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 68
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 68
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Mrs. Scott died April 28th, 1878, aged fifty-one years. By this union there have been scven children, two sons and five daughters. Their names are James W., Esther Catharine, wife of Geo. W. Leach, Lizzie Ann, Ada Eliza, Emma Delila, Peter P., and Mary Agnes Scott. Politically Mr. Scott was originally a member of the
Old Linc Whig party, and cast his first presidential vote for Ge- neral Taylor in 1848. He contined a member of that party until its abandonment, when he joined the Republican organization, and from 1860 to the present has been a staunch and ardent supporter of its principles. He has held various local offices in his township, such as assessor and collector. Mr. Scott may be regarded as onc of the pioneers of Illinois, and one of the old settlers of Shelby county. His youth, manhood, and maturer years, have all been passed in this state. In his home he is a pleasant, hospitable gentle- nian, and in his neighborhood where best known, he bears the repu - tation of an honorable and respected citizen.
ROBERT COOPER NOBLE.
THE Noble family trace back their history and genealogy for over two hundred years. Thomas Noble was the founder of the family. He lived in Brampton, near Penreth, Westmoreland county, Eng- land. The oldest son of each succeeding generation took the name of Thomas. They were known in England as gentlemen farmers. Thomas, the father of the subject of the present sketch, emigrated to America about the year 1833, and settled in Stark county, Ohio, where he remained until his death, which occurred in December, 1848. A few years after coming to Ohio Mr. Noble came west and purchased a large tract of land in Marrowbone township, Shelby county, now a part of Moultrie county, and stocked it with sheep, and commenced sheep grazing. He was very successful in all of his business undertakings, and would have amassed great wealth liad he lived to any reasonable age. He was upon the high road to prosperity when he died. He was liberally educated, possessed of a broad and comprehensive mind, and endowed with great energy and business tact. He was instrumental in having a large number of his countrymen settle in Ohio, and in the northern part of Shelby county. His brother, John Noble, canie to America about the year 1830, then returned to England, and again came here and settled in Petersburg, Virginia. He soon after came to Illinois and settled in Todd's Point township, where he acquired a large amount of land, and died in that township January 2d, 1864, leaving a large and valuable estate. Thomas Noble married Isabella Cooper, a native of Westmoreland county, England. She is still living on the old homestead in Stark county, Ohio, where Thomas Noble settled when he first came to the country. By this marriage there were five chil- dren, four sons and one daughter. Three of the sons are yet living. . Robert Cooper Noble, the subject of this sketch, is the youngest of the family. He was born in Stark county, Ohio, February 21st, 1848. His youth was passed upon the farm and in the district schools, until his fourteenth year, when he entered the high school at Canal Dover, in Tuscarawas county, where he remained until his eighteenth year ; then entered the Western Reserve College, in Sum- mit county, where he took a full classical course and remained for two years. He remained at home until he was twenty-two years of age, then came to Illinois and settled in Todd's Point, where he purchased a stock of general merchandize, and there he has been engaged in trade to the present. On the 6th of December, 1871, he was united in marriage to Miss Jane E. Harmount. She was born and rearcd in New Haven, Connecticut. Her mother is still a resident of that place. By this union there have been four chil- dren, two sons and two daughters, named: Isabella Jane, Mary Elizabeth, Robert William, and Thomas Noble. The Noble family are members of the Episcopal church. Mrs. Noble is a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Noble subscribes to none of the formula- ted creeds or religions, but believes in the teachings of the New
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
Testament, and thinks it superior to any other code of morals. His theory of religion is based upon the divine precept of doing unto others as you would have others do unto you, and believes that by so doing you have filled all the requirements that constitute a good Christian.
Politically Mr. Noble is a member of the republican party. He takes no further part in politics than to exercise his right of suffrage. He is a man of liberal education, of considerable culture, and has a mind well stored with general and literary information. His li- brary is well stocked with works from the best authors. In his home he is a kind, hospitable gentleman, making all who come within his doors at home, and at ease.
JOHN TURNER.
