Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 188

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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Mr. Thomason received his early mental train- ing in the district schools and began farming for himself at the age of twenty-three years. In this occupation he continued steadily until 1901, when he was appointed by Governor Yates to his present position in the Illinois Central Hos- pital for the Insane.

On February 26, 1883, Mr. Thomason was united in marriage with Anna Lee McFarland, of Scott County, Ill., a daughter of Walter B. and Mahala (Hornbeck) McFarland. Mrs. Thomason was born in Bath County, Ky., April 29, 1864. This union has been the source of three children, namely: Georgia Etta, who was born October 12, 1883, and died December 13, 1896; Mary Elizabeth, born December 2, 1885; and Allinson May, born July 25, 1890.

On political issues, Mr. Thomason is arrayed . on the side of the Republican party. While living in the country, he served four years as Road Commissioner in district No. 6. Reli- giously, he is an active and consistent member of Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church, in

which he has officiated as Sunday-school Super- intendent and Trustee. Fraternally, he is iden- tified with the M. P. L. and Jacksonville Lodge No. 152, K. of P. He is a man of absolute recti- tude of character. In his management of the farms and gardens of the public institution with which he is connected, he is intelligent, careful, systematic and practical, and enjoys the confidence and respect of all with whom he is associated.

THOMPSON, (Hon.) Owen Pierce, Judge of the Seventh Judicial District of Illinois, residing at Jacksonville, was born in Bethel, Morgan County, Ill., February 3, 1852, the eighth and youngest child of James B. and Mary (Me- guier) Thompson. His father, James B. Thomp- son, who was one of the early pioneers of Illi- nois, was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1810, a son of Bernard Thompson, a native of Maryland, who removed to Ohio in the early days of the history of that State, and served through the War of 1812 with the Ohio troops. The grandfather (also named Bernard) en- listed with the Maryland troops attached to the Continental Army, and fought in the Revo- lutionary War. He was descended from Scotch ancestors, who came to America during colonial days. Various members of the family, in suc- ceeding generations, distinguished themselves in the various walks of American life.

Bernard Thompson, the grandfather of Judge Owen P. Thompson, reared a family in Ohio, and spent his life in that State and in Illinois, dying in Morgan County. One of his sons, Andrew Jackson Thompson, removed to Mor -- gan County with the family in 1834, and became conspicuously identified with public affairs in this county, serving as County Judge and as a member of the State Legislature. For several years he has lived in retirement at Hotchkiss, Colo. James B. Thompson, Judge Thompson's father, located in Morgan County in 1834. Tak- ing up Government land near Bethel, he devel- oped a farm, to which, by purchase, he subse- quently added. He was a man who was highly esteemed throughout the county by reason of his unimpeachable integrity and his public spirit; and though he never sought nor consented to fill public office, he was always alive to the best interests of his community, which he endeav- ored to promote in all possible ways. His death occurred in 1897. His wife, who was born near

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

Harrisburg, Pa., died in 1881. Of their family of eight children, two died in infancy, and C. M. Thompson, the eldest son, died in Texas in August, 1901. Those surviving are: Mary, wife of John T. Crawford, of Pueblo, Colo .; Sarah, wife of A. A. McPherson, of McPherson, Kans .; Elvira, residing in Jacksonville; Dr. P. C. Thompson, of Jacksonville, and Judge Owen P. Thompson.

Judge Thompson was reared upon the farm, and attended the public schools of the neighbor- hood. After a course of study in the State Normal School at Normal, Ill., he engaged in teaching, a vocation in which he had been en- gaged for a portion of the time while still a student. Five years of his life were spent in this work, and the training and discipline thereby received undoubtedly exercised a most potential influence in strengthening the charac- teristics which have been more or less conspic- uous in his mental structure-order, self-con- trol, a rare freedom from prejudice and a con- tinuous desire carefully to analyze all problems which have presented themselves to him before considering their solution. Having decided upon a legal career in his youth, in 1875 he entered the Albany Law School, which was at that time regarded as one of the strongest in- stitutions of its kind in the United States, was graduated therefrom in 1876, and admitted to the bar the same year. Upon the completion of his law course, young Thompson found himself seriously handicapped by a lack of funds, which prevented him from entering at once upon the practice of his profession. In order to obtain the money necessary for the equipment of an office, he taught school for awhile, in the mean- time looking about for a suitable location. In 1880 he removed to Hiawatha, Kans., where he opened his first office and began practice. A year later he returned to Illinois, and since 1881 has been engaged In practice alone in Jackson- ville, with the exception of the years when he has been upon the bench. Always a stanch and unwavering advocate of the principles of the Democracy, in 1886 he was elected County Judge of Morgan County as the nominee of that party. and was reelected in 1890, serving two terms of four years each. Retiring to private practice at the expiration of his second term. he thus remained until his first election to the Circuit bench, in 1897. That his labors upon the bench met the approval of hls constitutents was evi-

denced by his reelection in 1903. His term will expire in June, 1909. The district over which he presides includes the counties of Morgan, San- gamon, Macoupin, Greene, Jersey and Scott.

Judge Thompson has been closely identified with those projects which have advanced the best interests of Jacksonville and Morgan County along all lines. For some time he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Ill1- nois College and of Illinois Woman's College, and during the administration of Governor Alt- geld, from 1892 to 1896, served as a Trustee of the Illinois Central Hospital for the Insane. Since 1873 he has been a Mason, and is now a member of Jacksonville Lodge, No. 570, A. F. & A. M., and of Hospitaler Commandery No. 31, K. T. He is also a charter member of Jackson- ville Lodge, No. 152, Knights of Pythias, of Duncan Camp, No. 152, M. W. A., and of Jack- sonville Lodge, No. 682, B. P. O. E. He was united in marriage May 31, 1883, with Eliza- beth Ruddick, a native of Jackson County, Ind., and a daughter of Solomon Ruddick. They are the parents of three children, namely: Mary, Perry Paul and Irene.

Personally, Judge Thompson is highly re- garded by the citizens of Morgan County, many of whom have watched with interest his career from the days of his earliest struggles for rec- ognition at the bar. The sterling traits of char- acter which were so conspicuous in his rugged Scotch ancestry manifest themselves in his per- sonal characteristics-sometimes to a marked degree- and the traditions of the race probably should receive no inconsiderable share of recog- nition in an analysis of the foundation of his strength among his fellow-men. Self-made in every sense of the term, he has become widely known as an upright, conscientious, public spir- ited citizen and man of affairs, a wise counselor and just Judge; and the record of his life enti- tles him to a place in the historical literature of Illinois.

THOMPSON, Perry Commodore, M. D., physi- cian, Jacksonville, Ill., was born on his father's farm near Bethel, Morgan County, Ill., Febru- ary 2, 1850, and is a son of James B. and Mary (Meguier) Thompson. (A detailed sketch of the life of James B. Thompson will be found elsewhere in this volume.) Dr. Thompson was reared upon the home farm, and attended the district schools in the neighborhood of his

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

home. For one winter he was also a student in Whipple Academy, Jacksonville. For eight years after leaving school he taught in the country schools of Morgan County, in the mean- time, during his summer vacations, attending the Normal Schools at Bloomington, Ill., and Valparaiso, Ind. Having decided upon a career in medicine, he prepared himself for his college course by reading with Dr. T. J. Pitner, of Jack- sonville, and Dr. Wilson C. Carver, of Bluffs, Ill., and after the prescribed course in Rush Medical College, Chicago, was graduated there- from in the class of 1883, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately thereafter he pursued a special course in the same institution on diseases of the lungs and diseases of women and children. In the spring of 1883 he opened an office for practice in Meredosia, Ill., where he was located for three years. During his resi- dence in Meredosia he took a post-graduate course at Rush Medical College. In 1886 he removed to Jacksonville, where he has since been continuously engaged in a general prac- tice.

Dr. Thompson served as a member of the United States Board of Pension Examiners dur- ing the second administration of President Cleveland, and under Governor Altgeld filled the post of physician to the Illinois State Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. For two years he was also Physician to Oaklawn Retreat, of Jack- sonville. He is an active member of the Ameri- can Medical Association, the Illinois State- Med- ical Society, the Morgan County Medical So- ciety and the Jacksonville Medical Club. Though a stanch Democrat, he has never been actively interested in the politics of his party. In the midst of a laborious practice, he has taken time for recreation by travel through various sec- tions of the United States and Europe, his wife having accompanied him on a trip to the Old World during the summer of 1903.

Dr. Thompson was united in marriage May 24, 1899, to Mina Borden, of Dundee, Ill., for- merly a teacher of elocution at Elgin and Lake Forest, Ill. He is thoroughly devoted to the science of medicine, and has remained a pro- found student throughout his entire profes- sional career, keeping fully abreast of the most advanced thought in his profession-a fact which doubtless accounts, in a large measure, for the success which has attended his prac- tice. He is highly regarded by both the pro-

fession and the laity, who join in honoring him as an upright citizen and a successful practi- tioner.

THORNLEY, Hugo, (deceased), was born in Yorkshire, England, August 18, 1831, the sixth child of Ralph and Hannah (Scholes) Thornley, who had a family of nine children. With his wife and six children Ralph Thornley sailed for America in the spring of 1840, land- ing at New Orleans, and reaching Beardstown, Cass County, Ill., on July 4th. About five weeks thereafter he bought 80 acres of land in Town- ship 16, Range 11, Morgan County. With the exception of a small clearing, where corn had been grown, the tract was timber land, and had no improvements other than a hewn log hut. Deer and wild game were abundant, which Mr. Thornley was accustomed to shoot near his door. After clearing the land of stumps around the cabin, he added one room to it, and in 1858 built the present residence-his farm then con- sisting of 440 acres, on which place he resided until his death, on February 13, 1867.

Mr. Thornley attended the subscription school in the log school house now known as Mt. Vernon, in the winter, and worked during the summer, on the farm, during his boyhood driving an ox-team several days for a neigh- bor, for which he received twenty-five cents per day. He assisted his father in farming until the latter's death; then, until 1883, con- ducted the farm jointly with his brother Sam- uel. They had purchased the property in 1872, and in the year named (1883) Hugo bought his brother's interest. Samuel continued to live with Hugo and family until his death, March 26, 1901, when he bequeathed his estate to Hu- go's children.

On March 27, 1855, Hugo Thornley was united in marriage with Mary Williamson Emmerson, who was born near Hebron, Morgan County, Ill., October 30, 1837, the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Mushem) Emmerson, who, in 1834, had come to this country from near Scar- borough, England, with his wife's parents, Thomas and Mary Williamson Emmerson. They bought and settled on a large tract of land, about nine miles northeast of Jacksonville, Ill., near what is now known as Sinclair, and where, for a short time, they all lived together. Then Thomas bought another tract of land, a few miles north of the first, where he built a house,

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

grist mill (afterward named Everly Mills), his country In 1862, but was rejected on ac- and other buildings of note, and where the parents resided until death.

In 1850 Richard Emmerson, with his family, removed to Beardstown, and died soon after, leaving the wife and five children, who, except Mary (Emmerson) Thornley, all reside either in the city or its neighborhood.

Mr. and Mrs. Thornley became the parents of nine children, namely: James Emmerson, un- married, who is a farmer living near Ashland, Ill .; Hannalı Elizabeth, unmarried, who lives with her brother, James E .; Anna May, who died in 1901; William Franklin, who died in 1865; Emma Lu, who died in 1867; Mary Elea- nor, who lives with her mother; Edwin Howard, a farmer near Ashland, Ill., who married Elsie Rawlings, and has one child, Mildred; Samuel Walker and Carl Spencer, who also reside on the homestead.

The father of this family died December 13, 1898. He was one of the most prominent farm- ers and extensive and successful stock-raisers in Morgan County. At the time of his death, Hugo Thornley was the owner of 680 acres of land in Morgan County and 153 acres in Cass County, besides considerable stock and other personal property. He had served as School Director for a number of years. In poli- tics, Mr. Thornley was a stanch Democrat, ac- tive in behalf of his party's success, but not a politician. Fraternally, he was a member of Arenzville Lodge, I. O. O. F. Religiously, he belonged to no church, but contributed liberally to religious and charitable work. A man of high character and strict integrity, he enjoyed the confidence and respect of all who made his acquaintance.

TICKNOR, Elmer E. H., General Foreman of Farms and Gardens at the Illinois Institution for the Deaf, in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Ill., was born on a farm near Markham, Ill., June 24, 1862, the son of Levi F. and Flora (Thompson) Ticknor, the former born in Broome County, N. Y., about the year 1825, and the latter, in Cattaraugus County, the same State, September 30, 1827. Levi F. Ticknor madc a trip to Morgan County in 1852. Then, after spending some time in Texas inspecting that part of the country, he returned to New York State and moved with his family to Morgan County in 1854. He responded to the call of

count of physical disability. He Is still living, and for forty years has been a fruit-grower and gardener six miles west of Jacksonville.

In his youth Elmer E. Ticknor received his mental training in the district schools of Mor- gan County, afterward working for his father on the farm until he was of age, when he began the operation of a rented farm. By industry, frugality and economy, he was eventually en- abled to buy a farm in Township 15, Morgan County, which he conducted until appointed to his present position, July 4, 1897. Mr. Ticknor recently sold his farm. He is the owner of considerable city property, and is also a part- ner with E. R. Carter in the Jacksonville Selzer Spring Water Company.

On October 25, 1883, Mr. Ticknor was united in marriage with Avarilla Branham, who was born on a farm near Markham, Ill., January 2, 1865, a daughter of George and Mary (Allison) Branham, her mother's family having been among the early settlers of Morgan County. This union was the source of three children, namely: Leroy E., born July 31, 1884; Arthur E., January 24, 18SS; and George B., February 1, 1891.

While living in the country, Mr. Ticknor was elected Highway Commissioner of District No. 6, and was chosen Chairman of the Board of Highway Commissioners. During his residence in Jacksonville, le has also taken an active part in its public affairs. He was elected a member of the City Council in 1903, and is now serving his second term in that office. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the A. F. & A. M., belonging to Jacksonville Lodge, No. 570, and to the Blue Lodge. He is also identified with Jacksonville Lodge, No. 4, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and Jacksonville Lodge, No. 228, Loyal Americans, of which he is President.

While living in the country, Mr. Ticknor was an active member of the Mount Zion Meth- odist Episcopal Church. In this connection he was a Sunday-school teacher, Vice-President of the District Sunday-schools, Sunday-school Su- perintendent and County Superintendent of Union Sunday-schools. Hc has also attended many of the State Sunday-school conventions. Financially, religiously and in local politics, he has proved one of the most prominent and Influ- ential members of the community In which he lives.

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

TICKNOR, Harry Montford, attorney-at-law, Jacksonville, Ill., was born on a farm five miles west of Jacksonville, August 16, 1868, a son of Levi F. and Flora (Thompson) Ticknor. His father, who was a native of Binghamton, N. Y., located permanently in Illinois in 1854, and has since been engaged in agriculture in Morgan County. Harry M. Ticknor was educated in the country schools and the Jacksonville High School. After completing his classical course he pursued his legal studies for two years with Messrs. Morrison & Whitlock, after which he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated June 30, 1892. Immediately following he was ad- mitted to the bar and began practice independ- ently in the office of Hon. Owen P. Thompson, of Jacksonville. A few months later he entered into partnership with Newton H. Peer, a class- mate at Ann Arbor, and a year later went to Tacoma, Wash. After practicing there for six months, he removed to San Francisco and entered into partnership with Thomas H. McGowan. One year later (or in 1895) he returned to Morgan County, locating for a time in Meredosia, but not engaging in professional labor there. On September 1, 1896, he once more returned to Jacksonville and resumed practice with Richard Yates and Fred H. Rowe. In 1899 he was elected to the office of City At- torney, and reelected in 1901. Since the ex- piration of his second term, in 1903, he has been engaged in private practice. For the past seven years he has also acted as Attorney for the Board of Education of Jacksonville. Among the most noteworthy cases in which he has been retained was that of the People of the State of Illinois against W. W. Ferguson, accused of mur- der of Dr. Barnes in Jacksonville. Mr. Ticknor was appointed by the court to defend the case, and, despite the overwhelming evidence against the accused, his efforts resulted in obtaining the comparatively mild sentence of twenty years in the penitentiary, although it had seemed a foregone conclusion that the prisoner would be compelled to expiate his crime by paying the ex- treme penalty.

In politics, Mr. Ticknor is a devoted and ac- tive Republican. A strong and convincing speaker, he was engaged by the National Repub- lican Committee, in 1900, to campaign the State of Illinois in behalf of President Mckinley and the Republican nominees, and for a period of

seven weeks delivered many speeches in Chicago and elsewhere in the State.

Mr. Ticknor has attained an eminent position in the ranks of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, having served as Exalted Ruler of Jacksonville Lodge, No. 682, and First Vice- President of the Illinois Elks Association. At the meeting of the latter body, May 23 and 24, 1905, he was a candidate for President of that body. He is also a member of Harmony Lodge, No. 3, Ancient Free and Assepted Masons, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. While residing in Tacoma he was identified with Troop A, of the Washington State Cavalry.

Mr. Ticknor's wife was formerly Anna Flor- ence, daughter of the late George W. Graham, a banker and merchant of Meredosia. They have one daughter, