Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 149

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County > Part 149

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1873-Matthew Stacy, Mayor; B. R. Upham, Clerk; F. M. Springer, Marshal; S. R. King, Treasurer; George J. Dod, Attorney; B. Daven- port, Assessor and Collector; Ellis M. Allen, Street Commissioner. Alderman-1st Ward, B. F. Gass, W. S. Hurst; 2d Ward, C. E. Ross, J. I. Chambers; 3d Ward, B. W. Simmons, W. S. Richards; 4th Ward. Clinton Fisher, A. W. Jackson.

1874-Jos. O. King, Mayor; B. R. Upham, Clerk; Jas. S. Hurst, Marshal; S. R. King, Treasurer; Jas. N. Brown, Attorney; B. Daven- port, Assessor and Collector; T. N. Jewsbury, Strect Commissioner. Aldermen-1st Ward, W. P. Callon, V. E. Higgins: 2d Ward, Philip Lee, Ensley Moore; 3d Ward, H. C. Stewart, Wm. Hackman; 4th Ward, Abram Wood, A. W. Jack- son.

1875-Wesley Mathers, Mayor; B. R. Upham, Clerk: C. O. Sperry, Marshal: W. S. Hook, Treasurer: Robert D. Russell, Attorney; B. Da- venport, Assessor and Collector; John A. Schaub, Street Commissioner. Aldermen-1st Ward, V. E. Higgins, W. P. Callon; 2d Ward, S. H. Thompson, E. S. Greenleaf; 3d Ward, E. Hamilton, A. R. Gregory; 4th Ward, Abram Wood, Jos. Tomlinson.

1876-E. S. Greenleaf, Mayor; B. R. Upham, Clerk: C. O. Sperry, Marshal: W. S. Hook, Treasurer; John G. Morrison, Attorney; no Strect Commissioner appointed. Aldermen-1st Ward, L. S. Olmsted, C. Wldmayer; 2d Ward,

748

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

James Scott, W. C. Carter; 3d Ward, A. R. Greg- ory, T. J. Bronson; 4th Ward, G. S. Russell, George Hayden.

1877-E. S. Greenleaf, Mayor; Henry W. Hunt, Clerk; C. O. Sperry, Marshal; W. S. Hook, Treasurer; Robert D. Russell, Attorney; John A. Schaub, Street Commissioner. Aldermen-1st Ward, G. W. Hobbs, N. Kitner; 2d Ward, V. E. Higgins, James Scott; 3d Ward, J. P. Willard, W. S. Snyder; 4th Ward, G. S. Russell, George Hayden.

1878-S. H. Thompson, Mayor; Henry W. Hunt, Clerk; David Schoonover, Marshal; W. E. Veitch, Treasurer; John A. Bellatti, Attorney; Thomas N. Jewsbury, Street Commissioner. Aldermen-1st Ward, Nathaniel Kitner, John H. Myers; 2d Ward, John Hopper, Michael Carroll; 3d Ward, W. S. Snyder, John R. Loar; 4th Ward, D. B. Smith, Geo. Hayden.

1879-H. C. Stewart, Mayor; Henry W. Hunt, Clerk; John Pyatt, Marshal; B. F. Beesley, Treasurer; Wm. A. Crawley, Attorney; John Ewing, Street Commissioner. Aldermen-1st Ward, F. F. Schmalz, Charles Widmayer; 2d Ward, John Hopper, W. E. Capps; 3d Ward, John R. Loar, B. W. Simmons; 4th Ward, George Hayden, Abram Wood.

1880-John R. Loar, Mayor; John W. Melton, Clerk; John Pyatt, Marshal; B. F. Beesley, Treasurer; C. Harry Dummer, Attorney; Fred Nagle, Street Commissioner. Aldermen-1st Ward, M. H. Walsh, Charles Widmayer; 2d Ward, W. E. Capps, W. H. Thompson; 3d Ward, J. M. Goodrick, W. C. Wright; 4th Ward, George Hayden, Abram Wood.

1881- John R. Loar, Mayor; John W. Melton, Clerk; Peter Rabbit, Marshal; B. F. Beesley, Treasurer; George J. Dod, Attorney; Arch Nor- ris, Street Commissioner. Aldermen-1st Ward, M. H. Walsh, Charles Widmayer; 2d Ward, Philip Lee, Jonathan Neely; 3d Ward, W. C. Wright, D. M. Simmons; 4th Ward, Abram Wood, Charles K. Sawyer.

