume II > Part 21
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In 1855 Mr. Busher came to Decatur and here he opened a shoe shop for the purpose of making and mending shoes, continuing to work on the bench until 1862. He then purchased a small stock of ready-made goods and finding that there was more profit to be made in the sale of such goods than in making them he entered into partnership with John Black and purchased quite a large stock. Opening their store, the firm soon secured a large and growing trade and the partnership existed continuously from 1871 until 1881, when it was dissolved by mutual consent. Mr. Busher purchased his partner's interest and for some time was alone, but afterward became associated with Walter Hutchins under the firm style of W. F. Busher & Company. This relation was maintained for five years and then again Mr. Busher became sole proprietor. He was then carrying a large and carefully selected stock and had an extensive patronage, which made the business very remunerative. For almost forty years he was a representative of commercial interests in Decatur and in 1894, with a handsome competence as the reward of his labors, he retired from mercantile life. In 1862 he had erected a good business block at 152 East Main street. It is twenty-two by eighty feet and three stories in height, and this he owned at the time of his death. He also had other property interests in Decatur, including a number of dwelling houses, which he rented and from which he derived a good annual income.
Mr. Busher was twice married. On the 21st of February, 1856, he wedded Miss Louise Bekemyer of Springfield. She was born in Germany, spending the greater part of her girlhood in Prussia, but was living in the capital of Illinois at the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Busher became the parents of four chil- dren: Walter, who died in his twenty-first year; Carrie, who is the wife of George P. Zeiss, of Houston, Texas; Sophia B., who is the wife of William P. Shade, a prominent business man and merchant of Decatur; and Josie, the wife
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of Charles Schuck, a lumber merchant of Springfield, Illinois. The wife and mother passed away in October, 1897, and in 1898 Mr. Busher was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Mary A. Jones, a most estimable lady whose value in social and benevolent circles is widely acknowledged. She is a mem- ber of the board of managers of the Anna B. Millikin Home, a charitable institu- tion, and in her is vested the power of admission and dismission in connection with this home. She possesses not only rare executive ability and marked tact in dealing with the unfortunate ones of life, but also a most cordial and charming manner that has made her a favorite among her many friends. She presides with gracious hospitality over her own beautiful home and its good cheer has ever been greatly enjoyed by the many who have known both Mr. and Mrs. Busher in Decatur. William F. Curtis Busher, a son of Mrs. Busher by her first husband, was adopted by our subject and now retains his name.
While actively connected with business affairs Mr. Busher also found time to aid in the promotion of interests calculated to benefit his city and his coopera- tion with movements for the general good was far-reaching and beneficial. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, called him to serve in the city council, of which he was a member in 1870-1. He was never an active politician, however, and the honors of office had little attraction for him. Mr. Busher was among the first to erect a monument of marked beauty to the mem- ory of his family in Greenwood cemetery. This is in the form of a mausoleum built of granite by most skilled workmen, and was constructed at a cost of sev- eral thousand dollars. About 1873 he erected a fine residence, built of brick and modern in all of its appointments. Mr. Busher was called to his final rest on the 5th of September, 1906. His life's span covered three-quarters of a century and although the snows of many winters rested upon his head in spirit and interests he seemed yet in his prime. He never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in America, for in this land, where opportunity is open to all, he steadily advanced until he occupied a foremost position as one of the wealthy and honored men of his adopted city.
ANDREW J. HANKS.
