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 79
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 79
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He married Charity Virden; she was born in Virginia, but was a resident of Illinois at the time of her marriage. She died in 1854. By this marriage there were fourteen children, twelve sons and two daughters; nine sons have survived the parents, and are still living. The daughters died young. The subject of this sketch is the third in the family and the oldest living. He assisted his father in the saw and grist mill, and took charge of the business in the absence of his father, who was away on business a grcat portion of the time. He remained at home assisting his father till the spring of 1846, when he went to farm- ing for himself. On the 8th of January, 1846, he married Miss Mary Terry; she died in 1851. By this union there were three children, two of whom are yet living; their names are Wil- liam H. and Charity Elizabeth, wife of Achilis Spicer. On the 19th of November, 1851, he married Miss Ellen Waller; she was born in Hamilton county, Illinois. Her parents were natives of Tennessee, and came to Illinois and settled in Hamilton county. In 1828 the family moved to Okaw township, Shelby county, where Mr. Waller died November 8, 1857. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and was in Gen. Coffee's division under Gen. Jackson, and was present and participated in the battle of New Orleans. His wife, and mother of Mrs. Francisco, died November 4, 1861. By
the latter marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Francisco there were seven children born to them ; the first child died in infancy ; Daniel died in 1879, in his twenty-fifth year; he married Elzina Lesley; by whom he had four children. Eli, the third, is a farmer in Okaw township; Alfred, Franklin, Levi and Willis, at home; Mary Ellen died in her twelfth year. After Mr. Francisco's marriage he moved to the place where he now lives, and rented the farm and remained a tenant for thirteen years; he then purchased the place, and here he hopes to continue the rest of his days. All the imn- provements on the place he has made since his residence there. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in company "K," 126th Illinois Volunteers, and on the organization of the company and regiment he was elected second-lieutenant. There were six brothers in the same company. All enlisted at the same time for three years. Alfred was elected captain of the company. The seventh brother was a sutler in the same regiment. Lieutenant Francisco remained in the service for eleven months, when he lost his health, and upon the advice of his surgeon and the officers of the regiment, he resigned and came home. His son William H. then enlisted in company "C," 54th Regiment Illinois Volunteers, and re- mained in the service until the close of the war. Mr. Francisco engaged in farming and stock raising, in which business lie has been very successful. Politically, he was originally, and for many years, a democrat ; his first presidential vote was cast for Lewis Cass, in 1848; he voted the democratic ticket at all subsequent elections, and for Horace Greeley, in 1872. At the time he voted for Greeley he doubted the soundness of his course, and then resolved that thereafter he would exercise his judgment, and vote for the man of his choice regardless of party ties or affili- ations. In 1876 he voted for Peter Cooper, and in 1880 for Gen. Weaver for president. He is an advocate of the greenback theories and principles. He has been assessor for his township for four terms. He is a member of the Christian church; his wife is a member of the M. E. church On the subject of temperance he is liberal. As a man and citizen Mr. Francisco is much respected ; in his home he is hospitable, kind, and generous, and few men in the county have more friends than Allen Francisco.
THE TURNEY FAMILY.
THE TURNEY family are of German ancestry. Four brothers came to America prior to the Revolutionary war, and settled in Maryland, and from them have sprung the present family of Tur- neys. One branch of the family removed to Pennsylvania. Peter Turney, the grandfather of the present family; removed to Bourbon
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
county, Kentucky, and remained there until his death. He mar- ried a Miss Collins. By this marriage there were thirteen children that reached the age of maturity.
Whitfield Turney, the father, was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, May 4th, 1810. He remained in Kentucky until 1832 when he emigrated to Illinois, and settled in Okaw township, Shelby county, where he purchased eighty acres of land, and there he remained until his death, which took place September 25th 1874. On the 13th of October, 1836, he married Miss Margaret Townsend. She was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, Oct. 13th, 1816. Her mother died when she was five years of age. She came to Illinois in 1830, with the Truitt family, who settled in Okaw township. She remained with that family until her marriage. She is still living, and is a resident upon the old homestead where she settled when married. She is a woman of strong, vigorous intellect and possessed of much business capacity. Her husband was an invalid for many years, and the cares of the family and the general management of the farm devolved upon her, and right nobly she did her duty. That the family have grown up and become worthy men and good members of society, is due to her wise counsel and judicious training.