1882-Charles Widmayer, Mayor; George E. Sybrant, Clerk; Peter Rabbit, Marshal; Frank I. McDonald, Treasurer; Charles A. Barnes, Attorney; Fred Nagle, Street Commissioner. Al- dermen-1st Ward, Wm. Eppinger, James J. Murphy; 2d Ward, Fred L. Sharpe, John E. Bradbury; 3d Ward, George Jameson, James Montgomery; 4th Ward, W. C. Carter, Felix G. Farrell.

1883-E. S. Greenleaf, Mayor; George E. Sy- brant, Clerk; Peter Rabbit, Marshal; John A. Ayers, Treasurer; C. Harry Dummer, Attor- ney; Lewis Mitchell, Street Commissioner. Al- dermen-1st Ward, Wm. Eppinger, James J. Murphy; 2d Ward, R. D. Russell, Wm. A. Oli- ver; 3d Ward, George Jameson, Wesley Snyder; 4th Ward, John W. Hall, W. C. Carter.

1884-Joseph Tomlinson, Mayor; George E. Sybrant, Clerk; Charles E. Goodrick, Marshal; John A. Ayers, Treasurer; C. Harry Dummer, Attorney; D. M. Simmons, Street Commis- sioner. Aldermen-1st Ward, Wm. P. Callon, Wm. Eppinger; 2d Ward, John Hopper, Michael Carroll; 3d Ward, W. S. Snyder, Thomas H. Rapp; 4th Ward, W. C. Carter, John W. Hall.

1885-John Hopper, Mayor (died January 7, 1886); George E. Sybrant, Clerk; Charles E. Goodrick, Marshal; John A. Ayers, Treasurer; Richard Yates, Attorney; J. P. Correa, Street Commissioner. Aldermen -- 1st Ward, Wm. Ep- pinger, Michael Walsh; 2d Ward, T. M. Culli- more, W. E. Capps; 3d Ward, T. H. Rapp, T. S. Knoles; 4th Ward, W. C. Carter, J. W. Hall.

1886-Wm. D. Mathers, Mayor (elected Feb- ruary 3, 1886) ; Wm. A. Kirby, Clerk; David M. Simmons, Marshal; John A. Ayers, Treasurer; Richard Yates, Attorney; J. P. Correa, Street Commissioner. Aldermen -- 1st Ward, Wm. Ep- pinger, M. H. Meany; 2d Ward, W. E. Capps, John Correa; 3d Ward, B. W. Simmons, C. L. Degen; 4th Ward, J. W. Hall, E. A. Nixon.

1887 to 1889-James P. Willard, Mayor; Wm. A. Kirby, Clerk; Peter Rabbit, Chief of Police; Andrew Russel, Treasurer; Richard Yates, At- torney; B. F. Ragsdale, Street Commissioner. Aldermen-1st Ward, G. W. Fanning, M. H. Meany, Louis Leurig; 2d Ward, E. C. Kreider, Thomas Magner, J. H. Osborne; 3d Ward, T. S. Knoles, J. L. Montgomery, Charles Henry; 4th Ward, N. W. Reid, I. C. Coleman, S. T. An- derson. .

1889 to 1891-James T. King, Mayor; Wm. A. Kirby, Clerk; Peter Rabbit, Joaquin Vasconcel- los, Chiefs of Police; John N. Hockenhull, Treasurer; Richard Yates, Attorney; B. F. Ragsdale, Street Commissioner. Aldermen -- 1st Ward, J. J. Shook, M. H. Meany, G. W. Fanning; 2d Ward, H. Schoenfield, J. E. Bradbury, J. Roedersheimer; 3d Ward, Mat. Minter, T. S. Knoles, Albert Holley; 4th Ward, Newton W. Reid, S. T. Anderson, S. A. Fairbank.

WATHinrichsen

749

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

1891 to 1893-Thomas S. Knoles, Mayor; Nicholas Milburn and O. I. Milburn, Clerks; John McEncroe, Chief of Police; Andrew Rus- sel, Treasurer; Fred H. Rowe, Attorney; Ethel- bert D. Rothwell, Street Commissioner. Alder- men-1st Ward, George W. Fanning, Frank Kaule, John W. Sheehan; 2d Ward, Henry Schoenfield, Jacob Roedersheimer, Edward M. Kinman; 3d Ward, Curtis H. Rottger, Albert Holley, John H. Hughes; 4th Ward, Newton W. Reid, Daniel Bahan, M. T. Layman.

1893 to 1895-Henry Schoenfield, Mayor; John W. Davis, Clerk; F. H. Rowe, Attorney; Charles E. Dickson, Treasurer; F. H. Spears and E. A. Goodrick, Chiefs of Police; J. J. Mur- phy, Chief of Fire Department; Jacob Roeder- sheimer, Street Commissioner; E. S. Greenleaf, Water Superintendent; W. K. Mclaughlin, Health Warden; Fred Davenport, Engineer. Al- dermen-1st Ward, Wm. Mitchell, Robert Heg- arty, E. M. Vasconcellos; 2d Ward, A. H. Coff- man, B. F. Wooster, W. L. Alexander; 3d Ward, J. M. Mitchell, W. J. Hemphill, George H. Dun- avan; 4th Ward, J. S. Magill, Abram Wood, E. F. Bullard.

1895 to 1897-C. H. Widmayer, Mayor; John W. Davis, Clerk; John J. Reeve, Attorney; An- drew Russel, Treasurer; J. W. Brennan, Water Superintendent; James S. Hurst, Chief of Po- lice; J. J. Murphy, Chief of Fire Department : James Harvey, Street Commissioner; Brock Mayfield, Health Warden; C. W. Brown, En- gineer. Aldermen-1st Ward, Henry Ricks, E. Kettering, W. S. Snyder; 2d Ward, Walter Fieldhouse, John M. Vasconcellos, H. R. John- son; 3d Ward, S. A. Woods, M. VanHouten, John Arisman; 4th Ward, J. S. Magill, John W. Rule, John W. Kirk.

1897 to 1898-Albert Holley, Mayor (died March 6, 1898; J. M. Vasconcellos appointed to fill vacancy); Samuel B. Stewart, Clerk; J. J. Reeve, Attorney; T. S. Russel, Treasurer; T. J. Bronson, Water Superintendent; J. S. Hurst, Chief of Police; James Harvey, Chief of Fire Department; J. W. Hairgrove, Health Warden; Wm. Mccullough, Street Commissioner; C. W. Brown, Engineer. Aldermen-1st Ward. R. L. Gonsalves, E. Kettering. John Shields; 2d Ward, J. M. Vasconcellos, J. W. Stimpson, H. Higgins; 3d Ward, J. L. Montgomery, M. L. Hil- dreth. J. J. Schafer; 4th Ward, Abram Wood, J. S. Magill, Archibald Norris.

1898 to 1899-Theodore Tyrrell, Mayor: S. B. Stewart, Clerk; J. J. Reeve, Attorney; T. S.

Russel, Treasurer; A. M. Upham, Water Su- perintendent; E. A. Goodrick, Chief of Police; E. G. LaBoyteaux, Chief of Fire Department; L. H. Clampit, Health Warden; Joshua Vas- concellos, Street Commissioner; C. W. Brown, Engineer. Aldermen- Same as term of 1897 to 1898.

1899 to 1901-S. A. Fairbank, Mayor; Samuel B. Stewart, Clerk; H. M. Ticknor, Attorney; Andrew Russel, Treasurer; A. M. Upham, Water Superintendent; E. A. Goodrick, Chief of Po- lice; E. G. LaBoyteaux, Chief of. Fire Depart- ment; L. H. Clampit, Health Warden; Wm. Nunes, Street Commissioner; C. W. Brown, En- gineer. Aldermen-1st Ward, George W. Scott, J. J. Kelley, John Boland; 2d Ward, John R. Davis, J. W. Stimpson, H. Higgins; 3d Ward. W. H. Cobb, Benjamin Davenport, J. M. Mitch- ell; 4th Ward, E. F. Bullard, George S. Roger- son, Daniel Bahan.

1901 to 1903-John R. Davis, Mayor; Samuel B. Stewart, Clerk; H. M. Ticknor, Attorney; W. H. Cobb, Treasurer; A. M. Upham, Water Su- perintendent; George H. Dunavan, Chief of Police; E. G. LaBoyteaux, Chief of Fire Depart- ment; George E. Baxter, Health Warden; W. J. Harney, Superintendent of Streets; C. W. Brown, Engineer. Aldermen-1st Ward, George W. Scott, T. J. Kendrick, Wm. Doolin; 2d Ward. J. W. Stimpson, Jos. DeGoveia, H. Higgins; 3d Ward, Wm. Newman, C. E. McDougall, Wm. Watson; 4th Ward, T. E. Moore ( deceased ), W. J. Moore (to fill the unexpired term), G. H. Huntoon, Daniel Bahan.

1905-The present city officers (1905) are as follows; Mayor. John R. Davis; Clerk, Samuel B. Stewart; Treasurer, Andrew Russel; Comp- troller, (no appointment) ; City Attorney, W. M. Morrisey; Health Warden, Dr. George E. Baxter; Civil Engineer, John L. Smetters; Su- perintendent of Streets, J. W. Harney; Chief of Police, George H. Dunavan. Aldermen: First Ward, James E. Babb. Michael McGinnis, T. J. Kendrick; Second Ward, E. E. H. Ticknor. Jo- seph DeGoveia, Haller Higgins: Third Ward, W. H. Cobb, M. L. Hildreth, Anthony Kennedy ; Fourth Ward, Alfred T. Capps, T. L. Hairgrove. J. Bart Johnson. The Board of Education for 1905 consists of G. T. Birkenhead (1st Ward). C. G. Rutledge (2d Ward), J. A. Obermeyer (3d Ward), and J. Walton (4th Ward), with Mayor John R. Davis as President. Samuel B. Stewart, C'eik, and Andrew Russel, Treasurer of the Board. W. A. Furr is Superintendent of Schools.

PART III.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

CITIZENS OF MORGAN COUNTY.

The verdict of mankind has awarded to the Muse of History the highest place among the classic Nine. The extent of her office, how- ever, appears to be, by many minds, but im- perfectly understood. The task of the historian is comprehensive and exacting. True his- tory reaches beyond the doings of court or camp, beyond the issue of battles or the ef- fects of treaties, and records the trials and the triumphs, the failures and the successes of the men who make history. It is but an imperfect conception of the philosophy of events that fails to accord to portraiture and biography their rightful position as a part-and no unimportant part-of historical narrative. Behind and beneath the activities of outward life the motive power lies out of sight, just as the furnace fires that work the piston and keep the ponderous screw revolving are down in the darkness of the hold. So, the impul- sive power which shapes the course of com- munities may be found in the molding influ- ences which form its citizens.

It is no mere idle curiosity that prompts men to wish to learn the private as well as the public lives of their fellows. Rather is it true that such desire tends to prove universal brotherhood; and the interest in personality and biography is not confined to men of any particular caste or vocation.

The list of those to whose lot it falls to play a conspicuous part in the great drama of life is comparatively short; yet communities are made up of individuals, and the aggregate of achievements-no less than the sum total of human happiness-is made up of the decds of those men and women whose primary aim,

through life, is faithfully to perform the duty that comes nearest to hand. Individual influ- ence upon human affairs will be considered potent or insignificant according to the stand- point from which it is viewed. To him who, standing upon the seashore, notes the ebb and flow of the tides and listens to the sullen roar of the waves as they break upon the beach in seething foam, seemingly chafing at their limitations, the ocean appears so vast as to need no tributaries. Yet, without the small- est rill that helps to swell the "Father of Waters," the mighty torrent of the Mississippi would be lessened, and the beneficent influence of the Gulf Stream diminished. Countless streams, currents and counter currents-some- times mingling, sometimes counteracting each other-collectively combine to give motion to the accumulated mass of waters. So it is- and so must it ever be-in the ocean of human action, which is formed by the blending and repulsion of currents of thought, of influence and of life, yet more numerous and more tor- tuous than those which form "the fountains of the deep."

In the foregoing pages are traced the begin- ning, growth, and maturity of a concrete thing, Morgan County. But the concrete is but the aggregate result of individual labor. The acts and characters of men, like the several faces that compose a composite picture. are wrought together into a compact or hetero- geneous whole. History is condensed biogra- phy: "Biography is History teaching by exam- ple."

It is both interesting and instructive to rise above the generalization of history and tracc. in the personality and careers of the men from whom it sprang, the principles and in-

752

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

fluences, the impulses and ambitions, the la- bors, struggles and triumphs that engrossed their lives.

In the pages that follow are gathered up, with as much detail as the limits of the work allow, the personal record of many of the men who have made Morgan County what it is. In each record may be traced some feature which influenced, or has been stamped upon, the civic life.