Andrew J. Hanks is one of the oldest native sons of Macon county and its history is largely familiar to him. He relates many interesting incidents of the early days and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. He was born May 17, 1835, on the site of what is now Boiling Springs in Hicktory Point township, four miles northwest of De- catur. He comes of a family who were relatives of Abraham Lincoln in the maternal line. John Hanks, his uncle, was an early associate of Lincoln and was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, on the 9th of February, 1802. He was a son of William Hanks, the grandfather of Andrew J. Hanks of this review. William Hanks was a Virginia by birth and at an early date removed to Ken- tucky, settling in Mercer county, on the Kentucky river. He married Elizabeth Hall and they lived for some time in Hardin and Breckinridge counties, of Ken-
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BUSHER MAUSOLEUM
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tucky, until they crossed the line into Grayson county. William Hanks first became acquainted with Abraham Lincoln in Hardin county. He was an own cousin of Nancy Hanks, Lincoln's mother. In 1822 John Hanks paid a visit to to the Lincolns in Spencer county, Indiana, whither they had moved, and made his home with them for two years. He split rails with the martyred president, who was seven years his junior, and they also worked together at grubbing lands and at other labor required in the development of a farm in a new country. Mr. Hanks purchased a tract of land adjoining the Lincoln farm, which he improved and then returned to Kentucky. He afterward made twelve trips down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, for the only means of disposing of his products was by freighting down the rivers on flat boats to the Crescent City. In 1826 he married Susan Wilson, a native of Grayson county, Kentucky, and in the fall of 1828 they became residents of Macon county, Illinois, settling in Har- ristown township, four miles northwest of Decatur. On their way to their new home they passed through Spencer county, Indiana, and visited for a time with the Lincoln family, Thomas Lincoln, the father of Abraham Lincoln, requested Mr. Hanks to write back, when he got to Illinois, and inform them concerning the country which he found and if it was better than in Indiana the Lincoln family would also come to Illinois. In accordance with this request Mr. Hanks wrote after becoming settled in Macon county, that he liked the country very much, considering it superior to that part of Indiana in which the Lincolns lived. In consequence Thomas Lincoln and his family came to Macon county in March, 1830. On coming to Macon county, Mr. Hanks had cut enough logs for a house on the Sangamon river but on account of not being able to get any prairie broken had settled in Hickory Point township. On the arrival of Thomas Lincoln, Mr. Hanks told him that he might have the logs to build a cabin if he liked the loca- tion. The offer was accepted and young Abe Lincoln hauled the logs with a yoke of oxen and used them in building a cabin near the Sangamon river in Har- ristown township. There the Lincoln family lived while residents of Macon county. In the summer of 1830 John Hanks went to the Lincoln home to help them fence a tract of land and he and Abraham Lincoln cut and split enough rails to enclose fifteen acres. It was from this lot that the rails were taken which were displayed at the Chicago convention in 1860. In the spring of 1831 Mr. Hanks and Abraham Lincoln built a flat boat at Sangamontown, five miles from Springfield, going to that town in March, cutting the timber, building the boat and in May floating it down the Sangamon and on to the Mississippi river. At St. Louis John Hanks left the boat to return home and visit his family, while Lincoln and the others of the crew took the boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans.
In 1832 John Hanks served in the Black Hawk war as a member of a com- pany commanded by Isaac C. Pugh, and thus aided in terminating the Indian outbreak in Illinois. He afterward returned to Macon county, where he en- gaged in farming until 1850, when he crossed the plains to California, spending three years in mining there about seventy miles from Sacramento. In 1853 he returned to Macon county and was here indentified with farming interests until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted in Company A, Twenty- first Illinois Regiment, which was then commanded by Colonel, afterward Gen-
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eral, U. S. Grant. Although fifty-nine years at the time of his enlistment, Mr. Hanks served for over two years as wagon master and when Grant had com- mand of the regiment Mr. Hanks had charge of his staff team. He was on duty in Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi, and was honorably discharged at Winchester, Tennessee. When Lincoln was elected to the presidency, he invited Mr. Hanks to dine with him in Springfield and offered to do anything for him as an old comrade but Mr. Hanks declined to accept an office, preferring to be with his family at home. Prior to the war he was a democrat but always supported Lincoln when he was a candidate for any office and after the Rebellion he remained a stanch republican. His wife died in March, 1863. In the family were eight children: William; James Lewis; Jane, the wife of Alexander T. Medlin; John Felix; Emily, the wife of Elijah Loomis; Grayson ; Mary Ellen, the wife of John Manning; and Levi.