By this marriage of Whitfield and Margaret Turney there were seven children, five of whom are still living. Six of these children grew to manhood. James W. Turney was a member of the 7th Ills. Cavalry, and died January 13th. 1862, at Mound City, near Cairo, Ills. He was in the nineteenthi year of his age at the time of his death. William F. is the oldest son. He was born in Okaw . township, Shelby county, Illinois, August 28th, 1837. In the sum- mer of 1861, he assisted in raising a company under the call of President Lincoln for 300,000 more soldiers, and on the 5th of September of the same year was mustered into the service. On the organization of the company he was elected 2d Lieut. of Co. H. 41st regiment Illinois vols. The regiment was ordered to St. Louis, and from there to Bird's Point, and then to Paducah, where he was taken sick. He resigned his commission and returned home, where he remained several montlis. After his recovery he rejoined his regiment, and at the capture of Fort Donelson he
went into the fight with his regiment and company as a private. After the battle he acted as orderly sergeant for company " H." in place of his brother, Daniel M., who held the position, but who was at home on a furlough. We may here add that Daniel M. Turney remained in the service for three years, or until the expi- ration of his term of service, and was mustered out and honorably discharged, as 1st Lieut. of company "H." 41st regiment Illinois infantry. William F. was orderly sergeant from the 16th of Febru- ary until the 5th of April. At the battle of Pittsburg Landing he was elected 1st Lieut. and was placed in charge of the company. On the death of Capt. Wilbur, which occurred on the 29th of April, he was elected Captain of company "H.," but was not commis- sioned until September of the same year. He participated in all of the sieges and battles in which the 41st reg. was engaged, until the battle of Jackson, when in the charge with the brigade upon the works at that place, his right arm was shattered by a minnie ball, and he soon after suffered amputation above the elbow. He returned home, and remained there until his wound healed, when he rejoined his regiment. He was sent back home on recruiting service, and then went to Memphis in charge of the company. He was afterwards in charge of the non-veterans at Bird's Point. He remained in the service, and was mustered out at the expiration of his term of enlistment, which was August 20th, 1864. On the 5th of September, 1865, he married Jane Casey, nee Golher, a native of Ohio, but raised in Shelby county, Illinois.
Charles C. Turney was also born in Okaw township, and is a farmer. He married Miss Rebecca Hendricks of Shelby county. Three children have been born to them; two of whom are living. Thomas Jefferson Turney, another son, was also born in the same township. He married Elizabeth Wright, of Moultrie county. She died in 1879,; in Pueblo, Col. One child, a daughter, survives her. Thomas J. is now a resident upon the old homestead. David F., the youngest member of the family, was born December 20th, 1853, in Okaw township, is unmarried, and at home, farming the old place.
The family is republican in politics. A portion of them belong to the Christian Church.
PICKAWAY TOWNSHIP, (SHELBY COUNTY.)
ICKAWAY TOWNSHIP is bounded on the north by Penn township, on the east by Moultrie county, and Todd's Point township, on the south by Ridge, on the west by Flat Branch town- ship
Early Settlers .- Elias Armstrong has the honor of being the first settler and builder of the first log-cabin. He located here in the year 1828, on section
n 7. Soon after he came he married a young lady residing in Madison county, Illinois. He resided here for a few years, and sold out his improvements to his brother John, and removed -to Flat Branch, and settled where he lived until his death.
John Lee moved in the year 1829, from Robinson creek to this vicinity, and settled on the north-west corner of section 7, where he built a cabin. He lived there a few years, then sold his improve- ments to Elias Armstrong, and migrated to the state of Missouri.
Samuel Whitehead moved here from Madison county, Ill, in
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
1835, and located on section 18. He lived there a few years, and then emigrated to Kansas.
John Whitehead came the same year and remained but a short time.
Jerry Goodwin settled on sec. 17, near the little grove where J. M. Davis now residcs. All the early settlements began in the north-west corner of the township.
Washington Armstrong improved the place now occupied by Daniel Yantis, called Buck Grove. Old settlers say it was no un- common sight to see a herd of one hundred decr at a time, in or around the grove.
Daniel Yantis, a native of Maryland, came to Shelby county, in 1853. After remaining here a short time, he moved to Ohio, but returned and settled on section 29, in the year 1855, raising a family of nine children, all married and living in this county.