Here are pioneers who, "when the fullness of time had come," came from widely sepa- rated sources, some from beyond the sea, im- pelled by diverse motives, little conscious of the import of their acts, and but dimly antici- pating the harvest which would spring from their sowing. They built their little cabins, toiling for a present subsistence while laying the foundations of private fortunes and future advancement.

Most have passed away, but not before they beheld a development of business and population surpassing the wildest dreams of fancy. A few yet remain whose years have passed the allotted three score and ten, and who love to recount, among the cherished memories of their lives, the reminiscences of early days in Morgan County.

Among these early, hardy settlers and those who followed them, may be found the names of many who imparted the first impulse to the county's growth and homelikeness; the many who, through their identification with agricultural pursuits and varied interests, aid- ed in her material progress; of skilled me- chanics who first laid the foundations of beau- tiful homes and productive industries, and of the members of the learned professions-cler- gymen, physicians, educators and lawyers- whose influence upon the intellectual life and development of a community it is impossible to overestimate.

Municipal institutions arise; Commerce spreads her sails and prepares the way for the magic of Science that drives the locomo- tive engine over the iron rails. Trade is organized, stretching its arms across the prai- rie to gather in and distribute the products of the soil. Church spires rise to express, in architectural form, the faith and aspirations of the people, while colleges and seminaries, together with schools, public and private, ele- vate the standards of education and artistic taste. To the same quality of public-spirit and

enterprise which animated the founders of these pioneer institutions, has been due the gathering here of the largest group of State and local benevolent institutions to be found in any single city of the Middle West, and which are extending their benefits, without discrimination, to large numbers of the de- fective and dependent classes in all parts of the State.

Here are many of the men through whose labors, faith and thought, these magnificent results have been achieved. To them and to their co-laborers, the Morgan County of to- day stands an enduring monument, attesting their faith, their energy, their courage, and their self-sacrifice.

(The following items of personal and family history, having been arranged in encyclopædic (or alphabetical) order as to names of the individual subjects, no special index to this part of the work will be found necessary.)

ADAMS, Albyn Lincoln, M. D., a very success- ful physician in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Ill., was born at Pine Hill, Ontario, Canada, April 13, 1865, the son of James W. and Lee (Bowman) Adams, natives of Ohio. Mr. Adams received his early mental training in the public schools of Grand Rapids, Mich., and the Fos- toria (Ohio) Academy, and afterward served an apprenticeship in the drug business in Grand Rapids and Hart, Mich. He then entered Ben- nett Medical College, Chicago, from which he was graduated, in 1886, with the degree of M. D. While in Chicago he became a registered phar- macist, and was engaged in the drug business in that city for about two years. Subsequently, he entered the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, New York City, from which he was graduated in 1889. After practicing medicine in Chicago a few months, in the fall of 1889 he established himself in Jacksonville. He de- votes special attention to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He was Oculist and Au- rist in the Jacksonville School for the Deaf for ten years, and now holds the same position in the School for the Blind in that city. He is also serving as Special Pension Examiner for the Jacksonville district, having been appointed as such by President Mckinley, in October, 1898. He acted as Oculist for the Jacksonville & St. Louis Railroad until that line was merged into the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.

753

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

He is a member of the Jacksonville Med- ical Club, the Morgan County Medical Soci- ety, the American Medical Association, the Chi- cago Opthalmological Society, the Brainard District Medical Society and the Illinois State Medical Society.

On December 30, 1890, Dr. Adams was united in marriage with Mary M. Madison, of Chicago, who died a year later. On June 11, 1896, the Doctor wedded Minna Worthington, daughter of the late George Worthington, of Pittsfield, Ill. Of the five children resulting from this union, three-Albyn Worthington, George W. and Helen-are living.

In politics, Dr. Adams is a Republican. Re- ligiously, he is a member of the State Street Presbyterian Church, of Jacksonville, in which he officiates as Trustee. Fraternally, he is affili- ated with the K. of P. and D. O. K. K. In the specialties on which his reputation chiefly rests, he is regarded by the medical fraternity and the general public as one of the most thor- oughly competent and skillful practitioners in this district.