James Hanks, the father of Andrew J. Hanks, was born in Kentucky in 1790 and was the eldest child of William and Elizabeth (Hall) Hanks, pioneer resi- dents of Macon county. He wedded Rebecca Atherton, and their children were: Isaac; Nancy, the wife of Abe Miller; Elizabeth Jane, the wife of J. Henkle; Mary, who died in childhood; John Lewis, who also died in childhood; Lucinda Jane, the wife of Jacob Harris; William Benjamin; Andrew J., of this review; Margaret ; Sarah, the wife of Wesley Calhoun; Rebecca Ellen, the wife of J. W. Tyler; Susan Malinda, who died in childhood; and Martha Emeline, the wife of Benjamin Ryder. The father of these children was laid to rest on the bluff of the creek near his old home but later his remains were disinterred and placed in Greenwood cemetery. The venerable mother of the family, who was born in Kentucky, in 1802, died in Macon county. At one time James Hanks was offered a Mexican land warrant for eighty dollars, which would have secured land within six miles of Decatur. He was the sixth man to settle in Macon county. His first home was built of round logs and the little cabin was situated a quarter of a mile north of the Boiling Springs. It contained four rooms and it was there that Andrew J. Hanks first saw the light of day. There is a con- trast presented between the buildings of the present time and that in which the log houses were constructed. First large logs were laid in position as sills and on these were placed strong sleepers which supported the rough hewn puncheon floors. The logs were then built up until the proper height for the eves was reacher then the ends of the building were placed and upon the whole were laid poles longer than the logs, projecting eighteen or more inches over the side, called butting pole sleepers. On the prejecting ends of these were placed the butting pole, which served to give the line to the first row of clapboards. As a matter of course these were split and, as the gables of the cabin were built up, were laid on so as to lap a third of their length. They were kept in place by the weight of a heavy pole which was laid across the roof parallel to the ridge pole. The house was then chinked and daubed with a coarse mortar and in one end of the house was a huge fireplace, over which the meals were cooked. It also furnished heat in the winter, for there were no stoves in the early days. The ceilings above were sometimes covered with the pelts of the raccoon, opossum or the wolf, which added much to the warmth of the building and sometimes the soft inner bark of the basswood had to be used for the same purpose. A log would
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be taken out of the side of the house and in the aperture were placed sheets of strong paper, well greased with coon grease or bear oil and in this way the room was lighted. A ladder made from sassafras poles with rungs placed in holes served as a means for entrance into the loft. There were no hinges on the doors and attached to the wooden latch was a string that hung on the outside in the daytime and was withdrawn through a hole at night so that the door could not be opened from without. Flint and tow were used to ignite the fires and furni- ture was all made on the place from a puncheon. The seats were made with three or four legs supporting a horizontal block of wood. Bedsteads were in keeping with the rest of the furniture and were so constructed that they could be drawn up and fastened to the wall in the day in order to make more room. All furniture was manufactured with an ax and auger and each man was his own carpenter. The common table knife was the pack knife or butcher knife, the prairie was broken with ox teams and the work of the farm was of a most arduous character. The father of Mr. Hanks has killed as high as four or five wild turkeys from his cabin door. Brooms were made from hickory brush, Mrs. Hanks manufacturing many of them. Andrew J. Hanks and his father also manufactured baskets for the market in Springfield, to which place he has hauled many a load and the father has also hauled butter to Springfield, carrying as high as two thousand pounds on a load, where he sold it for six or seven cents per pound. This venerable pioneer and cousin of Abraham Lincoln crossed into Illinois with a two wheeled cart and camping outfit. In later years Andrew J. Hanks returned to Kentucky with a two horse wagon, which trip was an event- ful one. While crossing the White river at Vincennes, Indiana, the wagon being loaded on an old scow, Mr. Hanks in some way fell overboard into the water. The stories which he tells of the early days are most interesting and give a very clear and correct picture of conditions that existed at that time. He well re- members holding a grease light while the father made the shoes for the family and also made the lasts upon which they were shaped. Wild animals of many kinds were to be seen around the cabin and he has seen as many as eighteen deer in a drove upon the place. While being sent out to pen up the sheep, Mr. Hanks has often met wolves, from which the farm animals had to be protected. His mother bore her full part in the work of those pioneer days. She would spin and weave the cloth used in making all the clothing for the family and from flax manufactured the thread which she used. She was greatly beloved through- out the neighborhood because of her kindliness, her hospitality and her helpful spirit. She was often seen on horseback riding to church, sometimes coming to Decatur to attend the meetings of the Christian church, to which she belonged. She possessed all the virtues of a good housewife of the early day. Her corn dodgers were considered a luxury and her well cooked meals prepared in skillets in the fireplace were greatly relished not only by the family but by the many guests who partook of the hospitality of that pioneer home.