Collins McKee came from Ohio, and settled on sec. 35, in the year 1846, and lived there until his death.
The place is now owned by W. H. Jackson, a native of Ohio, who emigrated to this county in the year 1845. Mr. Jackson cnlisted as a soldier in the Mexican war, and served as a private in Co B., Third Regiment, commanded by Coloncl Ferris Foreman. The war over he received an honorable discharge, and returned to the state of his adoption, and began, as it were, life ancw, opening onc among the finest stock farms in the county, containing about seven or eight hundred acres of land, where he now resides.
Among the early settlers we find Harrison Hopkins, D. F. Dur- kec, John Durkee, John Luffers, John Foster, J. Atkinson, and John Casey, who settled his place in 1834, and A. James, who was the Nimrod of the settlement, being remembered for killing the black bear, in 1838, that was driven by George Royse some four miles or more. Mr. Royse was riding through the prairie from Decatur, and came upon bruin near what is now called the Davis grove. He drove the bear to the grove on the farm now owned by Nathan Corley. It was in the month of August, and as the bear was inclined to "go West," he became pretty well worried and warmed up, and when he camne to the branch his bearship refused to go any further eastward, and laid down. Royse then rode down to the cabin of James, who took his rifle and hounds, and went to the grove ; he soon came upon the bear, and in a shorter time than it takes to write this narrative his bearship was " treed," and Jamcs with the pioneer's trusty rifle brought him to the ground.
In 1836 Mr. James had a very severe tussle with a panther at or near the same grove, and succeeded in killing him. Upon measure- ment, he was found to be nine feet long, from the end of his nose to the tip of his tail.
Edward Reddington, from Indiana, settled on the south-west quarter of section 34, in 1847, living here but a short time, then removing to Texas.
Nathaniel Corley was born in Ridge township in the year 1827 ; enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican war of 1846, in Company " B," Third Regiment ; was promoted to the rank of third sergeant; after serving with credit to himself, was honorably discharged. Return- ing home, he laid his land warrant on section 34, and at once began
improving the farm and erecting the necessary buildings; and what was then a wild timber and prairie plot is now a beautiful farm, surrounded with many of the comforts of life.
The first school-house was built on section 7, in the edge of the timber. It was a log structure of no mean dimensions for those days.
St. Mary's Church, on the north-east corner of section 25, was built by the Methodist denomination.
Grove Church, on section 20, was erected by the United Brethren in the year 1858, and was the first church erected in the township. It proving too small to accommodate the congregation, it was re- mnoved, and the present beautiful edifice was built on its site in 1875.
The Baptist denomination are now building a church on the north-west corner of section 34, on N. Corley's place.
This township contains an area of thirty square miles, or 19,200 acres of fertile and productive land, capable of producing in large quantities all crops grown in this part of the state.
Drainage .- The southern part is drained by Robinson creek and its affluents, and the north-western portion by the tributaries of Flat Branch, all of which give a good supply of water for stock purposes. There are no pools, swamps or stagnant water to generate niiasma, hence this is a healthy portion of the county.
Game .- The early settlers of this township were surrounded with an abundance of game, such as bears, decr, wild turkey, prairie chickens, quails, rabbits, wolves, raccoons, opossums, &c. Also numerous flocks of migratory birds came in the spring and fall, among which were geesc, brants, ducks, cranes, &c.
The first land entry of government lands was made on the third day of August, 1833. John Armstrong entered the W. ₺ of the S. W. ¿ , section 6, town 13, range 3 east, containing 160 acres. On November 23d, 1833, David Watkins entered the S. W. } of the N. W. ¿ , section 6, 39 97-100 acres. On the 25th day of July, 1834, Ebzemond Basye entered the S. W. } of section 35, 160 acres. Robert Porter laid his land warrent on section 26, in 1848. Also Nathan Corley on section 34, in 1849.
Supervisors .- The following gentlemen have represented Picka- way in the board of supervisors : J. Casey, chairman, elected in 1860, re-elected in 1861; G. M. Thompson, elected in 1862; John Casey, chairman, elected in 1863; G. M. Thompson, elected in 1864; John Casey, elected in 1865; William Baird, elected in 1866, re-clected in 1867, and chairman in 1868 and 1869; W. L. Ward, elected in 1870; N. Corley, elected in 1871, re-elected in 1872; J. Casey, chairman, elected in 1873, re-elected in 1874; N. Corley, elected in 1875, re-elected in 1876-77 ; C. H. Hilliard, elected in 1878, re-elected in 1879; J. C. Noon, elected in 1880, and is the present incumbent.
YANTISVILLE,
A post-office on section twenty-nine, was established November 15, 1880, with Henry Yantis as post-master. Longenbaugh and Yan- tis have a general store here.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
JOHN BARBEE.
JOHN BARBEE, one of the residents of Pickaway township, like many of the settlers of Shelby county is a native of Ohio, and was born in Ross county of that state, on the 21st of December, 1821. His father, Hazael Barbee, lived in Ross county, Ohio, and carried on farming. His mother's maiden name was Phoebe Ann Clayton. The subject of this sketch was the fourth of a family of six children by this marriage. When he was a boy of about four years of age his father died. His mother was married again to James Miller, and subsequently moved to Shelby county, Ill., and settled in Hol- land township, south of Shelbyville. Mr. Barbee was four years old when he left Ohio. He had gone to school pretty regularly in that state, principally in the winter season. After he got old enough to be of much service he worked on the farm during the summer. He was raised in Holland township of this county, and on the 23d of November, 1875, he married Deborah Ellen Comp- ton, a native of Pickaway county, Ohio. Her father, Jonathan Compton, moved from Pickaway county to Illinois in 1853, and settled in Holland township seven miles south of Shelbyville, where his death resulted from an accident by a mowing machine, in July, 1875 Mrs. Barbee was one year old when she came to this county. In December, 1875, Mr. and Mrs. Barbee moved on their present farm in section 19, of Pickaway township. They have one child, Charles Milton Barbee. In his politics Mr. Barbee has always been a member of the democratic party. His first vote for president was cast for Samuel J. Tilden, in the presidential campaign of 1876. He is still a young man, but is active and enterprising, has paid considerable attention to public affairs, and is known as a good citi- zcn. Mrs. Barbee's father, Jonathan Compton, was born in Vir- ginia, came to Ohio when about cighteen years old, and married as his first wife, Lucinda Brinker, and his second wife, her sister, Elizabeth Brinker. Mrs. Barbec was born in 1852.
W. II. JACKSON,
A VIEW of whose farm in Pickaway township, appears on another page, is a native of the State of Ohio. His grandfather, Thomas Jackson, was a resident of Pennsylvania. His father, who was also named Thomas Jackson, was born in Pennsylvania, and married Elizabeth Mainley, a native of the same state. In the fall of 1822, he moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and remained at Steuben- ville about a year, and then not liking the country, returned to Pennsylvania ; but after a couple of years residence in that state he came back to Ohio and was engaged in farming in the neighbor-
hood of Steubenville eight years, and then moved to Richland county, in the same state. The birth of William Henry Jackson occurred at Steubenville, Ohio, on the 15th of February, 1823, in the winter after the first arrival of the family in the state. He was ten or eleven years old when his father settled in Richland county, Ohio. In 1840, the family moved from Ohio to Illinois, and settled in Fayette county, ten miles north of Vandalia. Mr. Jackson's father died there in 1844, and his mother at Assumption, in Chris- tian county, in 1869. The subject of this sketch had limited oppor- tunities for acquiring an education. The schools which he attended were subscription schools, held in log school-houses for three months during the winter season. He went to school usually a short time during the winter, and was kept from forgetting all he had learned during the next summer by the fact that his mother made the children study at home on Sundays. Mr. Jackson went to school two winters after coming to this state. The greater part of his education he acquired outside of school, partly during his ex- perience for a short time as clerk in a store, and partly by his actual connection with business affairs, He was seventeen when the family settled in Fayette county. He lived at home till he was twenty-one.
The first work he did for himself after he became of age was to help another man raise a crop, in the summer of the year 1844. The other party furnished everything, and Mr. Jackson received one-fourth for his labor. Part of his share of the grain he traded for a horse, and thus became the owner of the first horse he could call his own property. This crop was raised in the southern part of Shelby county. The summer of 1845, be hired to a store-keeper in the same part of the county, on a salary of seven dollars a month. He worked three months and received five dollars. The next year, 1846, witnessed the outbreak of the war with Mexico. Mr. Jackson volunteered his services. In May, 1846, he enlisted at Shelbyville, in Co. B., Third Regiment Illinois Volunteers. His company was commanded by Capt. Freeman, and the regiment by Col. Ferris Forman, of Vandalia. He went to St. Louis, and the regiment proceeded from that place by boat to New Orleans, and thence across the Gulf of Mexico to Brazos Island. The regiment ascended the Rio Grande some distance. In the fall he was taken seriously sick with the measles, a disease which gave the American army in Mexico much trouble. During the winter of 1846-7, he was em- ployed mostly on guard duty at Matamoras. He was honorably discharged from the service on account of disability at Matamoras, on the 1st of April, 1847, and reached Illinois on his return home on the 3d of May.
Before enlisting in the army he had bought a small improvement on Congress land, and when he came back from Mexico he settled
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STOCK FARM & RESIDENCE OF W. H. JACKSON, CONTAINING 800 ACRES, SEC. 35, PICKAWAY TP. (13) R. 3; SHELBY CO. ILL.
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
on the improvement and began farming. He had received a land warrant for his services as a soldier in the Mexican war, and in the fall of the same year (1847), he came to what is now Ridge town- ship and laid this warrant for one hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he settled. He was full of industry and energy, and managed gradually to improve his circumstances and buy additional land. He was married in September, 1849, to Margaret Jane Walters, who died about two years and a half afterward, on the 8th of March, 1852. His second marriage took place on the 25th of August, 1853, to Mary Ann Burk, who was born in Sadsbury town- ship, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of December, 1826. Her parents, whose names were Robert Burk and Esther
Fergurson, were both natives of Ireland, and came to this country when small ; from Pennsylvania they emigrated to Ohio, where the family lived seven years, then to Indiana, where they remained about a ycar and a half, and about the year 1841, came to Shelby county, Illinois, and settled in Ridge township, on Robinson Creek, and afterward on Mud Creek. Mrs. Jackson's father died in 1863, and her mother is still living.
Mr. Jackson was a resident of Ridge township till 1862, and then moved to Section 35, Pickaway township, where he has since lived. He is known as one of the progressive and substantial agricultural- ists of Shelby county. He is the owner of about nine hundred acres of land situated in Ridge and Pickaway townships. Five hundred acres are comprised in his home farm, of which one hun- dred and sixty acres are in cultivation, one hundred and twenty in meadow, and the remainder devoted to grazing. The buildings and improvements are of a substantial and attractive character, and the farm is known as one of the best in Shelby county. He has had eleven children; two by his first, and nine by his second marriage. John Thomas, the oldest, died on the 24th of March, 1864; William H. is now living in Texas ; the others are : Robert, who is farming in Todd's Point township; Samuel, who is farming in Pickaway township; Margaret Jane; Louisa, who married Samuel Debaun ; Mary Ann, Esther Isabel, Lizzie, Andrew K. and Charles. In his politics Mr. Jackson was originally a Democrat. His first vote for President was cast for James K. Polk, in 1844. He voted the Democratic ticket uninterruptedly till he became convinced that the laboring classes must look elsewhere for relief from the oppres- sion of monopolized capital, and he then joined the National Green- back organization In 1880, he voted for Weaver for President. He is a member of the Christian Church, and his wife of the Presby- terian. He is one of the large farmers of the county who have reached their position by means of great cnergy, judicious economy, and the prudent management of their business affairs. When he left home to begin the world on his own account, he scarcely had sufficient money to buy an axe. Although the contrast between liis circumstances then and now is very great, he accounts for it by hard and steady work and good judgment in investing his means. He always endeavored to raise all he could from his land, and then to invest his surplus money where it would be likely to bring the most profitable returns. He has been a good neighbor and citizen; his integrity lias been unquestioned ; and his name descrves a place in this work as a man who has assisted in developing the material re- sources of the county.
GEORGE A. DURKEE,
Now the oldest inhabitant of Pickaway township, was born in Vigo county, Indiana, April 1st, 1823. His grandfather, John Durkee, was born in Vermont, moved to the State of New York, and about 1816 settled in Vigo county, opposite Terre Haute, and
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