Combined history of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 75

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. L. McDonough & co.
Number of Pages: 490

USA > Illinois > Edwards County > Combined history of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 75
USA > Illinois > Wabash County > Combined history of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 75
USA > Illinois > Lawrence County > Combined history of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 75

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Mr. Ulm, as shown above, comes of revolutionary and patriotic stock. The love of country, and veneration and respect for the institutions of the best government the world ever saw, is as strong in him as ever thrilled the heart of an American citizen. He gave his two sons-his eldest born-to be sacrificed upon the altar of patriotism. They died at the head of the column, charging the enemy, and fell with their faces to the foe. Nor did he only send his sons to the front when the Union was threatened, but with characteristic prompt- ness, before the reverberatiors of the first gun fired at Sumter-and whose echoes awakened the slumbering patriotisın of the North-had died away, he shouldered his musket and enrolled as a private in Co. I of the 32d Regt. Illinois Volunteers. At the organization of the company he was elected Second Lieutenant. He re- mained in active service up to and including the battle of Shiloh. In that desperate engagement his command occupied the center. The Union forces were shattered and driven back. His company lost heavily. While

falling back before superior numbers, he was wounded, being struck by no less than seven balls. He fell, and the enemy, flushed with apparent victory, passed over him. He lay upon the battle-field from two o'clock, P. M. until seven o'clock next morning. Twice more the enemy passed over him and his wounded comrades. He determined to get off the battle-field. Several of the bullets had entered his hips and back, and when he at- tempted to rise, he learned, for the first time, that his lower limbs were paralyzed ; but, nothing daunted, he crawled along, dragging his limbs for some distance. This process of locomotion was slow, and, fearing that his strength would fail before aid could be reached, he improvised a pair of crutches. He found a stout stick, about the proper length that would do for one,-and, in looking around, found another, but, unfortunately, it was too long. How to reduce it to the proper length was the query. It was too stout to break, and he had no knife ; but, happily, be recollected that he had good sound teeth. He set to work gnawing it, and in the course of an hour had it in a condition to break. Prop- piog himself against a tree, he mounted the crutches,- his limbs barely supporting his weight when standing erect,-and by their aid succeeded in reaching the Union lines. He informed the soldiers of the condition of his comrades, whom he had left, and they were immediately succored and rescued from a slow, torturing death on the battle-field. Lieut. Ulm was sent to the hospital, and on the 3d of Sept., 1862, was honorably discharged. He still bears in his body two bullets as souvenirs of the enemy's regard. After his return home, and during the last years of the war, he was commissioned by Governor Yates as Captain in the Home Guards. Politically, Captain Ulm is a sound Republican.

HON. JOHN GROFF.

ONE of the leading and representative men of Wabash county is the subject of the following sketch. He was born in Germany, Hesse Casel on the Rhine, Oct. 11th, 1826. His parents, John Frederick and Anna Mary (Baum) Groff, emigrated to America in 1841. They came direct to Wabash county, Illinois, and purchased two hundred acres of land in section 18, township 1 S., range 13 west, for which Mr Groff paid eight hundred francs, or seven hundred and sixty dollars in United States currency. There was a small log house on the place, and about forty acres of the land was cleared. There he lived and continued the improvement of the farm until his death, which occurred June 3d, 1849. His wife survived him and died in March, 1858. The ra were ten children by that union. John, the subject of this sketch, is the third in the family. His father being in feeble health after his arrival in this country, and John being the oldest son at home, the work of running the farm devolved upon him,-consequently, he had little opportunities for receiving an English education. But his natural good sense has, perhaps, been of more real value to him than any information he could

JOHN GROFF

MRS. HARRIET GROFF

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

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HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

have obtained from books. In 1849 Mr. Groff com- menced life for himself. He purchased eighty acres of land in section 19 in same town, for which he paid $200. He built thereon a small log house, and lived there until 1860, when he purchased the homestead where he now lives, and in 1866 erected the large and commodious brick farm-house, a view of which can be seen on another page, and there he still resides. Mr. Groff is one of the most successful farmers in Wabash county, and has a large body of fine land (nearly 800 acres), all well im- proved and in a good state of cultivation. The accumu- lation of this property has been effected through the exercise of patient industry and rigid economy on the part of Mr. Groff, assisted and aided by his excellent and amiable wife.