ONE of the prominent English-born citizens of Shelby county is Mr. Turner, of Todd's Point township. The ancestry of the family on both sides is strictly English. They belong to the agricultural class, and have been tillers of the soil, and chiefly engaged in hus- bandry for many generations past. John Turner, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Lancashire, Eng- land. He lived and died there. His death occurred in the year 1870. He married Francis Muncaster, a native of the same place. She survived her husband, and came to America after his death, and lived with her son John, and there remained until her death in 1877. By this union there are seven children living. John, the subject of this sketch, is the third in the family. He was born in Lancashire county, England, June 10th, 1833. He was raised upon the farın. He received in his youth a good English education in the common schools, and became sufficiently advanced to enter the Chester Diocesan College at Chester. He remained in college for two years ; at the close of which time he determined to come to America. Putting his resolve into action, he left his native country and landed in America in April, 1856, and on the 27th of the same month arrived in Todd's Point, Shelby county, Illinois. The first year after his arrival here he worked on a farm, receiving for his pay eight dollars per month and board. In the winter he taught school. He continued to labor by the month on a farm for two years. After that time he rented one hundred and twenty acres of land in the township and began its cultivation, but before the expiration of the year he purchased the land, and there upon that tract he has made his home until the present. When he pur- chased it there were about fifty acres partially improved ; the balance, was raw land. He went to work improving, beautifying and adorn- ing it until he has now as fine a farm and as well improved, as can be seen in the county. A fine lithographic view of Mr. Turner's farm and residence is shown on another page of this work. To his original purchase of one hundred and twenty he has added, until he has now four hundred and eighty acres of land.
In 1859, he, in connection with farming, commenced sheep-rais- ing ; he purchased 200 fine wool Merino sheep, and increased his flock to 1200, which has since been reduced by public and private sales. He afterwards introduced the breed of Shropshiredown sheep, and in the raising and grazing of both breeds he was quite successful. He did not confine himself to the raising of sheep, but had graded cattle also, that he bred and raised, but did not give much attention to the latter until 1874, when he commenced the · introduction and breeding of Thoroughbred Short Horn Cattle from the most noted stock of English and American blood. He has now a herd of thirty, that in quality and fine breeds are unsur- passed in the state. Two years ago he put into market twenty head of his own raising and breeding, the heaviest lot of cattle probably ever raised or shipped from the county. Fourteen of them aver- aged nineteen hundred pounds. The whole lot averaged seventeen hundred and sixty pounds. They were shipped to New York, and from there to England. We mention this to show to what degree of excellence Mr. Turner has brought his stock.
Mr. Turner ranks among the successful farmers and stock raisers of Shelby county. He is a man who has been liberally educated, and his mind has been further improved by varied and extensive reading. He is methodical and systematic, as everything around him shows. Added to these traits of character are industry and prudence. As an indication of the latter, when he came to Shelby county, he had seventeen dollars in gold, his entire fortune, which he loaned out the next day after his arrival at ten per cent. interest. These careful habits and good management have been productive of much good, and by their exercise he has secured a comfortable competency.
Some time after his arrival in Shelby county he was fortunate in being selected and appointed executor of a large estate left by a prominent and wealthy citizen of this county. His management of the estate, and the admirable and business-like manner in which he conducted it to a successful closing up, established him in the con- fidence and respect of the community. It also brought him the management and agency of other lands in Illinois, owned by English and Eastern capitalists, all of which has redounded to his material interest and profit.
He is a member of the Episcopal church. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian church. Politically he is and has been an ardent republican since casting his first vote in 1860. He is not an office-seeker ; office has been tendered him, but he has steadily re- fused to accept. He was elected supervisor for his township, but refused to qualify. On the 7th of March, 1861, he was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Atkinson, a native of Yorkshire, England. Her father, John Atkinson, is a resident of Moultrie county, and one of the earliest settlers of that part of the country. By the marriage of John and Ellen Turner there are two children-a son and daughter-named Frances Alice and Alphonso John Turner ; both of them at home.
THOROUGHBRED SHORT HORNS
RES.FROM SOUTH EAST.
POULTRY YARD.
3.0 915
BELLE OF LINCOLN HILL .
ROSE THORN. LILY. 0
"LINCOLN HILL FARM" THE PROPERTY OF JOHN TURNER, SEC. 18, T.I3,R.4, TODOS PT. TP. SHELBY CO. ILL.
PENN TOWNSHIP. (SHELBY COUNTY.)