Andrew J. Hanks is now the oldest member of the Hanks Association, which held their reunion at Fairview Park in Decatur on the 26th of August, 1910. He is a typical pioneer citizen, a man of retentive memory, who was reared and edu- cated amid the pioneer surroundings in the days when the subscription school existed. The schoolhouse was very primitive, with its puncheon floors and slab
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seats. His life history if written in detail would constitute a most interesting volume as a picture of pioneer days. He well remembers when what is now Central Park, Decatur, was an unimproved forest. He has taken a sack of melons on horseback to Decatur at a time when the village could hardly have consumed so many. In those days a yoke of steers furnished the power for the carding mill that was being operated in the village and a charge at so much a pound was made for carding the wool. Mr. Hanks hauled the first load of brick to erect the piers of the Illinois Central Railroad and also helped to build the Wabash Railroad. In fact he was employed in some way or another in build- ing most of the roads of Decatur. In 1857 he learned the plasterer's trade under Nesbitt & Mayers and has worked on many of Decatur's buildings, its high school and other educational institutions. Since 1890 he 'has been living re- tired at his present place of residence, at No. 2107 North Union street. He first had two acres of land here but has since sold one acre. His home was the third house erected north of the railroad and he owns two houses at Nos. 241 and 247 West Wood street, which he rents. He also has eighty acres of land on sec- tion 10, Hickory Point township.
On the 2d of October, 1872, Mr. Hanks was married to Miss Martha Eme- line Hunter, and unto them were born four children: Ada, who died at the age of six years; one who died in infancy; Roy, who died in childhood; and Harry H., who in 1908 was married to Miss Edna Brown, a native of Canada.
In politics Mr. Hanks is a republican and has always supported the party. He and his wife are members of the Central Church of Christ of Decatur. He now lives in honorable retirement at the age of seventy-five years. His life his- tory is not only of interest because of its close connection with pioneer events in Macon. county but also on account of the relation with the Lincoln family and their active association with the martyred president during the days of his early manhood and his pioneer struggles in Illinois.
JOSEPH GREGORY.
Joseph Gregory, of Pleasant View township, Macon county, is recognized by his neighbors and friends as one of the stanch men of central Illinois, who make no promises they do not fulfill and whose word may always be depended upon. Industrious, enterprising and energetic in a high degree, his success is the result of his own well directed efforts. He is public-spirited in all his deal- ings and while he enjoys a goodly measure of prosperity, he is also happy in the knowledge that others are also prosperous. Mr. Gregory is a native son of Illinois and was born on the farm where he now lives May 9, 1874. He is a son of Isaac and Delia (Moore) Gregory, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, November 6, 1834, and the latter in New Jersey in 1835. The father came to Illinois with his parents at six years of age, in 1840, the family settling in Sangamon county for twenty years and then locating permanently in Macon county. Here Isaac Gregory became a successful farmer and he and his estimable wife are now enjoying the results of many years of well applied in-
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dustry. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gregory, the subject of this review being the only one now living. He was two half-brothers, Isaac and Thomas Gregory, the former of whom makes his home in Sangamon county, Illinois, and the latter in Texas.