On the 30th of September, 1849, he married Miss Harriet, daughter of Benjamin F. and Mary (Bratten) Gard. She was born in Bonpas precinct, Wabash county, Illinois, March 14, 1829. Seth Gard, her pater- nal grandfather, was one of the first settlers in Wabash county, and a prominent man in his day. He was a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1817, and a member of the First Constitutional Convention that as- sembled at Kaskaskia in 1818. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Groff eleven children. Their names in the order of their birth are: Benjamin F., born August 29th, 1850; he married Miss Harriet Ellen Ingram; they have had five children whose names are : Benja- min P., John F. (dead), Minnie M., Lewis L., Eddie E. and Lula Medora. John Frederick Groff, born Jan. 29th, 1853, married Margaret L. Brines; they have had five children, whose names are: Harriet Maria, Rosa B., John L. (dead), William L., Carrie M. (dead). Mary Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Groff, is the wife of John T. Davis; they have four children, whose names are : Harriet A., William P., John L. and Nora Belle Davis. Anna Margaret was born Sept. 3d, 1856, and married George H. Rigg ; they have three children, named Harriet E., Laura B. and Lewis Sher- man Rigg. Frances Elmira, born August 23d, 1858, is the wife of H. M. Cowling ; they have two children, named William L. and Caroline. Perry Allen, born Feb. 25, 1860. Alfred died in infancy. Harriet Me- dora, born Feb. 17, 1863; William Albert, born Dec. 23d, 1864; Lewis E., born June 9th, 1867 ; and Flora Viola, born March 4, 1872. Politically, Mr. Groff is a Democrat. He served one term on the Board of Com- missioners of the county, and while in that position gave excellent satisfaction to his constituents.

Such, in brief, is an outline sketch of the life of Judge Groff. He came here a stranger in a strange land, with no influential friends to back him ; but by his energy, tact, and strong common sense, has risen, in a few short years, to be one of the leading agriculturalists of southern Illinois.

The strong characteristics of the sturdy German people, which are economy, industry and honesty, are marked in him. In the neighborhood, and among the

people who know him best, it is said of him that he is a good, honorable citizen, a kind neighbor and friend, and a man whose word is as good as his bond.

HENRY H. RIGG

WAS born May 27th, 1842. His grandfather, Charles Rigg, was a native of West Virginia. He came to Illi- nois in 1818, and settled in Wabash county, where he died in the year 1842. His son John, father of Henry, was born in West Virginia, March 3d, 1805, and was in his thirteenth year when the family came west. He has remained a citizen of Wabash county from that time to the present, except for a short time in 1854, when he was in Wisconsin. John Rigg married Mary Hunter, a na- tive of Kentucky. She was a resident of Wabash county at the time of her marriage. She died March 4, 1864. Mr. Rigg subsequently married Mrs. Middleton, and, after her death, married his third and present wife, who was the Widow Baird. By the first marriage there were eight children, four of whom are living. Henry H., the subject of this sketch, is next to the youngest. He was raised on the farm, and was thus engaged when the war broke out. He enlisted for three years in Co. G, of the 48th Regiment Illinois Volunteers. His enlistment dates from October, 1861. He remained in the service and veteranized with his regiment, was mustered out and honorably discharged in August, 1865. He entered as a private, and was mustered out as second sergeant. The 48th Illinois was a part of the 16th Army Corps, and subsequently became a part of the 15th. He par- ticipated with his regiment in the battles of Forts Don- elson and Henry, Shiloh, the Vicksburg and Atlanta campaigns, and was with Sherman in his march to the sea. He was wounded on the 22d of July at the siege of Atlanta. He rejoined the army at Beaufort, S. C. He returned home and engaged in farming, in which he continued until April, 1871, when he came to Bellmont and commenced the business of builder, and erected the second house in the village. In 1879, he added un- dertaking to the business of builder. On the 29th Sep- tember, 1864, when at home on leave of absence, on ac- count of wounds, he married Miss Rachel J. Risley, daughter of Jeremiah and Jane Risley. She died April 7, 1877. Subsequently he married Mary E. Davis, who died Oct. 3d, 1879, leaving one child. His present wife was Miss Jennie A. Hill, born in Licking county, Ohio. The child of the second marriage is named Guy C. Rigg. Mr. Rigg and wife are members of the M. E. Church. Politically, he is a Republican.

GEORGE C. EWALD.