HERE is perhaps no body of land in this part cf Illinois, of its size, that surpasses Penn Town- ship in fertility of soil, finely improved farms, and beauty of landscape. The soil is a deep black loam. particularly adapted to the growing of corn, though the smaller grains flourish well in moderately dry seasons. The incadows pro- ducc abundant crops of hay. The general sur- face is slightly undulating, and in some parts low or flat. In the last few years, since tile has been introduced, the citizens have taken a decided interest in that popular system of drainage, and at this writing there are but a few acres that are not under cultivation.
The township is situated in the cxtreme northern part of the county, and contains an area of twenty-four square miles, or 15,360 acres ; bounded north by Macon county, east by Moultrie county, south by Pickaway, and west by Flat Branch and Moawequa town- ships.
Daniel Roach and Aaron Armstrong, while scouting during the war of 1812, passed through what is now the county of Shelby, and being pleased with this part of it, so stated it to all their friends. John Armstrong. in company with Daniel Roach as guide, Robert Tolly, Elias Armstrong, and David Roach as companions, set out to investigate, aud in October, 1825, John selected a site on section 6, town 13, range 3. The place is now occupied by Jacob Barr. They brought with them stretchers and log chains, set to work, cut logs, and hauled them to the place selected. and John began the erection of the first log cabin in the north part of what is now Shelby county and Penn township. During this trip the rain was so frequent they only laid the foundation for the cabin. Running short of provisions, they all returned. John (who had previously married Miss Jane Roach) returned in November with wife and child in an ox wagon, and the honor falls upon John Armstrong as being the first permanent settler of what is now known as Penn Township. He was born in Warren county, Kentucky, in 1803, emigrated with his father to Madison county, Illinois, in 1809, who settled five miles south of Edwardsville, where he improved a farm and resided until his death in 1833. His family consisted of self, wife, and thirteen children. John, with the help of his brother Elias and Robert Tolly, finished the cabin begun in October, moved in, and began to keep house and improve his farm. Mr. Armstrong had several encounters with the wild beasts that roamed abroad in those days. He killed three pantliers near his cabin, and one was the largest of its kind killed in this part of the country. The pelt measured eleven feet four inches in length.
Believing in utilizing all things, he tanned the hides and pelts taken, and made them up into moccasins, pants and hunting shirts. His market was St. Louis, and he also did his milling there. Salt, coffee and whisky were the principal articles of merchandize needed; the bee trees furnished the sweetening. When Mr. Armstrong settled here liis nearest neighbor was Levi Casey, who lived ten miles south-east, on Robinson Creek. His next nearest were - Walker, who lived twelve miles east, in what is now part of Moul- trie country ; Field Jarvis, who resided in what is now Christian county, fifteen miles west; Robert Tolly, settled on section 12, now known as Flat Branch Township.
Henry Johnson settled here in 1830, on section 31, Town 14, Range 3, now the Middlesworth place. He built a log cabin, cleared about four acres of land, became dissatisfied, sold his ini- provements to Armstrong for a hunting shirt, and moved away. His father, who was an Indian Doctor, remained part of the time living with the Indians.
William Drake located here in 1832, Armstrong selling him the Johnson improvements. He lived here but a few years, aud another party entering the land, Armstrong hauled away the rails, etc., to his farm upon the head of Flat Branch.
G. M. and H. B. Thompson, brothers, came from Pennsylvania, aud settled upon section 3. In 1827, a Mr. Hoggert settled in the north part of the township, (at that time a vast wild prairie) and known as the lonely cabin; there was also an improvement on sec- tion 1, called the Stoolfire place. In 1874, there was a stock com- pany formed to build a store house and hall on the north-east cor- ner of H. B. Thompson's farm ; it was composed of some 30 or 40 stock-holders. Dr. Roe was the prime mover in the undertaking. They erected quite a substantial building with store room and hall above; Roe & Co. put in the first stock of general merchandize, and succeeded in having the post-office removed to the same, and Dr. Roe was appointed post-master. The first post-office in the township was at the residence of S. G. Travis, who was the first post-master. The first white child born in what is now Penn, was Mary, daughter of John and Jane Armstrong, now Mrs. Mary Campbell.
