Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 186

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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In politics, Mr. Springer is a Prohibitionist. He served for one year as City Marshal. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Springer is a man of high principles, and has a strong sense of duty. He has lived a long, busy and useful life, and, in his declining years, is comforted by the consciousness that he has the entire confidence and esteem of a host of friends.

STANDLEY, Richard, retired farmer, Jack- sonville, Ill., is one of the oldest of the living native-born citizens of Morgan County. He was born on his father's farm five miles northwest of Jacksonville February 4, 1828, son of Noble and Nancy (Smart) Standley, both natives of Tennessee, where they were married, and whence they came to Illinois in 1819. In that year Noble Standley entered a quarter-section of Government land five miles northwest of the site of Jacksonville, then but a small hamlet; and subsequently made another entry of 60 acres. The land was virgin prairie. The elder Standley erected a two-room cabin of unhewn logs, with the ground for a floor and a flue of sticks held together by mud. After having made some material progress in the improve- ment of his land, he erected another log house of two stories, containing four rooms, with a clapboard floor in the second story. He and his wife had a family of seven sons and two daugh- ters, and to clothe this family the parents were compelled to work up the raw wool and flax into cloth, doing their own spinning and weav- ing. His children were all educated In a log

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

school-house, the first seats in which were plain logs, which subsequently were replaced by slabs. Their first teacher was a man named Haynes. The family was exceedingly poor in those days, and the children did not secure a very liberal education, as it was necessary for them to spend the larger portion of their time in assisting their parents in the great task of developing a farm from the wilderness. Noble Standley had served his country in the War of 1812, and received from the Government a warrant en- titling him to a quarter-section of land. He did not lay the warrant himself, however, but transferred it to his son William, who secured land thereon either in Missouri or Knasas. An- other son, John, went to California in 1848, by way of Cape Horn, and now resides near Rose- burg, Ore. Mr. Standley spent the remainder of his life on his farm, where his death occurred.

Richard Standley was born in the first log cabin built by his father, was reared on the farm, and at the age of nineteen years went to work for neighboring farmers at $8 per month. Three years later he married, and until 1861 rented land upon which to engage in inde- pendent agricultural operations. He then pur- chased 120 acres, which formed the nucleus of his present farm, and to which he later added another 120 acres, and is now the owner of 240 acres of fine, productive land. For two years he and his brother operated a saw-mill, and for thirteen years Mr. Standley operated a thresh- ing machine, part of the time as the partner of Neil Turley. He has also been a successful stock-feeder in connection with his general farming. When, in 1861, he found himself in a financial position to purchase land, he visited Kansas with the expectation of making an in- vestment there; but after prospecting the country he came to the conclusion that Illinois was much the better State for agriculture, and soon afterward returned to leave this State no more.

In November, 1896, Mr Standley and his wife removed to Jacksonville, where they have since lived in retirement, enjoying the well earned fruits of their long years of toil. Mr. Standley has been independent in politics, and has never consented to occupy political offices, with the exception of the local posts which all good citi- zens are called upon to fill from time to time. For forty years he has been an Odd Fellow,

affiliating with Urania Lodge, No. 243, of Jack- sonville. He was married October 1, 1846, to Rachel Ausmus, a native of Morgan County, where she was born February 11, 1827. Her parents, Philip and Deidia (Bratton) Ausmus, came from Tennessee to Illinois about the time of the arrival of the Standley family. Mr. and Mrs. Standley have a family of twelve children, and now have forty-seven living grandchildren and seven living great-grandchildren. Their children have been as follows: Henry B., born August 17, 1847, and died at the age of four- teen; Cyrus, born November 16, 1849, now a resident of Greenwood County, Kans .; Philip, born August 23, 1851, now of Shelby County, Ill .; Sarah, born June 3, 1853, and died at the age of five; Noble, born July 3, 1855, and died at the age of fifteen months; Benjamin, born April 15, 1857, and died at the age of seven months; Eliza, born October 1, 1858, now the wife of Lafayette Gusman, of Markley, Ind .; Mary Jane, born October 19, 1861, now the wife of Major Valentine, of Ashland, Kans .; Oscar, born July 10, 1862, died at the age of five; Jo- seph, born April 14, 1864, a farmer of Morgan County; Edward, born March 11, 1866, manag- ing the home farm; and Richard, Jr., born May 18, 1868, assisting his brother Edward in the operation of the farm.

