USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Montgomery County, Volume II > Part 80
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
came back to Nokomis, where he died December 21, 1846, when about forty-one years old. He and wife had five children, as follows : Johanna, who is the wife of J. F. Reinders; Andrew J .; Arnold G .; Anna, who is the wife of W. R. McCaslin ; and Katherine, who is the wife of Rev. W. J. Korvent.
Andrew J. Eckhoff was educated in the schools of Nokomis, and then he organized the wholesale poultry and egg company that operated under the name of A. J. Eckhoff. His appointment as postmaster was approved, not only by those of his own party, but others as well, and his administration of the affairs of his office is eminently satisfactory.
Mr. Eckhoff was married at Chicago, August 11, 190S, to Miss Charlotte Holmes, a native of Delavan. Ill. She attended the Lebanon (Ohio) schools and became a teacher, being principal of the Nokomis High school at the time of her marriage. Both Mr. and Mrs. Eckhoff are very active in the work of the English Lntheran Church of Nokomis. Their social circle is a pleasant one and their hospitable home is often the scene of the gathering of their many friends.
EDDINGTON, Joseph, one of the representative farmers of Witt Township, owns 560 acres of land on Section 20, and is justifiably prond of the fact that he is a self-made man. He was born in Macoupin County, Ill., in August, 1850, a son of Joseph and Rebecca (Lockyer) Eddington. Joseph Eddington, Sr., was born in England and so was his wife. They were married in their native land, which they left in 1840, to come to the United States, locating upon their arrival in Macoupin County, Ill. In 1850 the father died. and later the mother was married to Charles Eddington. To her first marriage there were born two children, namely: Mary, who is deceased ; and Joseph. By her second marriage she had eight children, six of whom survive, namely : Charles. Richard, Rhoda, Thomas, George. Abram, Jennie and Edward, of whom Thomas. Edward and Richard live in Irving Township. Montgomery County.
Joseph Eddington, Jr., was reared by his step- father and they lived in the vicinity of Bunker Hill. Ill., and there he attended the district schools, remaining at home until he was twenty- one years old. At that time he began working out by the month, for he did not have a dollar of his own, and being industrious and thrifty he soon was able to buy forty acres of land, on which he moved and operated it and superin- tended his step-father's farm as well.
After his first marriage Mr. and Mrs. Edding- ton moved on their farm which then contained eighty acres, and five or six years later Mr. Eddington sold it and bought forty-five acres adjoining, and when he disposed of it moved on his present farm. At one time he owned 700 acres, but sold some of it at a high figure. All that he possesses he made through his own efforts and has every reason to be proud of his snecess.
On June 12, 1871 Mr. Eddington was married
to Harriet Tncker, who was born in Wisconsin, which she left for Illinois when she was thirteen years old.
Seven children were born to his first marriage, four of whom survive, namely: Joseph, Jesse, Harry and Grover, all of whom are farmers and good citizens of Witt Township. Mrs. Eddington died in November, 1913. In May, 1916, Mr. Eddington was married (second) to Miss Maggie Best, of Michigan. In politics he is independent. Mr. Eddington has raised stock and bought it, selling it in car loads, and has always made money in his transactions. His stockraising is carried on upon an extensive scale, and he is held as an authority on cattle production. He has spent much for the canse of good roads.
EDWARDS, John C., oil inspector of Litchfield since 1911 and one of Montgomery County's most representative men, is held in the highest esteem by all who know him. He was born at Knoxville, Tenn., January 24, 1838, a son of Amos Justus Edwards who was born in 1813 and died in 1864, and Elizabeth (Moran) Edwards, born in North Carolina. The grand- parents were John Colnmbns Edwards, born in 1777, and Elizabeth (Justus) Edwards of North Carolina ; and James F. and Elizabeth Moran. The parents of John C. Edwards were married in Tennessee, and in 1842 they came to Illinois, locating at Mt. Vernon, Ill., where the father engaged in farming for a few years, and then moved to Alton, Ill., where he conducted a cooper shop for several years, and later bought and sold hoop poles, wagon timbers and similar articles for the Illinois State penitentiary. On leaving Alton he went to Vandalia, Ill., and there his death occurred in February, 1864.
John C. Edwards attended the common schools of Illinois, and when he was fourteen years old began working on a farm. On April 19, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry for service on the first three-months call, for soldiers in the Civil War, and was discharged July 26. 1861. Fol- lowing this he was in a fruit and vegetable business with his father and brother at Cairo, Ill., for a few months, when they sold, but conditions were such that they could not get away. Mr. Edwards then served the government on a wagon train running from Cairo, Ill., to Paducah, Ky .. assisting in establishing telegraph connection between the two points. He then re-enlisted at Hillsboro. Ill .. on Angust 15. 1862, in Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was sent to Alton, Ill., from whence the command was sent on river boats to Columbus, Ky., and from there took the railroad to Humboldt, Tenn. After serving out his second enlistment, he was dis- charged August 12, 1865. He had many exper- iences. He was a wagoner at Brownsville Tenn., La Grange, Tenn .. and Bolivia, Tenn., where a fort made of baled cotton was built. In addition he was in the sharp engagement at Jackson. Tenn., and in the siege of Vicksburg,
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
and with his comrades went in pursuit of Gen- eral Price in Arkansas, and was located for a time at Little Rock. Ark., being mustered out at Pine Bluff, Ark. On the long march home, Mr. Edwards was ruptured.
When he finally reached home and was ready for business, Mr. Edwards began teaming, and continued in that line until 1868, when he went to Kansas, and was at Ottawa and Independence in that state. In 1877, on account of the plague of grasshoppers, he was forced for business rea- sons, to return to Illinois. Selecting Litchfield as a place of residence, for two years he was engaged in teaming and then went to Hillsboro and conducted an omnibus line. In 1878 he went back to Litchfield and operated an omnibus line there until 1898, when he sold and retired. He brought the first omnibus. the first closed carri- age and the first automobile, which was a Cadil- lac, to Litchfield.
On September 6, 1866, Mr. Edwards was married at Hillsboro, to Rosina Von Ash, born in Switzerland, February 22, 1848. a daughter of John Von Ash, who with his family. in 1859 started for the United States in a ship which was wrecked, and the food was destroyed by the sea water. After many privations the family landed at New Orleans, La., and came on to St. Louis, Mo., where the parents died, and were Dried in the same casket. The little daughter was bound out to Amos Sawyer, of Hillsboro, and remained with his family until her marri- age. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards became the parents of the following children : Harriet, who is Mrs. G. W. Hecker, of Santiago, Cal. was once state inspector of Indiana : Arthur, who is of Marshalltown. Iowa, conducts a real estate business : John C., who is of East St. Louis, Ill. ; Mabel, who is of Litchfield. was married to Jackson Miller : and six children are deceased. Mrs. Edwards attended school in her native land. and studied under private teachers at Hillsboro. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is a Republican, and in 1911 was appointed oil inspector for Litchfield, which office he still holds. He belongs to Phillips Post No. 379. G. A. R .. of which he has been inner guard since 1886. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Edwards is president of the Woman's Relief Corps. She belongs to the Pythian Sisters and to the Rebekahs since 1SS6. and the Court of Honor. the Mutual Pro- tective League, and the Royal Neighbors and is captain of the Red Cross in this district. For twelve years she has been a member of the guild of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has held otlices and been a delegate to conventions in all the above mentioned orders.
It is a remarkable fact that of the descen- dants of Mr. Edward's paternal grandfather. there were twenty-nine who served in the Civil War in defense of the Union, of which large number of patriots were Amos and John. The latter was under Quartermaster Hatch. of Pike Connty. as wagon master, and once took stock of all kinds and a barge load of corn from
Colonel Thompson's farm, an officer of the Con- federate Army. He was also on the boat, City of Alton, being on detached service all the time he was in the army. At Little Rock, while he was on detached service he received an order to stay there and took charge of a wagon train that was to put up a telegraph line from Fort Smith to Little Rock, which was never completed.
ENGLAND, Robert, top foreman of mines No. 12 and No. 14 of the C. and E. mines, at Witt, Ill., is one of the practical coal miners of Mont- gomery County. He was born in Perry County, Ohio. October 27. 1SS4, a son of Robert and Mary Ellen ( Sohrension ) England. Robert England, Sr., was born in Wales, and there lived to maturity, his parents, who were of English birth, never coming to the I'nited States. In his boyhood, he began working in the Welsh mines and was advanced until he became a mine manager. He was married in Wales, and after the death of his wife there. he decided to make a change, and came to the I'nited States, direct to Ohio, bringing his chil- dren with him. Finding employment in the mines of Perry County, Ohio, he rose to be a mine manager. While there he was married (second) to Mary Ellen Sohrension. She was born in Norway, of Norse parentage, and at the time of her marriage to Mr. England, was a widow. her first husband having been a sea captain. They had five children, namely : Robert England : Edward, who is a miner in the Nokomis mines; Albert, who was killed in a mine explosion in the Pennsylvania coal fields ; Hilda, who became the wife of William Kleine, lives at Centralia. IIl .; and Clarence, who is an electrician of Nokomis, Ill.
Robert England grew up in his native county, and lost both his parents before he attained his majority, his mother when he was eighteen years old, and his father when he was twenty. In 1905 he came to Witt and began working in the mines at this place. being first in No. 14 mine, and as he was an experienced man within two years he was made top foreman. In 1916 he was further promoted, being now top foreman of two mines, and has an as- sistant.
On August 29. 1906. Mr. England was mar- ried to Marian Lindsay, a daughter of George and Mary Lindsay. They have four children : Hilda. George. Thomas and Marian. Mr. Eng- land belongs to Twin City Lodge No. 622, K. of P .. of which he is past chancellor commander. He also belongs to K. O. T. M. No. 66, Indian- ola Tribe, Rendville, Ohio; the Modern Wood- men of America at Witt, and to the Bankers' Life Company and the Maccabees. Mrs. Eng- land is a member of the Royal Neighbors. They belong to the Presbyterian Church at Witt. In politics he is a Republican. A hard working. thrifty man. Mr. England has forged ahead, and his success, which has been unusual, is merited.
ERNST, Henry, proprietor and operator of the Paisley Mill and Elevator Company, of Witt,
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Ill., and a member of the Short & Ernst Lum- ber Company of Witt, is one of the leading bnsi- ness men of this section. He was born in St. Clair County, Ill., near Belleville, June 14, 1866, a son of George and Marie Rosa (Keifer) . Ernst.
George Ernst was born in Baden, Germany, June 7. 1820, and was reared on a farm. While living in Germany he worked as a farmer. In 1852 he came to the United States in a sailing vessel that took seventy-two days to cross the ocean. landing at New Orleans, and from there came direct to Belleville, Ill. His wife was born in Baden, Germany, September 14, 1826, and became a seamstress, working as such in her native land until she came to the United States, after which she first worked at her trade at Belleville, bnt later went to St. Louis, Mo. She and Mr. Ernst were old acquaintances in Germany, and this friendship ripened into love. and they were married at Belleville. Until 1879 Mr. Ernst rented land in the vicinity of Belleville, but in that year he bonght 120 acres of land in East Fork Township, Montgomery County. and lived on this farm the remainder of his life. They were consistent members of St. Agnes Church at Hillsboro. Eight children were born to them, of whom five survive: Anna, who is the wife of Adam Mees, of Victoria, Tex .; George, who is in East Fork Township; Wen- dell, who died at the age of nineteen years; Henry: August, who is operating the home- stead: Lena, who is the wife of Chalmer White of Hillsboro. Ill., and two who died in infancy.
Henry Ernst was thirteen years old, when the family .came to Montgomery County, and he attended the schools of both this and St. Clair counties, and also parochial schools in hoth sections. Until his marriage he remained at home, then rented land from William Short for seven years, and for three years rented the John Short farm. At the expiration of that period. he moved to Witt and bought a half interest in the Paisley Elevator Company, James A. Short having the other half interest. In May, 1913. Mr. Short disposed of his interest to Charles P. Zimmer and the business is now known as The Paisley Mill & Elevator Company, and since then has been engaged in operating it. In 1910 he and James A. Short established the lumber business which they sold in 1917 to the Hargrave & Lewis Lumber Company.
On Jannary 10, 1893. Mr. Ernst was married to Amelia Hoehn, a daughter of Ben Hoehn, and they have five children, namely : Anna, who is at home; Carl B., who was educated in the Witt schools and the Decatur Business College. and is a corporal now in Battery E. 327th Field Artillery U. S. Army ; Olivia, Irene and Tillie, all of whom are at home. Mr. Ernst is a member of St. Barbara's Church at Witt, and has served it as a trustee. A Republican he was his party's choice for county treasurer, but was defeated by a small majority but has served for two terms as supervisor of Witt Township, and also on the village board. He is a stockholder in the Oland National Bank. Fraternally he
belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. A man of sound principles and upright dealing, he is held in the highest esteem by his asso- ciates.
FENTON, J. R., traveling auditor for Theodore C. Kelly, Receiver, Coal Properties Co. & E. I. Ry., mines in Indiana and Illinois with head- quarters at Nokomis, Ill., is one of the alert young men of Montgomery County who are tak- ing an active part in the development of this section of the state. He was born at Tower Hill. Shelby Connty. Ill., in June, 1890. Reared and educated at Carlinville, Ill .. during 1912, he took a general course of one year at Black- bnrn College and then came to Montgomery County to accept a clerkship in the Hillsboro mine, where he remained until in Jannary, 1914, at which time he was appointed chief clerk to the superintendent of the Nokomis Mine No. 10, and later was promoted as above, being admir- ably fitted for its duties.
In September, 1914, Mr. Fenton was united in marriage with Miss Nell Keplinger, who was graduated from Blackburn College with the degree of A. B .. and is a lady of high education and intellectual ability. They have one son, John R. Jr. Their home at Nokomis is a center for the circle they have gathered abont them, where literary and educational matters are freely and intelligently considered. Mr. Fenton belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Nokomis. While he votes the Democratic ticket, he has not gone deeply into politics, his business duties consuming his time and taking up his attention but he keeps himself informed npon current events. Recently he became a member of the Masonic Order at Nokomis, Ill.
FISH, Albert E., one of Hillsboro's respected and substantial citizens, was born in Osage County, Kans., March 16, 185S. His parents were Edmund and Mary Ann (Barrett) Fish. The father was born at Pontiac, Mich .. and the mother at Windsor, Vt. Five children were born to them : Frances S., who is deceased : Albert E .: Lucian Elijah, who is a resident of Aberdeen. Miss .; Lillian, who died when aged two years; and Eliza, who died in infancy. The paternal grandparents of Albert E. Fish were Elijah Stanton and Fanny (Spencer) Fish. The grandfather was born at Athol, Mass., Feb- ruary 11. 1791, a son of Josiah and Elizabeth (Havelton) Fish. Elijah Stanton Fish was a farmer. He married Fanny Spencer, who was born at East Haddam, Conn., March 2S, 1896. They moved to Michigan and he died in 1861 at Bloomfield. and she died at Ovid, Mich., in 1872. Their children were: Lucian. Henry, Fanny, Edmund. Charles Emily and William. The maternal grandparents of Albert E. Fish were William and Betsey (Patrick) Barrett. William Barrett was born January 10, 1782, and died October 19, 1847, his death occurring while on a visit in Akron. Ohio. In yonng manhood he was a farmer near Windsor, Vt. His wife was born May 17, 17SS, and died August 24, 1855.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
They had seven children : Eliza, William, Lewis, George, Charles, Mary Ann and Angeline.
Edmund Fish was reared in Michigan and attended school there and then entered the Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio, con- tinuing through the freshman year. When the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor was ready for pupils, in 1843, he entered the first class and in 1845 was a member of the first graduating class from that now famous institution. For several years afterward Mr. Fish taught school before he located in Kansas. He settled in Osage County on the present site of Burlingame, taking up land from the government. During the two years he remained on his place he faced many hardships, drought and grasshoppers ruined his crops and the border warfare then going on made peaceful living impossible. He had risked his all in coming to Kansas and but for his wife's enconragement and resourceful- ness, calamity might have fallen on the little family. Leaving his family in Kansas he went to New York to assist his brother Henry and worked there for about eighteen months. In the meanwhile his wife accepted the suggestion that she should teach a school. In the following year she came to Hillsboro, Ill., on a visit, and from there went to Pontiac, Mich., where Mr. Fish met her, and together they went to School- craft to become teachers in the seminary there. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Fish had been an acceptable teacher in that institution and Mr. Fish had been principal of the public schools.
Mr. and Mrs. Fish continued teaching until the spring of 1862 when they moved to Arcola, Ill., and there Mr. Fish taught school until May, 1867, when he and family went to Parke County, Indiana, remaining one year and returning then to Arcola. For three years Mr. Fish was a civil engineer on the Paris & Decatur Rail- road, then came to Montgomery County to settle permanently, reaching Hillsboro with his family on March 10, 1874. The rest of his life was mainly devoted to farming and fruit growing, and his death occurred at Hillsboro, April 20, 1904, at the age of eighty years three months and twenty days. He became a man of much consequence in Montgomery County, serving ten years as county surveyor, an office he had pre- viously held in Douglas County. He was noted for his mathematical skill and was one of the three members of the Hillsboro Mathematical Club, the other two being George H. Richards and Adam Henry Bell. The three friends enjoyed many happy hours together working over intricate problems, and on one memorable occasion they solved what is known as the 'cattle problem of Archimedes.' each by a differ- ent route of figuring. In 1854 he went from Schoolcraft to Jackson, Mich., and attended the historic "Convention Under the Oaks," where the Republican party was organized and named. His wife predeceased him, her death occurring March S, 1898, when aged seventy- nine years six months. They both were mem- bers of the Baptist Church.
Albert E. Fish was about sixteen years old
when he accompanied his parents to Hillsboro and this place has been his home ever since. His parents owned twenty acres which is now a part of the site of the city and his father built a house just north of the junction of Main street and Hunt avenue. After the parents died the sons, Lucian and Albert E., divided the property. Albert E. then erected his present residence on Hunt Avenue and has occupied it for ten years. After attending the public schools and the academy, he tanght school for three years. He served as rural mail carrier from March 1900 to March 1, 1914 and in the meanwhile has carried on farming and fruit growing. In addition to his own house and lot, he owns five others here. Politically he is a Republican.
Mr. Fish was married October 23, 1899. to Miss Agnes L. Leetham, a daughter of William and Sarah (Claus) Leetham, and they have four children : William Edmund, Margery Elizabeth and Clarence Albert Fish, and Forrest Mcclure Fish, an adopted child. The en- tire family belongs to the Baptist Church, in which Mr. Fish is one of the deacons. Mrs. Fish was born in Dearborn County. Ind .. July 27. 1872. Her father, of English extraction, was born in Ohio. He was a miner and died in 1889. from the result of a mine explosion at Pana, Ill. He was a soldier, serving all throughi the Civil War. The mother of Mrs. Fish was born in Ohio and still survives. She is of Ger- man descent. Mr. and Mrs. Leetham had five children : Charlotte Elizabeth, John Francis, Agnes L., Arthur A. and Charles, who died at the age of twelve years.
FISH, William O., M. D., a prominent physician and surgeon of Fillmore, is one of the leading men of his profession in Montgomery County. He was born on a farm in Montgomery County, February 2, 1882, a son of E. M. and Jennie (Peak) Fish. E. M. Fish is a retired farmer of Fillmore. and a son of John and Cynthia (Hicks) Fish, who came to Illinois from Tennessee, prior to the Civil War, and spent their lives in Montgomery County. There were the following children in the family of the grandparents: J. C., R. J., Sarah, Leander. Nancy. Tempy. E. M., and William C. and Me- lissa, who are deceased. E. M. Fish and his wife located ou a farm in Montgomery County after their marriage, and became the parents of two children. namely : Wilson A, who is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is a gradu- ate of the class of 1914. Greenville College, hav- ing worked his way through it, and is now sta- tioned at Belmont. Kas., and Dr. William O.
Dr. William O. Fish was thrown upon his own resources at a very early age, and worked his own way through school, beginning with the high school at Fillmore. He taught school for three years and attended college during that period, and then entered the medical depart- ment.of the St. Louis University, from which he was graduated in 1911, with the degree of M. D. Following his graduation he located at Alhambra, Ill., and was there engaged in a
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
general practice until the fall of 1913 when he came to Fillmore, where he has since continued, developing into one of the leading practitioners of this locality. He belongs to the Montgomery County Medical Society, the Illinois State Medi- cal Society, and the American Medical Associa- tion.
On June 29, 1903, Dr. Fish was married to Lydia E. Garrett, who was born and reared in Fillmore, Ill., and they have two children, namely : Virgil O. and Thelma M. He belongs to Fillmore Lodge, I. O. O. F., of which he is Past Noble Grand. In politics he is a Republi- can. Dr. Fish has a half-sister, Lura, who is now the wife of A. B. Neece, of Audubon Town- ship. A scholarly man, Dr. Fish keeps abreast of the times in his profession and his skill can be relied upon under any conditions.
FISHER, Albert, now one of the retired farmers of Litchfield, was for many years an important factor in the agricultural life of Montgomery County. He was born in Greene County, Ill., February 9, 1850, a son of Reuben and Mary Ann (Dabbs) Fisher, natives of Greene County. The father was a farmer of that county who in 1850 bought eighty acres of land in North Litch- field Township, and died upon it in 1S54. The mother was later married (second) to John Sinclair, who owned a farm in Zanesville Town- slip, and he died about 1863, and she died about 1877.
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