Land Entries .- James T. B. Stapp on the 1st day of March, 1837, entered the W. 2, N. W. }, section 31, and the W. 2, S. W. }, sec- tion 31, containing 131.15 acres ; Robert H. Ives entered section 23, on the 23d day of August, 1852, containing 640 acres ; and Jolin S. Hayward entered section 35, on the 24th day of August, 1852, containing 640 acres.
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256
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
PRAIRIE HOME.
General Store-By Ira T. Baird.
Physician .- C. K. Roe.
Churches .- The Presbyterian on section 34, was built in 1868 ; the M. E. Church on section 20, was erected in 1874.
Blacksmith .- Solomon Wise.
The following are the names of the gentlemen who have served as Supervisors :
William Baird, elected in 1866, re-elected in 1867; H. Johnson, elected in 1868, re-elected in 1869 ; F. Orris, elected in 1870, re-
elected in 1871, 1872 and 1873 ; H. Johnson, (Chairman), in 1874, re-elected in 1875, 1876, 1877 and 1878; E. B. Cutler, elected in 1879 ; H. B. Thompson, elected in 1880, and is the present in- cumbent.
Among the more prominent farmers are H. B. Thompson, John W. Sanner, David G. Sanner, George Goodwin, S. H. Sanner, E. B. Sanner and G. M. Thompson. Views of their respective places can be found in the work. The citizens are an intelligent and in- dustrious people, who are working in unison to make this the first township in Shelby county.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
SAMUEL SANNER, (DECEASED.)
MONG the men who have made successful farmers on the prairies of the West, and have died leaving behind them the record of a good name and an hon- orable business career, was Samuel Sanner, from 1866 to 1880, a resident of Penn township; he was descended on his father's side from a family of Ger- man origin ; his grandfather was a physician, who emigrated from Germany to America many years previous to the Revolutionary war, and settled in Pennsylva- nia,-the home of the great majority of the early German emi- grants to this country. Jacob Sanner, the father of Samuel San- ner, was born in Pennsylvania : his mother, Sarah Hanna, was the daughter of Samuel Hanna, who died in October, 1825; the Hanna family was of Irish descent, and now has numerous representatives in some of the Western States. Sarah (Hanna) Sanner died on the 23d day of March, 1838.
Samuel Sanner was the next to the oldest of a family of seven children; he was born on the 12th of September, 1803; his birth- place was about four miles from the town of Northumberland, in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the opposite side of the Susquehanna from Sunbury, the county seat of that county; he was raised in the same neighborhood. He had only ordinary ad- vantages of acquiring an education ; he attended the district schools as he had opportunity, but most of his attainments in the way of learning were obtained by his own efforts; he had a quick and active mind and a good memory, and by general reading and ob- servation succeeded in becoming well informed on a great variety of subjects. He was an excellent penman, a good mathematician, and was familiar not only with the history of America but with that of European countries. He lived on a farm till nearly twenty years of age, and then began to learn the trade of a harness and saddle maker at Pennsboro, on the west branch of the Susquehanna. After serving a regular apprenticeship, he went into business for himself at Northumberland. On the 26th of April, 1827, he was united in marriage, by the Rev. William R. Smith, to Barbara Paul, who was born on the 28th of February, 1810, the daughter
of Jacob and Elizabeth (Miller) Paul ; she was the only daughter and the third child of a family of seven children. Preston county, Virginia, her birth-place, is now included in the new State of West Virginia. When she was eight years old, in the year 1818, her father moved with the family from Virginia to Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, where Mrs. Sanner grew up to womanhood. Her parents were born in Virginia, and moved back to that State again from Pennsylvania, and died there.
After carrying on a harness and saddle shop in the town of Northumberland about six years, Mr. Sanner made up his mind to emigrate to the West. In May, 1833, he left Pennsylvania, crossed the Allegheny mountains to Pittsburg, and taking a boat at that place came down the Ohio and up the Mississippi river to St. Louis. St. Louis was then but a small town, and contained few inhabitants. Its stores could not have been very well stocked, for Mr. Sanner was accustomed to relate that he once went there to purchase a stock of meat and could only find a single ham for sale in the whole town. It was his intention to settle in Peoria county, but the spring of 1833 was unusually wet, the roads, in consequence, were extremely heavy, and the family was obliged to stop in Madison county of this State. Travel was so difficult that it took three days to.make the twenty-nine miles between St. Louis and the place where they set- tled. At that time Mr. Sanner had but little means; he had worked faithfully at his trade in Pennsylvania, but had managed to accu- mulate only a little money. A family by the name of Lathey had accompanied them from Pennsylvania, and in partnership with them he bought a farm of 160 acres, in the nothern part of Madi- son county, ninc miles north of Edwardsville. After living there seven years he sold his interest in this farm and bought another about a mile distant, on which the family lived till their removal to Shelby county. Although he began with a small capital he was a man of great industry and energy, and succeeded in accumula- ting a competence and becoming owner of a fine and valuable farm. This farm consisted of 400 acres, situated in sections 26 and 27, of township 6, range 8.
