Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 151

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

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

ter's trade, and in company with his brother, Judge J. S. Bailey, of Macomb, Ill., worked at that business two years. Desiring a vocation giving him more outdoor exercise, and seeing an opportunity to better his condition by mov- ing west, Mr. Bailey made up his mind for such a move.

After his marriage to Miss Ann Henderson, a young lady from New Jersey, Mr. Bailey re- moved to Iowa, and there engaged in opening up a farm on a claim in what was known as the Black Hawk Purchase, a strip of land fifty miles wide, west of the Mississippi River. Be- coming interested in politics he was elected a Justice of the Peace, and in 1844 received the Democratic nomination for Representative in the Territorial Legislature for Jefferson County, but declined in favor of a candidate from Wa- pello, a new county which was attached to Jef- ferson. Within the next two years a State Constitution was adopted and Iowa became a State. In 1846 Mr. Bailey was again nominated for Representative and was elected to the first State Legislature, thus participating in setting the wheels of the new State government in mo- tion. During this period he began to exercise his talents as writer, contributing articles to the local press. In 1852 he sold his farm and removed to Mt. Sterling, Brown County, Ill., where he began his career as editor and pub- lisher in a newspaper office established by John Bigler, who afterward became Governor of Cali- fornia. The paper was called the "Prairie Pio- neer," but afterward the name was changed to Chronotype. Here he was appointed Postmaster under the Pierce administration. but three years later, resigning, he removed to Jacksonville, in the winter of 1855, and there established the "Jacksonville Sentinel," a Democratic paper. He was an active member of the Illinois Press Association, was one of the committee that drafted its constitution, and was twice elected Treasurer of the Association. His wife having died in 1854, during the fall of 1861 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary T. Williams, a lady of some local literary reputation.

During the Civil War he supported the prin- ciples of the War Democracy in sustaining the policy of the Government for the suppression of the rebellion. In 1872, on account of im- paired eyesight amounting to almost total blind- ness, he was compelled to retire from news- paper work, and spent the remaining years of

his life on his farm near Jacksonville, dying of cancer of the mouth, August 20, 1880. His memory was honored by the adoption of a series of resolutions by representatives of the Jacksonville newspapers held in the office of the "Jacksonville Journal."

Mr. Bailey was survived by eight children, including Mrs. J. H. Hackett, Mrs. Reeves and Mrs. D. H. Hall, of Jacksonville.

BAKER, Elvin F., M. D., a prominent and successful physician of Jacksonville, Morgan County, Ill., was born at Carthage, Ill., May 24, 1842, the son of Abram and Mary A. (Rickard) Baker, who were natives of Virginia, the father being born in Loudoun County, in 1808. He was a farmer by occupation, and in 1837 took up Government land near Springfield, Ill. At a period somewhat later he sold his farm and re- moved to Hancock County, Ill., where he pur- chased a tract of land near Carthage, and there reared his family. He subsequently retired from active life and moved to that city, where he died in 1890, at the age of eighty-two years.

In youth Dr. Baker attended the common schools, and graduated from the High School in Carthage. He then pursued courses at Illinois College and the University of Michigan, finally graduating from the medical department of the Northwestern University. In 1867 he lo- cated in Alexander, Morgan County, Ill., and began the practice of medicine. There he re- mained until 1886, when he moved to Jackson- ville, where he has ever since been recognized as a man of unusual ability in his profession. Dr. Baker's talents and attainments have se- cured for him various State appointments, among which are those of Chief Sanitary In- spector of the State Board of Health, and U. S. Pension Examining Surgeon. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Illi- nois State Medical Society, the Morgan County Medical Society and the Jacksonville Medical Club; is also identified with the Literary Union.

Politically, Dr. Baker has been a lifelong supporter of the Republican party, his ances- tors having been stanch Whigs. He has, how- ever, always maintained a liberal attitude in political affairs. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the A. F. & A. M., belonging to the K. T., Hospitaler Commandery, No. 31; Chapter. Coun- cil and Blue Lodge. He has lived in Morgan County nearly all his life, has always been re-

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garded as a public spirited and liberal minded citizen, and is held in high esteem throughout the community.

BAMBROOK, Alfred W., who is extensively interested in the foundry business at Jackson- ville, Morgan County, Ill., was born at Windsor Green, Near Birmingham, England, August 10, 1850. He is the son of Joseph and Sophia (Buckley) Bambrook, who were also natives of that place. By trade, Joseph Bambrook was a pattern maker and was in the employ of Bolton & Watts, in Birmingham, where the first steam engines were built. He brought his family to the United States when Alfred was two years old, and located in Boston, Mass., where two years later the mother passed away. The fa- ther held the position of foreman of the pattern department of the Loring Iron-Ship Yards, where the monitors used in the Civil War were constructed.

In boyhood Alfred W. Bambrook received his mental training in the public schools of Bos- ton. After completing his studies, he served a four years' apprenticeship as a molder in the Fulton Iron Works. At the end of this period, he located at Peoria, Ill., but remained only a short time, in 1869 settling in Jacksonville. There he took charge of a foundry for John Fiddler, and remained in that position until the death of his employer in 1879. Mr. Bam- brook then entered into partnership with Frank Kaule, under the firm name of 'Bambrook & Kaule. This relationship continued until 1898, when Mr. Bambrook bought his partner's inter- est and conducted the concern alone until June 14, 1905, when he sold the business to the Economical Stove and Foundry Company, in which he became a large stockholder and the active manager of the works. On the 19th of the following August Mr. Bambrook repur- chased the business. The proprietor is one of the foremost experts in his trade, as well as a capable business man, and his success is the result of these two qualifications, together with his honest dealings and diligent application to the work of the foundry.

On July 10, 1870, Mr. Bambrook was united in marriage with Sarah J. Allington, of Boston, a daughter of John Allington. Seven children re- sulted from this union, namely: Selvy, Alfred and Katy (deceased), Joe, of Jacksonville.

Edward (deceased), Frank and Stella. In· politics Mr. Bambrook is a supporter of the Republican party.

BANCROFT, Horace, (deceased), one of the earliest and most successful merchants in Jack- sonville, Ill., was born on December 4, 1817, at East Windsor, Conn., where he spent his early youth. He was a son of Samuel and Eliza- beth (Hosmer) Bancroft, who were also natives of East Windsor. In boyhood he attended the public schools of East Windsor, and afterward became a pupil in Hartford Academy. In early manhood he lived successively in Elmira and Syracuse, N. Y., New York City, and Thomas- ton, Conn., locating in Jacksonville, Ill., in 1845, where he engaged in business. He had for sale the first folding chair ever scen in that city, the first Parker breech-loading gun and the first oysters, and sold the first canopy-top bas- ket phaeton to Mrs. Morris Collins. He signed petitions for all of the three State institutions located in Jacksonville. He was employed as a clerk for T. D. Eames, in whose family he boarded; later formed a partnership with his brother, Joseph Bancroft, in the dry-goods trade, and was engaged in the shoe business with W. F. Marcy, under the firm style of Ban- croft & Marcy. He retired from active business in 1876, and died July 26, 1896.

Mr. Bancroft was twice married-first to Fannie Hunt, at Jacksonville in 1853, and sec- ond, on March 25, 1856, in New Haven, Conn., to Elizabeth B. Root. Two children were born of the second marriage, namely: Fannic Co- rinne, wife of Miller Weir, and Horace Herbert, of the "Jacksonville Journal," whose biography appears elsewhere.

On political issues, Horace Bancroft was a supporter of the Republican party, and reli- giously, was actively identified with the Con- gregational Church. He was in all respects a good citizen, and an honorable, upright man.

BANCROFT, Horace Herbert, city editor of the "Jacksonville Journal," was born in Jack- sonville, Ill., October 16, 1873. In boyhood he attended the public schools, afterward became a pupil in Whipple Academy, and later entered Illinois College, from which he was graduated in 1896. Subsequently, he read law with C. A. Barnes, and then pursued a course in the law

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department of the University of Michigan. In 1902 he became connected with the "Jackson- ville Journal," and was made city editor in 1904.

In politics, Mr. Bancroft is an earnest Re- publican, and "stumped" the State for the party ticket in 1896 and 1900. At one time he was a candidate for the nomination of State Senator. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Jacksonville Lodge, No. 570, A. F. & A. M., of which he is Past Master. He is a member of the order of Sons of the American Revolution, belonging to Samuel Adams Chapter, which he organized, and is serving on the Board of Trustees of Illinois College.

BAPTIST, John, a venerable and highly respected citizen ·of Jacksonville, Morgan County, Ill., who after a prosperous career as a farmer is now living in retirement, was born on the Island of Madeira, September 30, 1830, the son of Joseph and Johanna Baptist, natives of the same place, where his father died at the age of sixty years. He was the father of five sons. In 1846, after the death of his father, four of the sons who were Protestants, fled to Trinidad, an island of the West Indies, to es- cape religious persecutions, while the eldest brother remained in care of the old home. The family spent three years in Trinidad, and dur- ing that period the eldest of the four brothers, who was married, died, as did also one of his children. His other child came on with its grandmother and uncles, and is now living in Jacksonville, the mother of sixteen daughters. In 1849, with other Portuguese exiles, the fam- ily embarked for New York, where they landed August 1st of that year. The unusual climate caused considerable sickness in the party, and John Baptist and his mother were compelled to remain in New York three months on account of the illness of the third son. They finally journeyed to Naples, Ill., and thence proceeded to Waverly, Ill., where they were cared for by friends. During the next year, the third son, Mediers, died in New York, having never fully recovered from his former sickness.

John Baptist worked in Waverly three years, and then located in Jacksonville, where, through the influence of Dr. Hiram K. Jones, he secured employment on the farm at the Illi- nois Central Hospital for the Insane. He was soon promoted to be night watchman, which

position he held for four years. He was after- ward engaged in teaming for a number of years, and then carried on farming on rented land. Together with seven other persons he bought eighty acres of timber land in Section 1, Township 15, Range 11, Morgan County, but cleared and cultivated most of the land himself, as he was one of the purchasers who owned a team. By industry and thrift, he was gradually enabled to buy the interests of his partners, and finally acquired the title to the tract. In 1892, he purchased another farm of 110 acres in Section 1, Township 15, Range 12, and also bought some city property. Mr. Baptist is a resident of Jacksonville, from which point he has managed his farming and city interests.

· About the year 1855, Mr. Baptist was united in marriage with Mary Rodgers. This union resulted in the following children, namely: Caroline; Charles; Julia, wife of Joseph Goveia; Robert; John; Mary, wife of John Oliver; Louis; Ellen; Laura; Theodore Thomas; Libby, now a Mrs. Farrell, of California, and Amy, wife of Benjamin Andrews, of Jacksonville. The wife of Mr. Baptist has been dead for a number of years, and his unmarried daughters keep house for him. He has always lived an honest and industrious life, and is greatly respected.

BARNES, Susan Elizabeth (Sewall-Fry) .- Few people residing outside of the New Eng- land States have, so valued and preserved the records of their lineage as has Mrs. Susan Elizabeth Sewall Fry Barnes, of Jacksonville, Ill. Mrs. Barnes, who is a pioneer and the uaughter of pioneers, has lived in Morgan and Cass Counties for seventy years, coming here at the age of two months from the vicinity of Clarksburg, on the Monongahela River, in Har- rison County, W. Va., where she was born July 30, 1829. Mrs. Barnes is one of the children by the second marriage of her mother, Eliza Ward (Middleton) Sewall, extended mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work. Her father, William Sewall, was born in Augusta, Me., January 17, 1797, and in early life was a clerk, and later a teacher and a farmer. He taught school in several of the places in which he lived, and at Jacksonville, March 8, 1830, es- tablished in the old historic school house a school which he conducted through the "winter of the deep snow," and for two or three years thereafter.

Edward Thirty.

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The Sewall family was known in England for many generations. Fuller, in his "Worthies of England," describes the arms of the family as "Sable Cheveron betwixt three Gad Bees ar- gent," the same having been bestowed upon "John Sewall, Sheriff of Essex and Hertford- shire, fourth year of the reign of Richard II, 1380." Mrs. Barnes' grandparents were Henry and Tabitha (Sewall) Sewall, the former of whom was born in York, Me., October 24, 1752, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War; her great-grandparents were Henry and Abigail (Titcomb) Sewall, the former born at York, Me., March 26, 1727; the great-great-grand- parents were Nicholas and Mehitable (Storer) Sewall, the former born at Newbury, Mass., June 1, 1670; the great-great-great-grandparents were John and Hannah (Fessenden ) Sewall, the former born at Baddesley, England, October 10, 1654; the great-great-great-great-grandparents were Henry and Jane (Dummer) Sewall, the former born in Manchester, England, in 1614; the great-great-great -great-great-grandparents were Henry and Anna (Hunt) Sewall, the former born in Coventry, England, in 1576; the great-great-great-great-great-great - grandparents were Henry and Margaret (Gresbrook) Sewall, the former born in Coventry, England, in 1544, and who served as Mayor of Coventry during 1589 and 1606. The third Henry Sewall came to Newbury in 1635, as one of the first settlers of that region, and eventually succeeded to large landed estates. In 1646 he married Jane Dummer, of Newbury, and became the progeni- tor of the numerous family of Sewalls now scat- tered over the United States and Canada.

As was customary with the daughters of the early settlers, Susan Elizabeth Sewall was taught knitting, spinning, weaving, and the art of beautiful hand sewing. There were no sewing machines in the country previous to 1846, and practically everything worn by the people was made by the women of the household. Necessa- rily they were skillful and rapid in the use of the needle, and personally devoted much more time than the women of the present day to affairs of the wardrobe. Miss Sewall at- tended the early subscription schools of Morgan and Cass Counties, and in 1848 came to Jack- sonville to enter the the Academy for Young La- dies, from which she graduated in 1851, and of whose Alumnæ Association she is still a mem- ber. Subsequently she engaged in educational

work in various parts of the county, though still making her home in Jacksonville.

The marriage of Miss Sewall to Abiel Fry oc- curred at the home of her mother in Jackson- ville, November 12, 1867, Mr. Fry being then a resident of Muscatine, Iowa, in which town the young people lived. After the death of Mr. Fry in 1876, his widow visited her sister near Chan- dlerville, Ill., and there met Rev. William Barnes, of Jacksonville, to whom she was united in marriage, August 1, 1878. Mr. Barnes died May 1, 1890, and his widow still makes her bome at the Barnes homestead, 415 West State Street, Jacksonville. Mrs. Barnes is one of the interesting women of Jacksonville, and has a host of friends who can testify to her genial nature and large heart. Her memory is stored with reminiscences of the early days of the State, and more especially of the men and women who, like herself, have been integral parts of the unfolding prosperity of Morgan County.

di BARNES. (Rev.) William, D. D., was born of Scotch ancestry in Portsmouth, Ohio, February 8, 1814. He graduated from Yale in 1839, and among his classmates were Charles Sumner and Edward Everett. In the following year he com- pleted his theological course at Yale and be- gan his pastorate at Foxboro, Mass., being created a D. D. by his alma mater in 1850. On August 14, 1842, at Coventry, Conn., he was married to Eunice A. Hubbard, who was of the Nathan Hale stock. In 1845 be was called to the pastorate of a large Christian Church in Boston, and while so officiating preached the funeral discourse over the remains of Daniel Webster. In 1854, his health failing, he came West: from 1855 to 1860 was pastor of the Congregational Church at Alton, Ill., and then. to educate his children, removed to Jackson- ville, Ill., which he made his home until his death, on May 1, 1890. Although retired from active work, he made his presence felt in the literary circles of the city, almost from its or- ganization being a prominent figure in the Literary Union. Dr. Barnes was a great reader, an original thinker, a strong writer and a power in many ways. His first wife died May 18, 1874, and August 1, 1878, he was married to Susan E. Sewall. Rev. William Barnes left by his first union four children: Judge William H. Barnes, who lived in this city until November,

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1885, when he was appointed by President Cleveland Associate Justice of the Territory of Arizona, and died at Tucson, Ariz., November 10, 1904; Lieut. Nathan Hale Barnes, of the United States Navy, who died at Hartford, Conn., January 1, 1899; Mrs. Mary E. Elson, of Freeport, Ill., and Judge Charles A. Barnes, of Jacksonville.

BARNES, (Hon.) Charles Albert, attorney-at law and County Judge of Morgan County, re- siding in Jacksonville, was born in Alton, Ill., July 4, 1855, and is a son of the the Rev. and Eunice A. (Hubbard) Barnes. (A detailed rec- ord of the career of his father will be found else- where in this volume.) At the age of five years he was brought by his parents to Jacksonville, where he attended the public schools and Illinois College, being graduated from the latter institut- tion with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1876. Having decided upon a career in the law, he began his professional studies in the office of his brother, the late Hon. William H. Barnes, of Tucson, Ariz., at that time one of the sucess- ful young lawyers of Jacksonville, and afterward entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1878. Being admitted to the bar at once, he engaged in practice with his brother, the partnership continuing until 1884, when William H. Barnes removed to Arizona to be- come a Judge of the Supreme Court of that Ter- ritory by appointment of President Cleveland. Since that time Judge Barnes has remained in practice alone.

In 1882 Judge Barnes was appointed by the City Council to the office of City Attorney of Jacksonville, serving one year. In 1884 he was nominated for office of State's Attorney of Mor- gan County, was elected, and remained in office, by virtue of successive elections, until 1892. Upon the resignation of Richard Yates from the office of County Judge in 1897, he was elected to fill the vacancy, and was re-elected to the office in 1898 and in 1902. Unwavering in his devotion to the welfare of the Democracy, he has consistently supported its men and meas- ures since attaining maturity. He has served as Chairman and Secretary of the Democratic County Central Committee, and has been a dele- gate to numerous State Conventions of his party. In 1892 he was a delegate to the Demo- cratic National Convention at Chicago, support- ing the candidacy of Grover Cleveland.

Judge Barnes has been deeply interested in educational affairs, and particularly in the cause of higher education. He was a member of the Board of Trusees of the Jacksonville Fe- male Academy, and for some time has been a Trustee of Illinois College, to whose support he has ever been faithful. In religion he is a communicant of the State Street Presbyterian .

Church of Jacksonville, of which he has been a Trustee for several years. Judge Barnes has been prominent for several years in the work of the Knights of Pythias. In 1893 he filled the office of Grand Chancellor of the Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois; in August, 1904, at Louis- ville, Ky., he was elected Supreme Vice-Chan- cellor of the Knights of Pythias of the World, and by reason of this position stands in line for promotion to the exalted office of Supreme Chan- cellor for the World in 1906. In Masonry he is identified with Jacksonville Lodge No. 570 and Jacksonville Chapter No. 3. He is also a mem- ber of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. During the life of the "Morgan Cadets," an early local military company connected with the Illinois National Guard, of which he was a charter member. he served for eight years as a private.

On February 19, 1889, Judge Barnes was. united in marriage with Madge G. Martin, a daughter of James Martin, of St. Louis, and they are the parents of two children-one daughter, Elson, and one son, James Martin. A gentleman of reserved and dignified bearing, of unquestioned integrity in social and profes- sional life, of pronounced public spirit and with an unfailing desire to render practical assist- ance in the promotion of those well-considered projects having for their aim the advance- ment of the best interests of the community, Judge Barnes has risen in the esteem of his fel- low-men as he has progressed in his career, until he is now generally recognized as a citi- zen of the highest utility and worth.

BARNES, Nathan Hale, (deceased), for a quarter of a century connected with the United States Naval Service and for many years with the faculty of Illinois College, Jacksonville, was the second son of Rev. William and Eunice A. Barnes, and was born at Hartford, Conn., July 12, 1845, coming to Jacksonville with his parents in 1860. He attended Illinois College until the fall of 1863, when he was appointed a

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midshipman in the United States Navy by Con- gressman-at-large Allen, and graduated at the Naval Academy in 1868. He became an en- sign in 1869, Master in 1870, and a Lieutenant in 1872, remaining in the naval service until 1893, when he was placed on the retired list; the sickness which incapacitated him being caused from exposure to a blizzard, in 1890, when about three days out from New York, on his return from an Asiatie cruise in the "U. S. S. Niepsic." Jacksonville was always his home, and most of his vacations were spent here. In 1884. and 1886 he was detailed as Instructor of Physics in Illinois College, and received from that institution the degree of Ph. D. In 1870 Lieutenant Barnes married Lizzie A. Por- ter, of Hartford, Conn., and died in that city January 1, 1899, leaving his widow and two daughters. He was always recognized as a splendid officer, and a man of exceptional learn- ing and conversational powers.

BARNES, William H., (deceased), formerly an honored resident of Jacksonville, a leader of the Illinois bar and a prominent Democrat, was the oldest son of Rev. William and Eunice A. Barnes, and was born at Hampton, Conn., May 1, 1843. In 1860 he came to Jacksonville with his parents and attended Illinois College until 1864, then entering the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which, in 1865, he gradu- ated with the degree of A. B. He then began the study of law with Hon. William Brown and was admitted to the bar in 1868. From that date until 1885, he practiced his profession at Jacksonville, becoming one of the leaders of the Illinois bar, and recognized for his intellectual attainments, unusual legal ability and splendid oratorical powers. Mr. Barnes was a Repre- sentative from Morgan County in the Twenty- seventh General Assembly (1870-72), and stood high in the councils of the Democratic party, which he represented in the State Convention of 1880. He was a prominent member of the Illinois State and the American Bar Associa- tions, and was a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Order of Elks. While living in Jacksonville, he was identified with the "Liter- ary Union," and was known, loved and re- spected by all for his social qualities and keen intellect. In 1885 President Cleveland ap- pointed him Judge of the Supreme Court of Arizona, and from that date until his death he

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 151

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