USA > Illinois > Shelby County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 46
USA > Illinois > Moultrie County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 46
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
connection with Mr. Cantrill, started the "Shelbyville Ban- ner."
In the winter of 1852-53 he taught school. On the 15th of March, 1853, he started for California by the overland route, in com- rany with a family by the name of Davis. They reached Santa Clare, California, Sept. 10, of the same year. Mr. Cochran's first work in California was hauling rails from the mountains; but the business and manner in which he conducted it not proving satisfac- tory to his employers, he was put to digging potatoes. He after- wards undertcok to raise a crop of his own, but that proving a failure, he went to Santa Clare county, and engaged to work on a new mill that James Lick, the California millionaire, was then building ; he remained there during the summer, and in the winter taught school, which was among the first ever tanght in that valley. In the spring of 1855 he went to the mines in Coloma, and worked at Gold Hill a short time for his cousins, sons of Daniel Price. From there he went to Placerville, and from thence to Ranaka Bar, on the American river, and started a mining enterprise, and soon after got his ankle dislocated, and spent some time in trying to effect a cure, but failing, he then went home by way of the Isth- inus of Panama and New York, landing here in April, 1856. The following winter he engaged as a clerk in Kellar's store, in Wind- sor. A few months later he formed a partnership with John P. Templeton in the dry goods business, and continued thus engaged nntil 1864, when he was elected circuit clerk of Shelby connty, and he removed to Shelbyville. On the 13th of October, 1858, he was nnited in marriage to Miss Josephine M., danghter of John Garis, of Valparaiso, Indiana. One child, a son, was born to them ; he died in his second year. Both Mr. Cochran and his estimable wife are members of the Unitarian church ; he is also a respected member of the ancient and honorable order of Free Masons, and a member also of the chapter and council of Royal and Select Masters, and a member of the I. O. O. F. and Encampment.
Politically, Mr. Cochran has been a life-long Democrat. His first presidential vote was cast for Franklin Pierce in 1852, and from that time to the present he has been a true and faithful adherent of that political organization. Few men in Shelby county have been more faithful or done more to insure the success of the party than Mr. Cochran. He is in full communion and fellowship with his party, and has from his boyhood and his maturer years steadily followed its varied fortunes through all the stirring campaigns it has passed. He has seen its glorions banner borne proudly aloft at the head of its conquering legions and receive the joyous huzzas of a free and happy people. With strong heart and undismayed, he has seen it trailed and laid low in defeat ; but there remains with him that imperishable truth and conviction, that in its every crease and fold is written in letters of living light, Constitutional and civil Liberty ; and it must be unfnrled and float in the bright sunshine of freedom if these great principles are to be preserved and maintained and the Republic perpetuated. His activity and labor in behalf of his party were not confined to the county, but were co-extensive with the state. He was for six years a member of the state central committee, and for two years chairman of the executive committee. For a long number of years he was chairman of the county central committee. In 1864, as above stated, he was elected circuit clerk, and re-elected three successive times. He retired from the office December 1, 1880,-sixteen years in office, and in all these years no stain, blemish or unofficial act rests upon his private or public life. That he has served his constituents honestly and faithfully is attested by his freqnent elections and long occupancy of the office. As a public servant, he was kind, affable and accommodating, of pleasant manner and most genial
disposition. In 1875 he commenced the compilation of a set of Abstract Records, and after their completion formed a partnership with J. William Lloyd, and together they do a general abstracting business.
At the October term of the circuit court in 1878, he was ap- pointed master in chancery, a position he still holds.
KLEEMAN & GOLDSTIEN.
AMONG the prominent foreign-born citizens of Shelbyville may be mentioned Messrs. Klecman & Goldstien. The senior partner, Max Kleeman, is a native of Werneck, Bavaria; he was born August 10, 1837. In his yonth he received a good education in the excellent schools of Germany; he served an apprenticeship, three and a half years, to the trade of weaving fringes, ribbons and making tassels; at the expiration of that time he emigrated to America, landing in New York in 1853. He went direct to Co- lumbus, Ohio, and remained there three years, and from there to Des Moines, Iowa, where he continned two and a half years, and from there to Cincinnati. On the 15th of July, 1859, he came to Shelby- ville and opened up a stock of clothing; he remained alone in the business nntil 1862, when he formed a partnership with William Goldstien ; they added dry-goods, boots and shoes to their stock, and together they have continucd the business to the present. On the 24th of February, 1861, Mr. Kleeman was united in marriage to Miss Rosa Reiter, a resident of Cincinnati; fonr children are the fruits of this marriage-three sons and one daughter. He is a member of the A. F. and A. M., and of the chapter of R. A. M. and council of R. and S M. Politically, he is a democrat.
William Goldstien is a native of Obbach, Germany ; he was born April 1, 1840 ; he is the fourth of a family of nine children. He was liberally educated in the best schools of his native country. In his sixteenth year he left Germany and came to America, arriving here in 1856; he located in Columbus, Ohio, and remained there three years, then went to Des Moines, Iowa; one year later returned to Columbus, and in 1860 came to Shelbyville; six months later he went to Cincinnati, and remained there nntil 1862, when he re- turned to Shelbyville and formed a partnership with Max Kleeman, in the dry-goods, clothing, boot and shoe business, and together they have continued merchandizing to the present. On the 3d of Sep- tember, 1865, he married Miss M. Reiter, of Cincinnati; by this union there are two children named Ebbie and Edith Goldstien. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. Politically, he votes the repub- lican ticket.
The business firm of Kleeman & Goldstien has existed longer without change than any other business house in Shelbyville. Both were, comparatively, young men when they came to the town, and here both made their first business venture in life. They laid the foundation of their success by learning early to cater to the good taste and best judgment of their friends and patrons, by selecting and keeping in stock the best class of goods, selling them at a rea- sonable profit, rather than carry an inferior stock and striving to sell at low figures. By adopting this rule they have retained their patrons from year to year, who have learned to know and regard them as reliable and honorable merchants; honorable and fair- dealing brings its own reward, and in the case of Messrs. Kleeman & Goldstien it has reacted in constantly increasing patronage and sales, which, during the year just passed, reached the large figure of one hundred thousand dollars. They are both active and enter- prising citizens, and contribute liberally to all worthy objects.
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
165
M.G.
THE ancestors of the Hess family were originally German. They settled in America prior to the revolutionary war. John Moses Hess, the great-grandfather of W. W., was a soldier under Washing- ton, and acted the part of a soldier in that memorable struggle. When a young inan, sometime after the family cmigrated and set- tled in America, he settled in Bedford county, Pennsylvania. In the year 1800, Moses Hess, grandfather of William W., removed to the territory of Ohio and settled near Franklinton, then the capital of the State, now the city of Columbus. He married Mary Eve Hensel. By this marriage there was a large family, but one of whom survives. Daniel Hess, father of Judge Hess, was born in Bedford county, Penn., in 1782. He accompanied his father to Ohio, and remained a resident of Franklin county until his death, which occurred in 1862. He was a farmer, and followed that oc- cupation through life. He married Sarah Gordon. She was born in Maryland in 1801, and was of English parentage. Her parents removed to Franklinton, Ohio, while she was yct in her infancy. Both the Hess and Gordon families were among the first permanent settlers of Ohio. Daniel Hess, the father, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and in proof of his services received a land warrant for assisting in defence of his country. He belonged to the army ope- rating between the boundaries of the United States and Canadas. There was born to Daniel and Sarah Hess ten children, seven of whom are yet living-four sons and three daughters. The subject of this sketch is the sixth in the family. He was born in Frank- lin county, Ohio, January 10, 1837. His youth was passed at work upon the farm and in the district schools of his neighborhood until his seventeenth year, when he entered Dennison University at Granville, in Licking county, where he remained one year. He
then returned home and engaged as a clerk in John Stone's store, in Columbus, for one year, after which he returned to the Univer- sity and entered upon and completed the scientific course. He then determined to adopt the law as the profession of his life, and with this object in view he commenced the study in the office of Swayne & Baber, of Columbus, Ohio. After making suitable progress through the usual course, he entered the Law School at Cincinnati, and completed his studies, and graduated therefrom in 1858, upon which he was admitted to the practice in the courts of Ohio. He returned to Columbus and formed a law partnership with Hon. B. F. Martin, which continued until the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, when Mr. Martin received a Federal appointment. Mr. Hess continued in the practice, in Columbus, until 1866, when he came to Shelbyville, Illinois. Here he resumed the practice, in connection with L. B. Stephenson. They practiced together in the circuit and State courts until 1872, when Mr. Hess formed a law partnership with Hon. William Chew, which continued until 1876, or until the former was elected County Judge. In 1874 he was appointed Master in Chancery by Hon. H. M. Vandeveer, Judge of the 17th Judicial District. Judge Hess is a good lawyer, and discharges his duties well. He is painstaking, studious, and mc- thodical, a good pleader, and zealous in the cause of his clients. He says " that any lawyer is first-class who does what he has to do in a first-class way, be it much or little ;" his ability as a lawyer, and his worth as a man and citizen, received honorable recognition in 1876, by being nominated and elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Rose, in the office of Judge of the County Court. In 1877 he was again nominated and clected for the full term. In the discharge of the dutics of his office he has given unqualified
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
satisfaction, and has justified the wisdom of those who honored him with their suffrages. Politically, he has been a lifelong democrat ; he cast his first presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas, and has voted the democratic ticket ever since ; he is zealous and active, and one of the recognized leaders of his party. During the last politi- cal campaign he was chairman of the county central committee of the stalwart democratic county of Shelby, and much of the success achieved in that campaign, in the county of his residence, was due to his labor and untiring industry in the thorough organization of his party.
On the 3d of December, 1873, he was united in marriage to Miss I. W. Harnett, daughter of Dr. J. M. Harnett, an old settler and prominent citizen of Shelby county, Ills. By this marriage there is one daughter, named Mary Alice Hess. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. Judge Hess is also a respected member of the I. O. O. F. He is a man of fine social qualities, and of generous impulses. In his manner he is a plain, unobtrusive gentleman.
HORACE L. MARTIN.
THE ancestors of the Martin family, on the paternal side, were originally from Wales, and on the maternal, Hollanders. The Martins upon coming to America settled in New Jersey, where Lewis, the paternal grandfather, was born. He removed to Ohio in June, 1816, and settled in Licking county, where he resided the remainder of his life. He married Catharine Osborne, who was born and raised in New Jersey, and there married. Mark D., the father of Horace L., is the offspring of that marriage ; he was born in New Jersey, and accompanied him to Ohio in the above- named year, and remained a resident of that state until the spring of 1858, when he came to Shelbyville, Illinois, where he at present resides. Botlı Lewis Martin and his son, Mark D., were blacksmiths, and worked at that trade; but both subsequently abandoned it and engaged in farming. Lewis Martin was a soldier of the war of 1812-14, and was connected with the army of the Frontier on the boundary line between the United States and Canadas.
Mark D. married Julia Ann Ward, a native of New Jersey ; she died in 1842. After her death he married Martha L. Gaston, by whom he has a large family. By the first marriage there were five children, all boys. Horace L. is the eldest son. He was born in Licking county, Ohio, July 11th, 1836. In his youth he received a fair English education in the district schools of his native county. The family afterwards removed to Franklin county, in the same state, and there young Martin improved his education in the Cen- tral College, located in the county. He remained a pupil of that school for five years. In 1855 he came west to Shelbyville, Illinois, and accepted a position as clerk in his uncle's drug-store, and re- mained with lim two years. His uncle, Dr. Lewis D. Martin, was a practicing physician ; he persuaded Horace to study medi- cine, which he did, and read the standard authors, and pursued the usual course of study until 1857, when he returned to Ohio, and entered the Starling Medical College at Columbus, and passed through one regular course. In July, 1858, he returned to Shelbyville, and for a short time practiced his profession in con- nection with his uncle. The practice of medicine, however, was not congenial to his tastes, and he soon abandoned it to accept a clerkship in the store of Webster & Jagger, general merchants, and remained in that capacity until January, 1861. In the spring of the same year the firm of S. H. Webster & Co. was formed,
of which he become a member. The firm continued general mer- chandizing and handling of grain until 1872, when Martin withdrew. In August of the same year he purchased one-third interest in the Union printing office, and in connection with his two brothers, under the firm of Martin Bros., continued the publication of the Union, the republican organ then as now of the county. They at the same time established the Effingham Republican, and con- ducted it for one year, when they sold out the office. In May, 1875, Mr. Martin became sole proprietor and editor of the Union, and from that time to the present has been actively engaged and prominently identified with the journalism of Shelby county. While he is not a practical printer, yet he possesses much business tact and ability, and he has succeeded in making his paper a neces- sity to the people of the county. In the heated and spirited cam- paigns of the past, the Union has taken a conspicuous part in ably presenting the principles of the republican party, and moulding public sentiment in their favor. He is a bold, aggressive writer, and his readers are never left in doubt as to his position upon any question. On the 4th of July, 1859, Mr. Martin was united in wedlock with Miss Mary A. Jagger, a native of Summit county, Ohio. By this marriage there are two children living, both daughters. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. He is a member of the order of Free Masons, and of the beneficiary order of Knights of Honor. He cast his first presi- dential vote for Abraham Lincoln, and in all subsequent elections has voted the republican ticket. His political principles have grown with his growth and strengthened with his years, and he may now be classed with the stalwarts of that political organiza- tion. He is a firm advocate of the cause of temperance.
J. W. HAMER
WAS born in Springfield, Clark county, Ohio, July 3d, 1846. His father, Solomon Hamer, was born in Maryland, and his mother, Ann (Click) Hamer, in Virginia ; both are yet living, and are resi- dents of Spring Hill, Champaign county, Ohio. J. W., the subject of this biography, is the eldest of five children. When in his eighteenth year he enlisted as a private in Co. " C," of the 3d regi- inent, Ohio volunteers, under the first call of President Lincoln for troops. He served out his time, returned home, and on the 27th of January, 1864, enlisted for three years or during the war in the 66th Ohio volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out and honorably discharged July 15th, 1865. He participated with his regiment in numerous battles and skirmishes, and at Resaca was wounded, re- ceiving a charge of buckshot in the fleshy part of the leg, below the knee. He carried the lead in his leg for a number of years, and the shot was extracted in September, 1880. After he was dis- charged from the hospital, he was on detached service until the close of the war. In 1865 he came west and stopped in Decatur, Ills., where for five years he was employed as a clerk ; from thence to Taylorville, and in 1873, came to Shelbyville, and herc and also in Taylorville was agent for Singer's Sewing Machine. In 1876 he opened up a China, Glass and Notion Store, and has been in that business until the present time. On the 24th of June, 1873, he married Ella K. Kittle, of Taylorville. By this marriage there is one daughter, named Minnie B. Hamer. Politically he is a repub- lican. He is a member of the order of A. F. & A. M., and of the R. A M. and R. S. M. of Masons. He is also an Odd Fellow and member of the Encampment. In his line he carries a large stock, and is prepared to deal liberally with his patrons.
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
167
Thomasof Anybill
THE present efficient Circuit Clerk of Shelby county, is a native of Fairfield county, Ohio. He was born December 26, 1846. The Graybill family were originally from Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania. On the maternal side the family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The maternal grandmother was a native of Ireland. She came with her parents to America when she was ten years of age. Thomas Carlisle, the maternal grandfather, was a native of Scotland. He settled in Virginia and from there removed to Ohio. Samuel Gray- bill, the great-grandfather of the subject of this biography, was one of the first settlers of Fairfield county, Ohio. The date of his re- moval from Pennsylvania to that state was about the year 1800. He entered one thousand acres of land in the Hocking valley, and became a large landed proprietor. He built a tavern on the road between Columbus and Lancaster, and was personally known to a great number of people, particularly the old settlers of that part of the state. He was also known as a great hunter, and very fond of the chase. He always kept a pack of hounds, of which he was careful and kind, and would allow no one to abuse or maltreat them. He was known far and wide as the " Old Fox-hunter Gray- bill." Hc lived to the ripe age of ninety years, and preserved his vigor and strength until a short time before his death. His son, Jacob Graybill, married a Diller. By this marriage there was born Samuel R. Graybill, the father of Thomas J. He was born in Ohio, and married Sarah A. Carlisle, who was also a native of the same state. By this union there were twelve children, seven of whom are still living. In 1858 Mr. Graybill removed from Ohio to Illinois, and settled on section sixteen in Holland township, Shelby county. He is yet a resident of the county, and a farmer and stock-raiser by occupation. His wife, and mother of Thomas
J., died in 1872. The subject of this sketch is the eldest in the family of children. He was yet in his youth wlicn his parents removed to Illinois. His education was obtained in the public schools of Fairfield and Shelby counties. He taught school for several terms in the latter county, and farmed for six or seven years ; and during this time gradually worked into the stock busi- ness, feeding and shipping stock. During the past eight years the latter has been his principal occupation and business. On the 24th of October, 1872, he married Miss Theresa Travis, a native of Pennsylvania. She died in August, 1873. On the 18th of October, 1876, he was united in marriage to Miss Laura E. Newkirk, of Fairfield county, Ohio. Three children have been born to them. In politics Mr. Graybill is a sound democrat, voting that ticket from the time he cast his first ballot to the present. In the summer of 1880 he received the nomination of circuit clerk in the primary elections at the hands of the democratic party. In a vote of 2,506, he received a majority of 1,036 over both of his opponents ; and in the ensuing election, in November following, was elected by over 1,500 majority. This of itself is the best evidence of his popularity and standing as a. man and a citizen. In the years of 1875 and 1876 he represented his township in the board of supervisors of the county. He is an honored member of the Lodge of A. F. and A. M. and of the I. O. O. F., and belongs to the beneficiary order of the Knights of Honor. He is an advocate of the cause of tem- perance, but not radical or a total abstainer, but believes that the question of temperance can and ought to be governed by the laws of the country.
Mr. Graybill is a good practical business man, possessed of much common-sense, which he applies to his business, and makes it his
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
guiding rule. He was appointed assignee in several cases in the Bankruptcy Courts, and in all settled up the business in a very satisfactory and creditable manner. He has been largely identified with the live stock business, and has spent large sums of money for the introduction of fine breeds and the improvement of stock in Shelby county. In the, occupancy and management of the office of circuit clerk the public have a pains-taking, prudent and economi- cal officer-one who will reflect honor and credit upon his many friends who helped him to the position.
GEORGE W. KEELER
WAS born in New Carlisle, Clark county, Ohio, February 14th, 1832. His grandfather, Seth Keeler, was a native of New York. He emigrated to Ohio in 1803, and settled in Highland county; in 1816 he removed to Calhoun county, Ills., where he died in 1818. He married Jane Miller, who was born in Virginia, in Greenbrier county, December 25th, 1789. After the death of Seth Keeler his family returned to Cincinnati, Ohio. James W. Keeler, the father of George W., was born in Ohio; in 1834 he removed to Niles, Michigan, where he remained one year, then went to Elkhart, Ind., and made that his home until 1853, when he came to Shelby county, Ills., and settled on Robinson Creek; in 1867 he moved to Christian county, Ills., where he died May 18th, 1874 ; he was thrice married ; his first wife, and mother of the subject of the present sketch, was Catharine Taylor, daughter of Mathew Taylor; she was born in Dauphin county, Pa., near Harrisburg, in September, 1809. Her parents removed to Ohio in 1822, and settled in Clark county, where she was married; she died in August, 1836. By that marriage there were three children ; two of them have survived the parents, viz., Ebenezer and George W. In 1837 he married Rebecca Tal- lerday, by whom he had two children ; she died in 1845 ; he after- wards married Hester Ann Musser; she still survives her husband, and is a resident of Assumption, in Christian county.
George W. is the eldest son and child of the first marriage; when he was in his fifteenth year he went to the tailor trade in Elkhart, Ind., and worked for three years for Silas Hogueland ; in 1850 he started in business for himself in Elkhart, and continued for onc year, then went to Pine Bluff, Ark., and remained there one year, and then went to Grandview, in Edgar county, Ills., and on the 1st of April, 1855, came to Shelbyville, and formed a partnership in the tailoring business with B. B. Wheeler, which continued one year, when Mr. Keeler was appointed postmaster, a position and office he held until 1861. In November, 1861, he was elected county treasurer, and re-elected for five successive terms, and held office until 1873. In 1874, in connection with J. T. Herrick, he built a business block on the south-east corner of Main street ; lie then embarked in the dry-goods business in connection with W. M. Wright under the firm name of Wright & Keeler ; the partnership closed one year later, and Mr. Keeler continued the business for another year, and then sold out to James & Yantis. Since that time he has been engaged in farming and dealing in real estate.
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