JOHN EWALD, the father of George C. Ewald, was born in Germany, April 30th, 1816. On the 1st of January, 1849, he married Anna Catherine Mergle. She was the daughter of Conrad Mergle, who was a forester. Mr. Ewald left Germany in 1860 and emi- grated to America, landing in New Orleans in May of the same year. He came up the river to Wabash county,

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HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

and bought one hundred and eighty acres of land in section 32, of Bellmont township, and here he has lived until the present. There are two sons born to Mr. and Mrs. Ewald. George C. was born February 22d, 1857, and John William in 1850, and one daughter named Paulina, who is the wife of Thomas Newsand, of Bell- mont. George C. was a mere lad when his parents came to America. He grew up on the farm, and attended the public schools in the winter months, and therein received a fair English education. On the 19th of August, 1880, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Jane, daughter of Jacob Seylar. She was born in Mt. Carmel township, Wabash county, Illinois. There are two children, the fruits of that union, whose names are John Jacob and Ida Ewald. Politically the family are Democrats. Mr. Ewald is a member of Eureka Grange. He belongs to the progressive race of men, and is liberal, and a patron of every enterprise that has for its object the prosperity or good of his locality or county.

DR. C. T. McCLANE

Was born in what was formerly known as Bonpas pre- cinct, Wabash county, July 23, 1845. Thomas McClane his grandfather, was born in the north of Ireland. He emigrated to America, and in 1812 settled in Kentucky, and in 1818 came to Illinois and settled at Rochester Mills on the Wabash river, in Wabash county, and there died in 1850. He had a son named Charles, father of Dr. McClane, who was born in Maryland, in 1806. He came with his father to Illinois in 1818. He here mar- ried and located on Bald Hill Prairie, and from there moved to a place known as Kitchen's Bridge in Bell- mont precinct, and there lived and carried on farming until he came to the village of Bellmont, where he died in February, 1883. He married Louisa, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Hamilton) Sloan, a native of Ken- tucky. She died in 1856. He subsequently married Mrs. Anna McClain. There was no offspring of the latter marriage. By the first there were nine children, four of whom are living. Dr. C. T. is the eighth in the family. He spent his youth upon the farm, working in the summer months and attending the public schools of his neighborhood in the winter. He remained at home until he reached his twentieth year, then married and farmed. He had determined to adopt the profession of medicine as the business of his life, and therefore pur- chased the standard medical works and commenced the study. He also pursued his studies under the direction of Dr. Strahan, of New Hope, and commenced the prac- tice in Lick Prairie. In 1877 he entered the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, and graduated therefrom in the spring of 1878, with the degree of M. D. He contin- ued his practice in Lick Prairie for four years. In 1876. he removed to the village of Bellmont, and there he has continued to the present. His practice has grown large and lucrative. As a practitioner he has had much suc- cess in the treatment of diseases incident to this climate

and locality. On the 3d of September, 1863, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary C, daughter of Lee Allen and Elizabeth (Wells) Kitchen. Mrs. McClane was born in New Hope, Edwards county, of which county her parents were old and prominent settlers. Her paternal grandfather was a native of South Caro- lina. There have been six children born to Mr. and Mrs. McClane, five of whom are living. Their names in the order of their birth are Eldridge, Logan, Norma Otto, Roy Dale, Jean and infant not yet named. Both the Doctor and his estimable wife are members of the Christian church. Politically Dr. McClane votes the Democratic ticket. In the spring of 1878 he was elected one of the school directors of Bellmont, and through his labors and energy, the present system of graded schools was established in the village of Bellmont. He is a wide-awake, active and enterprising citizen, and gives encouragement to any and all enterprises that have for their object the increase of the material wealth or prosperity of the town or county.

SAMUEL FREEMAN

Is a native of Butler county, Ohio, where he was born October 6, 1809. John Freeman, his father, was born July 4th, 1776, near Monmouth, in New Jersey. He removed to Ohio, in December, 1797. The trip was made through Pennsylvania over the mountains in wagons. They stopped at the mouth of the Big Sandy and built a boat, and in it floated down the river. His wife and himself with one child named Johanna, who was born on the boat as they came down the Ohio river, landed at the frontier village of Cincinnati. They wintered on Mill Creek, eight miles north of Cincinnati, at a point known as White Station. The following spring they moved to Sims' Purchase, which land lay between the Miami rivers, and there located. His maternal grandfather had purchased 800 acres of the above named tract, and divided it among his children. Mr. Freeman's part of the land lay at the head waters of Mill creek. There the old pioneer lived in Hamilton, Butler county, until his death, which occurred in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He was a soldier in the Indian wars from 1812 until their close. He married Elizabeth Seward, daughter of Samuel Seward, of New Jersey. They were closely related to the Seward family of New York, of which William H. was a conspicuous member. She died in 1828, leaving five children. Samuel, the subject of this sketch, is the only survivor of that family. He was born in the pioneer era of the west, and received but a limited education, which at best was confined to the subscription schools of that period, presided over and taught by muscular Irishmen, whose chief recommendation for the place was their ability to wield the birch. Therein he learned to read, write and cipher, which accomplishment made the sum total of his early education. At the age of nineteen he left home and went to work in a brick yard in Cincin-

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HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

nati, and remained there two seasons, then teamed for a while, and then went to work on the public works of the State. In 1851 he came to Illinois, and secured the contract to build the earth work, tie and lay the track of the air line railroad from Louisville, New Albany, Mt. Carmel and Alton, Illinois. The failure of the con- tractors threw Mr. Freeman out and he lost heavily in the enterprise. He then engaged in farming on the Deputy farm in Coffee township, and rented land in that vicinity, and continued there until the 1st of Janu- ary, 1864, where he purchased 146 acres in section 6, T. 1 S., 13 west, and there he has lived and added to his original purchase until he has now 390 acres of fine tillable land, all of which is now under cultivation. In 1838 he was united in marriage to Matilda Bolander, of Warren county, Ohio. She died in March, 1860, lear- ing six children. The names of the children in the order of their birth are Wallace A., who was a member of Co. I of the 115th Regiment, Ill. Vols., during the late war. He married Ella E. Stevenson, of Xenia, Ohio. Elizabeth, yet at home. Thomas, the second son, was also a member of the same company and regi- ment as Wallace A., and was killed at the battle of Chickamauga. Samuel D. married Emma Mayne, of Springfield, Ohio. Sarah J. is the wife of Robert Fenton, of Burnt Prairie, in White county, Illinois. Benjamin A. married Hattie Greathouse. Charlotte is yet under the parental roof. In November, 1862, Mr. Freeman married Mrs. Sarah Rotrammel, nee Johnson, of Sullivan county, Indiana. Both Mr. and Mrs. Freeman are members of the M E. Church. Politi- cally Mr. Freeman was originally a Democrat, and sustained that political organization until 1864, when' being a strong Union man, and in favor of the speedy suppression of the rebellion, he joined the Republican party, and from that time to the present has uniformly voted that ticket. He helped to organize, and was one of the charter members and first Worshipful Master of the Mt. Carmel Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and still holds his membership with that lodge. Mr. Freeman during the last thirty years has followed the quiet and peacful life of a farmer and stock raiser. In the latter business he has devoted considerable time and paid considerable attention to the breeding of stock, particularly the Poland china breed of swine, and in it has been quite successful.

WILLIAM BOCKHOUSE

WAS born in Hanover, Germany, April 19, 1836. His parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Dick) Bockhouse, emigrated to America in 1843, and settled in Auglaize county, Ohio, and there engaged in the wholesale grocery business. He died January 3d, 1875. His wife still survives, and is a resident of the above named county. William, is the third in a family of six children, all of whom are living. He learned the trade of shoemaking, and worked at the trade in

Wisconsin, Chicago and other places. In 1856 he went to Murphysboro, in Jackson county, Illinois, and took the management of a shoe shop. and continued there until the late war broke out, when on the 2d of September, 1861, he enlisted in Co. G of the 2d Ills. Cavalry. The regiment rendezvoused at Golconda, from there went to Paducah, Ky., then to Cairo, Ills., and then on a scout as far as Columbus, Ky. The regiment was employed scouting up to the battle of Holly Springs, and from there went to Memphis, and in the spring was with Grant in the siege and capture of Vicksburg, and soon after went to New Orleans, where he was discharged on account of sickness. He came up the river and soon after went back to Ohio, where for two years he re- mained before he was able to work. In the fall of 1865, he came to West Salem, in Edwards county, Ill., and stayed there until 1871, then moved to his farm in Wabash county, and six years later came to Bellmont, opened a shoemaker shop, and has continued there until the present. On the 18th of September, 1867, he was united in marriage to Miss Susan M. Bearrier, a native of North Carolina, daughter of Solomon and Elizabeth (Sink) Bearrier. There is one child living named Altha Bockhouse. His wife is a member of the Congregation- alist Church. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and belongs to Lodge No. 500, of Parkersburg, Rich- land county. He is a Republican in politics.