George Gregory, the grandfather, a native of England, was one of the early pioneers of Sangamon county and one of its most respected citizens. In his early manhood he was an engineer in Philadelphia, being the first engineer who ever ran over the Mardosia now the Wabash Railroad. He attained a wide reputation in those times for his skill at the throttle, so that for four years dur- ing one period he worked seven days each week, never missing a Sunday. Later there was a general demand for his services in setting up sugar cane engines in different parts of the country. In 1854 he purchased one thousand acres of land in Macon county at seven dollars an acre. This transaction was regarded as a wonderful event by the early settlers, but the same land is now worth more than two hundred thousand dollars. He became a large landholder in Menard and Sangamon counties and also an extensive cattle dealer and feeder of live-stock. The scale on which he conducted his affairs may be understood when it is stated that at one time he drove five hundred and twenty hogs to the market at St. Louis, delivering them in a single consignment. The wife's name was Sarah Knowles. She came from England at his solicitation in order that they might be married. George Gregory departed this life in 1887 and his remains were deposited in a cemetery at Springfield. The beloved wife was called away in 1893.
Joseph Gregory was educated in the public schools of Decatur and Macon and remained upon the home farm with his parents until thirty years of age when he took unto himself a life companion. As a young man he began farming on his own account and as the years advanced and opportunity offered, he in- creased his landed property until at the present time he is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres in section II, Pleasant View township. He lives in a comfortable home which was built by his father but has since been remodeled " and thoroughly modernized. Upon the farm he has made many improvements among which is a barn forty-two by sixty feet in foundation area-one of the largest barns in the county. He is a general farmer and raises a great deal of live-stock which he sends to the market in such good condition that it usually commands the highest prices.
On the 30th day of August, 1904, Mr. Gregory was united in marriage to Mrs. Bertha (Browning) Roach, who was born in Piatt county, Illinois, June 12, 1876, a daughter of John and Catherine (Rand) Browning, the former of whom was born in Kentucky July 24, 1855, and the latter in Illinois, March 10, 1858. The father came to Illinois at the age of six years and he and his wife are now respected residents of Atwood, Illinois. They were the parents of four children : Bertha, herein mentioned; Frank, of Decatur; Etta, a trained nurse now living in Decatur; and Olive, the wife of Ray Wright, of Decatur. The first husband of Mrs. Gregory was Albert Roach, a native of Cumberland county, Illinois, where he was born October 5, 1874. He became a clerk in a general store of an uncle at Lovington, Illinois, and was a young man of unusual busi- ness promise. He was called away February 13, 1900, and is buried at Loving-
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ton. Three children have come to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gregory : Helen, born July 18, 1905; Katherine, born December 13, 1906; and Dorothy, born June 22, 1909. These children were all born in the same house in which the father first saw the light of day. By her first marriage Mrs. Gregory was the mother of one child, Freda, born March 30, 1897. She is now attending school and also taking music lessons. Elijah Moore, an uncle of our subject, who in earlier days was prominent in Masonic circles at Springfield, Illinois, became a soldier for the Union and was killed at Fort Donelson. John Rand the grandfather of Mrs. Gregory, died form the effect of arduous service in the same war, and John and Mills Rand, uncles of Mrs. Gregory, were also valiant soldiers at the time the nation was in danger.
Mr. Gregory ever since arriving at the age of manhood has been an adherent of the republican party. He is an earnest friend of education and at the present time is a school director. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and he has many friends in that great organization. He was exceedingly for- tunate in the selection of a wife who has been to him not only a loving help- mate but a safe adviser and intelligent companion, sharing in his joys and sor- rows and always willing to contribute her part in forwarding any worthy object. She is a valued member of the Lovington Christian church and in social affairs is a leader. Mr. Gregory by a useful life has endeared himself to those with whom he is associated and is a worthy representative of the family whose name is in- separably connected with the history of Illinois.
JOHN H. MILLER.
On the roll of Decatur's honored dead appears the name of John H. Miller, who in every relation of life bore himself with signal dignity and honor. His activity in public life contributed to the material development of Macon county, while his labors in his private business affairs added to his individual success. He was a lifelong resident of Macon county, for his birth occurred in Decatur, on the 8th of August, 1841, on the spot where the magnificent Pythian Home was recently erected. His youthful days were spent on the home farm, his par- ents being David and Martha Y. Miller. His education was acquired in the . common schools, while his training at farm labor was received under the direc- tion of his father.
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