AKERS, (Rev.) Peter, (deceased), was born in Campbell County, Va., September 1, 1790. He received his education at different institu- tions of learning in Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred on him by Transylvania Univer- sity, Ky. The courses of study that he pur- sued in those institutions included English, Latin, Greek and Hebrew, in which branches he was regarded as eminently proficient, and in which he taught classes in the institutions named. He was also President for some time of a State Institution in Mount Sterling, Ky. He studied law with Major W. P. Fleming, and in March, 1817, obtained a license to practice in all the courts of that State. While carrying on his extensive practice, he also edited and published a political Whig paper. called the "Star." Becoming deeply convinced that it was his duty to preach the Gospel, he quit the prac- tice of law, and in 1821, joining the Methodist Episcopal Church, he entered the ranks of itin- erant Methodist preachers. In 1832, at his re- quest, he was transferred to the Illinois Con- ference, and Jacksonville thereafter became the chief place of his residence, except the inter- vals when he was President of McKendrce Col- lege at different times, and during his resi-

dence of a few years in Minnesota. In the year 1836 he established the Ebenezer Manual Labor School, four miles northwest of Jacksonville, an account of which is given elsewhere.

Dr. Akers was a man of marked character, of large frame, of giant intellect, of extensive learning, and of wonderful eloquence. He would have been a leader in any department of activity. He stood in the church the peer of the foremost. As a preacher he was rarely equaled, never surpassed. His profound knowledge of the Scriptures, his fidelity to his convictions, his eloquence and humility, combined with his im- pressive and massive physique, united in mak- ing him the most powerful preacher in the West when in the meridian of his years. He was as remarkable for his modesty and humil- ity as for his distinguished abilities. He never sought ecclesiastical preferment. He was sent as a delegate from his conference to eight Gen- eral Conferences, and usually the first of the delegations. At one of those conferences he came within one vote of being elected a Bishop of the Church. He was one of the committec of nine in the memorable General Conference of 1844, when the slavery agitation in the church reached its culmination in the Plan of Separation presented by that committee was adopted, but which was not carried out by the Southern Conferences which hastened to seccde and organize the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He was the Boanerges of Methodism in his day. Who is able to sketch his grand life, or compass his colossal intellect? When a nonagenarian he still walked our streets; and at times in public address the old time fire and force of fifty years before would illumine his face. In Jacksonville, Ill., on February 21, 1886, was ended his earthly life. in many rc- spects the most remarkable in the history of Methodism in the great Northwest.

ALEXANDER. John T., (deceased), stock- raiser, was born September 15, 1820, in Western Virginia, and when but six years old removed to Ohio with his father, who engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. John T. enjoyed in his youth but few opportunities for securing an educa- tion, and was engaged in roughing it through the continuous labors incidental to farm life in a newly opened country. When thirteen years of age he began to assist his father, then an extensive drover, in sending cattle to the

754

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

Eastern market, and from that period until reaching his twentieth year, he passed his time in driving his father's herds from Ohio, over the Alleghanies, to Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and Boston. His father, then suf- fering severe financial reverses, he determined to go West and commence life upon his own account. He traveled to St. Louis, where he was soon employed, at a moderate salary, by . a firm which at that time transacted the largest live-stock business in that section of the coun- try. He was employed for a time by this firm in purchasing cattle throughout the country, but later engaged with limited means and on a small scale in fattening cattle on his own account for market. After having been en- gaged in this line for three years, he took 250 head of fat cattle to Boston, occupying the en- tire summer in driving them to that market, and sold them at a price that yielded him a handsome profit.

After continuing in this business for three years, in 1848 he made his first investment in land for a stock farm on the Wabash Railroad ten miles east of Jacksonville, which finally grew to 6,000 acres, including what is now the site of the village of Alexander. The original cost of a portion of this land was $3 per acre, its present value amounting to $125 to $150 per acre. He met with some reverses, but in 1856 the scale was turned, his ventures that year bringing him a return of $60,000. In 1859 he fattened 15,000 head of choice cattle, for which he obtained a ready sale in the large Eastern cities.

The decline in prices in Missouri in .conse- quence of the breaking out of the Civil War, and the large demand by the Government for the use of the army, gave him the opportunity for profitable investments, and, at the close of that period he was a millionaire. He subse- quently bought the "Sullivant" farm, of 20,000 acres, afterwards called "Broad Lands," situ- ated in Champaign County, Ill. He soon ex- perienced many reverses, losing many cattle by Spanish fever, and large sums of money by the repudiation of certain railroad contracts for shipments, his losses in one year aggregat- ing $350,000. These misfortunes produced a crisis in his affairs, and by a failure to sell his "Broad Lands," for which the agreements had been partially drawn up, he was compelled to assign his entire estate for the benefit of his

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 149

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286