FRANK C. MANLEY,

WAS born in what is now known as Bellmont precinct, Wabash county, Illinois, July 29tb, 1844. The family on the paternal side were nativea of Vermont, and from there emigrated to Muskingum county, Ohio, and settled near Zanesville. There Benjamin F. Manley lived until 1842, when he came to Illinois and took up his residence in Wabash county. His wife dying in 1854, he went north to Logan county, in this state, and there died some years later. He married Julia Ford, a native of New Jersey. The Fords removed to Ohio, and there married Mr. Manley. By that marriage there were three sons, one of whom was Francis Perry Manley, the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, and came with his father to Illinois in the year above mentioned. Here he followed farming for a few years, and in 1854 read medicine with Dr. Paul Sears, of Mt. Carmel, and followed the practice of medi- cine until his death, which took place Dec. 18th, 1862. He married Maria, daughter of James Wiley. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and came to Wabash county, Illinois, with Dr. Baker, for whom he worked one year after his arrival in Illinois, in order to pay him back expenses incurred bringing him from New Jersey. Mrs. Manley was born near Gard's Point, in this county. She died in April, 1862, leaving four children, whose names are Laura, wife of William Hamilton, the subject of this sketch ; Alfred P. and Dr. Paul G. Manley.

Frank C. had but slight opportunities for receiving

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HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

such an education as usually falls to the lot of most boys. Being the eldest of the sons, the labor of providing for the support of the young ones, after the death of his parents, devolved upon him. He taught school for a short time, then engaged in farming, in which he con- tinued six or seven years, also teaching in the winter months. In 1875, he moved to the town of Bellmont, and for ten months clerked in a store. In 1877, he pur- chased a grocery store, and continued in that business until Nov., 1879, then sold out, and in the spring of 1880 formed a partnership with W. H. Knowles, in the agricultural implement business, which continued until July 26th, 1882, since which time he has continued the business alone. In 1878 he was appointed post-master. He served several years and then resigned. On the 5th of January, 1883, he was re appointed. On the 22d of August, 1868, he married Miss Louisa M., daughter of Alanson W. and Louisa (Hunter) Cory. Mrs. Manley was born in this precinct, in 1843. Five children have been born to them, four of whom are living. Their names are Addis, Nora Olive, Lenard, and Bertha. Both Mr. and Mrs. Manley are members of the M. E. church. Politically he has uniformly voted the Re- publican ticket.

He was elected justice of the peace, but resigned one year after his election. It may be stated that Mr. Man- ley worked two years in the printing business. In 1863 he was in the office of E. L. Merritt, of Salem, Illinois. Not liking the business he abandoned it after two years trial.

HERNY PARMENTER,

WAS born in Centerville, Wabash county, Illinois, Oct. 5th, 1828. Isaac Parmenter, his father, was a native of New York, and came west when a young man, soon after the state was admitted to the union. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and held the position of colonel, and was wounded in one of the battles. He was also a soldier in the Black Hawk war, and was an officer. While on duty placing the guard, he was accidentally shot through the leg by a soldier. He was for many years a leading and prominent man in this locality. He was sheriff of Edwards county before Wabash was erected, and also of Wabash county after it was formed. He owned a farm, and his sons operated it while he was in his official position. He was by trade a carpenter and builder, and also a millwright, and built mills through- out this section of the state. When he came to Illinois he settled in Centerville, which was the county seat of Wabash. He died in 1869. He married Sarah Ater,

daughter of Major Henry Utter, who was born in New Jersey, and came with her parents to Illinois in 1817, and settled at Bald Hill prairie. She died in 1845, leaving three sons and three daughters, all living, except Adin, the eldest son. He was a soldier in the late war, and a member of the 80th Regt. Ind. Vols., and was killed at the battle of Perryville. After the death of his wife, Mr. Parmenter married Mrs. Doretha H. Beau- champ, by which union there were four children. Mrs. Parmenter is yet living. Henry Parmenter is the third in the family by the first marriage. He was three years old when his parents removed to Bald Hill prairie, and there grew up on the farm. In the winter months he attended the subscription schools of his neighborhood. He remained at home until his twenty-second year, when he engaged in farming in the same neighborhood. He purchased one hundred acres which he kept four years, then sold it, and in 1858 bought one hundred and fifty- two acres in section 5, township 2, range 13 west. It was only slightly improved, with no buildings on it ex_ cept a small log cabin, and a few acres cleared. There he has lived, cleared the farm, erected the fine build- ings, which ornament the place, and improved it, and there he still continues to reside.

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Combined history of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 75

Author: Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. L. McDonough & co. Number of Pages: 490

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. L. McDonough & co.
Number of Pages: 490