Land in Madison county increasing in value, and in order to obtain an abundance for his children, he finally concluded to sell his farm in that part of the state and purchase cheaper land else-
"LONE CABIN FARM"RESIDENCE OF THE LATE SAM! SANNER (NOW THE PROPERTY OF) JOHN W.SANNER, SEC.21, T.14,R.3(PENN TP.) SHELBY CO.ILL.
RESIDENCE & FARM OF GEORGE GOODWIN, SEC.30, T.14, R.3, PENN TP.) SHELBY CO. ILL.
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
where. Hc thought at first of removing to Kansas, but after visit- ing that state concluded that he preferred Illinois. He finally pur- chased between two and three thousand acres of land, the most of it lying in Penn township, Shelby county ; part in Macon county, and a small quantity in Moultrie. The greater part.was bought from the Illinois Central Railroad company. With the exception of about twenty-five acres it was entirely unimproved. At that time the prairie in that locality was wild and uncultivated, and contained few improvements. In the spring of 1866, the family moved to Shelby county and settled on section twenty-one of Penn township, then included in Pickaway township. The nearest neighbor was three-quarters of a mile distant, and the next three miles away. He sold part of this land, gave part to his children, and at the time of his death was the owner of about a thousand acres He had never, from boyhood, possessed a strong constitution, but in the course of his life managed to do a great deal of hard work. When about fifteen he sustained an injury by falling from a house, the effects of which lasted through life. At different times he was afflicted with the lung fever. During the winter of 1879-80 he was seized with severe illness, and his death occurred on the 19th of April, 1880. His widow still resides on the farm on which they settled on coming to Shelby county. At the time of his death he was seventy-six years, seven months and seven days of age. He lacked seven days of having been married fifty three years. Three years before he had celebrated the fiftieth anniver- sary of his marriage.
He was about six feet in height. His complexion was fair. His hair was dark, though many years before his death it became sil- vered with the frosts of age. His energy and perseverance were the main secrets of his success. His life had been one of hard, though cheerful toil. He was a natural mechanical genius, and could do the work of a curpenter or gun-smith as readily as though he had learned the trade. He was ambitious to succeed in the world, and whatever plan he undertook, his energy enabled him to accomplish. It may be said, however, with truth, that much of his success in life was due to the cheerful co-operation of his faith- ful wife, who shared with him his fortunes for more than half a century. He was a man of good business capacity, and upright and honorable in all his dealings. In all his transactions, in the course of a long life, he sustained the reputation of a man of strict personal integrity. No imputation of dishonesty was ever breathed on his character. He was cheerful in disposition, always looked on the bright side of things, and never gave way to discouragement. In his younger years, while living in Pennsylvania, he belonged to the Presbyterian denomination, but after coming to Illinois united with the Methodist church. In his politics, he was in early life a member of the democratic party, with which he voted till the agi- tation of the slavery question caused the formation of parties on a new basis. That he was in early sympathy with the anti-slavery movement is shown by the fact that he named one of his children, since deceased, Lovejoy, after that early martyr to the cause of human liberty who was killed at Alton. When the Republican party was formed he became one of its earliest members, and ever afterward was firmly attached to its principles. He filled the office of Township Treasurer eighteen years while living in Madison county, and at one time was a candidate for probate judge, and in a remarkably close contest failed of election by only two or three votes. He was School Treasurer of congressional township four- teen, range three, part of which extends in Macon county. At the time of his death he was filling the office of Justice of the Peace. His children were as follows :- Sarah, who died at the age of twenty-eight days ; Elizabeth, who married H. J. Huestis, of Madi- 33
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