Mr. Standley and his wife are numbered among the highly esteemed native residents of Morgan County, within whose borders they have spent their entire lives, with the exception of the brief period passed in Kansas, as noted. They are entitled to recognition not only for their many good qualities, but for their long identification with the history of the county in which they are honored landmarks. Though they have lived quietly, building for the future of their children and grandchildren, they have neglected no opportunity to do all the good they could for their neighborhood, contributing of their time and means to-the promotion of all worthy enterprises.

THE STEVENSONS .- The Stevenson family have been justly regarded as embracing among their members some of the most prominent and worthy citizens of Morgan County. Their an- cestors were William C., and James Stevenson, who came together to Morgan County from Ken- tucky in 1829. These brothers were preceded by Elliott Stevenson, son of William C., in 1828.

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

The wives of William C. and James were sisters -the Misses Mary and Martha Elliott. The chil- dren of William C. were: Elliott, Fleming, Wil- liam C., Benjamin F., Mrs. Martha Vance, John, Septimus C., and George.

The children of James Stevenson were: Mrs. Anthony Boston, Mrs. Jacob Ward, Mrs. Ed- ward March, William, James, Robert, Mrs. Sa- rah Bennett and Augustus.

The sisters of William C. and James Steven- son were Mrs. James H. Lurton and Mrs. Absa- lom Ogle. A colony of sixty-nine persons later came together from the same part of Kentucky from which the Stevensons emigrated in 1829, and located in Morgan County. Of that colony only three persons are now living. The com- ing of the Stevenson families resulted in at- tracting a large number of immigrants from Kentucky to the county who subsequently be- came prominent citizens, among whom were Gen. John J. Hardin, the Cassells and others.

STEVENSON, Septimus Clark, now one of the older agriculturists of Morgan County, residing on his farm about seven miles east of Jackson- ville, was born near Lexington, Ky., September 21, 1821. a son of William C. Stevenson. (See sketch preceding.) The latter, a native of Virginia, was a member of a party of sixty pioneers, who, in 1829, came overland from Ken- tucky to Illinois, bringing with them 300 sheep, 100 cattle and a long train of wagons. William Stevenson located on a farm two miles west of the present residence of S. C. Stevenson, where he spent the remainder of his life in agricul- tural pursuits. He was bitterly opposed to the institution of slavery. While a resident of Kentucky he possessed a number of slaves, which he would not sell, and which he could not free without becoming responsible for their sub- sequent actions. When he decided to come to Illinois, he therefore retained the old slave quarters on his farm, which he allowed the blacks to occupy for a year, in the meantime selling them for a nominal sum to those who, as he believed, would accord them generous and humane treatment, each master having been se- lected by the slave before the sale. He sold each slave for $500, several times that amount being easily obtained on the open market. He was an old-time Whig, and a great admirer and friend of Henry Clay, whom he knew well, his home in Ashland, Ky., being located near that of the Great Pacificator.

William Stevenson was one of the builders of the first log schoolhouse in his neighborhood, which was located in the woods near his home. He was also one of the founders of the first church in the community, which was organized in his home, where religious services were held in the pioneer days. . Dr. Lyman Beecher was then a member of the Presbytery with which this church was connected, and was at the Stevenson home at the time of organization. Mr. Stevenson was elected an Elder of the so- ciety, and filled that office most of his life there- after. For some time he also acted as Church Chorister. Upon the outbreak of the Black Hawk War, he equipped one of his sons and a nephew with proper accouterments, and sent them into the service with his blessing. The elder Mr. Stevenson married Martha Elliott, a native of Kentucky, who bore him the fol- lowing named children: Fleming, John, Wil- liam, Benjamin, George, Septimus C., besides two sons who died in infancy, and one daughter, Martha, who married Samuel Vance. All are now deceased except the subject of this sketch.

Septimus Stevenson resided on his father's farm until he became of age, when his parents gave him a tract of 220 acres situated one and a half miles west of his present loca- tion. This he improved and sold two years later for $9 per acre. He then (1852) purchased about 320 acres, half of which had been slightly improved, which is included with his present farm. About this time he was united in mar- riage with Eveline Hill, who died September 4, 1868. On December 16, 1869, he married Mir- iam Bosworth, who died suddenly May 27, 1903, as the result of an accident. She served throughout the Civil War as a nurse, attached to the relief department of the Union Army. By his union with Eveline Hill, Mr. Stevenson became the father of seven children, as fol- lows: Irvin, a farmer residing west of his father; Fannie, wife of James Cully, of Jack- sonville; Thomas, of Chicago; Lottie, wife of George Guthrie, of Jacksonville; William, of Omaha, Neb .; May, wife of Charles Rannells, of Pisgah; and Frederick, residing in Ohio.

For some time Mr. Stevenson was a Trustee of the old Athenæum School. of Jacksonville, now defunct; and he has been a supporter of the Jacksonville Female Academy, and other in- stitutions of that city. For many years he has been an Elder in the Pisgah Presbyterian

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

Church. He has been a warm friend of educa- tional institutions, and has given all his chil- dren exceptional advantages in this direction. During the Civil War he contributed generously toward the support of the Union soldiers in the field, and in various other ways throughout his long and useful life has contributed to the suc- cess of all worthy movements inspired by a desire to truly advance the interests of Morgan County. His stock operations have been quite extensive, especially in the more active years of his career; and he has always been known as a man of great industry and energy. He is public spirited and progressive to an unusual degree, and is esteemed by a large circle of ac- quaintances as a man entitled to be ranked with the worthiest and most substantial type of American citizenship.

STEVENSON, James Fleming, one of the old- est, most extensive and most prosperous stock dealers in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Ill., was born four and a half miles west of that city, September 11, 1830. He is a son of Elliott and Jane (Stevenson) Stevenson, natives, re- spectively, of Scott and Woodford Counties, Ky., the places of their birth being only about ten miles apart. They remained in Kentucky about four years after their marriage; which occurred October 21, 1824. In November, 1828, (election day) they camped upon the ground which afterward became the site of the capitol in Springfield, and then passed into Morgan County to seek favorable locations. In the fol- lowing spring both his father and his uncle (James Stevenson) with their brothers-in-law and families, located permanently in Morgan, Cass and Scott Counties-then one county-and to the number of sixty-nine commenced life in the new Western country. This was the largest colony, composed exclusively of related fami- lies, which ever settled at one time in that region.

Eliott Stevenson, the father of James F., while a resident of Kentucky, was an overseer on the plantation of a Mr. Chambers, and thus earned sufficient money to invest in Morgan County lands. The father and mother died in 1883. James Stevenson was at one time a civil engineer, and in 1848 surveyed the route of the Sangamon & Morgan Railroad, running from Naples to Springfield.

Upon settling in Morgan County, in 1829, El- liott Stevenson purchased, for $625, 200 acres of

land west of Jacksonville, which he sold six years later. He also bought 350 acres five and a half miles east of the present city. Before his death he also owned 300 acres of land in Kansas, and when his son, James F., was twenty-one years of age, he was the pro- prietor of fully 1,000 acres in Morgan County. This remarkable accumulation of landed property was largely due to the indus- try and shrewdness of the son named. The land was well adapted to stock-raising and supported much valuable live-stock, including $3,500 worth of Durham cattle.

In boyhood, James F. Stevenson received his mental training in the early subscription schools. He was reared on the farm where he remained until he was thirty-five years old, giving considerable attention to the stock busi- ness. In 1865 he moved to Jacksonville and de- voted himself to that line-buying stock cattle on commission. He took many train loads of stock to the New York markets. He has carried in cash, of other people's money, as much as $40,000 at a time, accounting for every penny. He followed the stock business until 1905. In 1866 he shipped the first load of cattle sent out of Kansas City, has operated extensively in Missouri, Kansas and Iowa, and has made as many as a hundred trips to New York. Many times he has driven his herds to St. Louis, where they were shipped by boats to New Or- leans, handling stock in Kansas before that State had a railroad. In 1903 he transacted business for a stock firm amounting to $50,000, and is still in their employ. One of his most successful transactions was during the silver panic, when he was engaged by Ayers National Bank to dispose of eighty-eight car loads of cattle, which could not be sold in the local mar- ket. He shipped the stock to New York and, after an absence of twenty-two days, returned to Jacksonville with $85,000 clear of all ex- penses.

Politically, Mr. Stevenson was first a Whig, and acted with the Republicans until the de- monetization of silver, since which he has been an independent voter. He was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian Church. He is a man of the highest integrity of character, and en- joys the implicit confidence and unbounded re- spect of all who know him.

STEVENSON, Henry S., a prominent farmer and stockman of Morgan County, residing at

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

No. 1050 College Avenue, Jacksonville, was born four miles southeast of the city July 1, 1846, the son of William C. and Cassandra (Sta- ley) Stevenson, the former a native of Scott County, Ky., and the latter of Middletown Val- ley, Frederick County, Md. In 1829 William C. Stevenson, the father, camc to Morgan County with his father (also named William C.), six brothers and a sister, and the entire family set- tled down to farming on the Briar Fork of the Mauvaisterre. William C., Jr., at that time was a lad of fifteen or sixteen years, and he made farming his lifelong vocation, with the excep- tion of four or five years, when he was engaged in the hardware business in Jacksonville. He retired from business cares in 1862 or 1863, after which he made his home in the city until his death, July 28, 1898, at which time his post- office address had been Jacksonville for nearly seventy years. Formely a Whig, he became a Republican, and took an active interest in gen- eral politics, and was successful both as a farmer and business man. His wife, and the mother of the subject of this sketch, died Sep- tember 14, 1903.

Henry S. Stevenson attended the country school until he was ten years of age, when his parents moved to Jacksonville. In 1864 he en- listed in Company C, One Hundred and Forty- fifth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry (a 100-days' regiment), in which he served nearly seven months. He then attended Illinois Col- lege into his junior year, after which he en- gaged permanently in farming and the feeding of stock, in which lines he has been very suc- `cessful. He owns a fine farm of 250 acres, upon which he has built two substantial residences. In 1872 Mr. Stevenson and family took up their residence in Freeport, Ill., where he engaged in the manufacture of beet sugar, C. H. Rosentiel, his wife's father, being at the head of the en- terprise. The enterprise did not prove a finan- cial success, and eight years later he returned to Morgan County and resumed farming.

Mr. Stevenson was married November 8, 1871, to Louisa Rosentiel, daughter of C. H. and Han- nah (Gilman) Rosentiel, and of their family five children survive, viz .: William H., a pro- fessor in an Agricultural College in Iowa, and who married Daisy Scott, of Champaign, Ill .; Edward R., a farmer in Morgan County, who married Gertrude Cleary; Claire S .; Hannah L., and Charles Howard. Mrs. Henry S. Stevenson

died October 20, 1900. Mr. Stevenson is a mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic.

STEVENSON, Irvin, farmer and stockman, living on his well cultivated farm on Section 28, Township 15, Range 9, Morgan County, Ill., was born on his father's homestead, a short dis- tance from where he now lives, December 14, 1848, being the son of Septimus C. and Evaline (Hill) Stevenson, whose life history appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Stevenson was inured to farm work, and his education was ob- tained in the district school near his home and the High School at Jacksonville. He began farming on his own responsibility when he be- came of age, and has made this his life occupa- tion. He pays much attention to the feeding of well-graded stock, which he has found a profitable occupation.

In December, 1879, Mr. Stevenson was mar- ried to Kate Clarke, a daughter of Charles Clarke. Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson have one son, H. Clarke Stevenson, who was educated in the military school at Upper Alton, Ill. He is now assisting his father on the farm.

STEWART, Samuel Brown, City Clerk, Jack- sonville, Ill., was born in Annapolis, Md., Sep- tember 1, 1868, a son of John and Mary C. (Deem) Stewart. His father, who is of Scotch parentage, served for about ten years in the United States Navy as Master-at-Arms on the "U. S. S. Dispatch." During the Civil War he was assigned to duty on the "Paul Jones," on which vessel he saw most of his active serv- icc. Since 1884 he has resided at Ozawkie, Kans.

Samuel B. Stewart came to Jacksonville in November, 1884, and for several years resided with an aunt in that city. The common school education which he had begun while a resident of Maryland was supplemented by a year's course in Whipple Academy, after which he en- tered Illinois College, from which he was gradu- ated with the class of 1891. Entering the em- ploy of the "Jacksonville Journal" soon after the completion of his college course, he was a member of the staff of that paper for five years. For six months, in 1896, he acted as city editor of the "Springfield State Journal." Upon his return to Jacksonville he was associated with the "Illinois Courier" until May, 1897, when he was elected to the office of City Clerk as the nominee of the Republican party. He has been continuously reelected to that office every sec-

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

ond year since 1897, his reelection in 1905 fol- lowing one of the most hotly contested and bitter campaigns ever waged in any city in Illinois.

Fraternally, Mr. Stewart is identified with Jacksonville Lodge, No. 570, A. F. & A. M., Jack- sonville Chapter, No. 3, R. A. M., Jacksonville Council, No. 5, R. & S. M., Hospitaler Command- ery, No. 31, K. T., St. Paul Conclave Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine, the Consistory and Shrine at Peoria, and has been the Presiding Officer in the Chapter, Council and Commandery. He is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, in which he is Past Patron; of Illini Lodge, No. 4, I. O. O. F .; of Fa- vorite Lodge, No. 376, K. P., and a charter mem- ber of Jacksonville Lodge, No. 682, B. P. O. E. He is a member of the Westminster Presbyte- rian Church. On June 6, 1893, he was united in marriage with Daisy D. Roosa, a daughter of Charles A. and Sarah V. (DeHaven) Roosa, now of Springfield, but formerly residents of Jack- sonville. Mrs. Stewart is an influential mem- ber of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a graduate of the Il- linois Conservatory of Music, at Jacksonville.

STRAWN, Jacob, who, during a large portion of the period covered by his life, was one of the most widely known farmers, and in many re- spects one of the most remarkable men on the roll of those departed leaders, who, in various spheres of action, have reflected honor upon the State of Illinois, was born in Somerset County, Pa., May 30, 1800. He was a son of Isaiah and Rachael (Reed) Strawn, of whom the former was one of nine sons born to Daniel Strawn, a native of Bucks County, Pa., whose father died when Daniel was a child. Rachael (Reed) Strawn was a native of Sussex County, N. J. Jacob Strawn (the grandfather of Daniel, and great-great-grandfather of the subject of this memoir) came from England to the United States in 1682, with William Penn. When Daniel Strawn reached mature years he became the husband of a Miss Purcely, of Bucks County, Pa., whose parents came from Wales to that State, early in her girlhood. Her union with Daniel Strawn resulted in nine sons and three daughters, among the former being Isaiah Strawn, above mentioned. After his marriage Daniel Strawn became a farmer, and followed that occupation for the remainder of his life.

Isaiah Strawn settled on a farm in Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County, Pa., where he car- ried on farming and blacksmithing. To him and his wife were born six children, of whom four were sons-Jacob being the youngest. With the exception of one daughter, who afterward passed away in Coshocton County, Ohio, where she had previously gone with her husband, the family, in 1817, moved from Pennsylvania to Putnam County, Ill., where they 'located in the vicinity of Hennepin, on a farm near that of Mr. Strawn's son, Jeremiah. The earlier an- cestors of Jacob Strawn were Quakers in reli- gious faith, although at a later period some members of the family allied themselves with the Methodist Church, and with other denomi- nations. They were of sturdy and stalwart stock, with strong physical development, and almost impervious to fatigue. Nearly all of them followed agricultural pursuits. Mrs. Isaiah Strawn died April 4, 1843; her husband passed away just one year later, and both were on the verge of their eighty-fourth year.

In boyhood Jacob Strawn utilized the oppor- tunities for mental training afforded by the schools of his native county. It is said of him that, during a visit to one of his aunts, at the age of ten years, he watched her intently while she was engaged in feeding calves; and, over- hearing an allusion to the profit anticipated on their sale, determined to become a stock-dealer when he reached manhood. When he was sev- enteen years old his parents moved to Licking County, Ohio, and when he reached the age of nineteen years, he was married to Matilda Greene, a daughter of Rev. John Greene, of Licking County. When he left Somerset County, Pa., Mr. Strawn had saved $100, which he gave to his father, to apply on the payment for a tract of unbroken land, purchased by the latter in Ohio, and his marriage left the young man $7 in debt-a fact which is here mentioned as an illustration of his early provident habits, as well as his filial affection. Mr. Strawn's first marriage resulted in three children-who grew to maturity, reared families, and became in comfortable circumstances-namely: Rev. Wil- liam Strawn, of Odell, Ill .; James G. Strawn, a farmer, of Orleans, Ill., and Isaiah Strawn, a farmer and dealer in horses, Jacksonville, Ill. While a resident of Ohio Mr. Strawn was en- gaged to a considerable extent in dealing in horses, and while thus occupied, in 1828 made

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 186

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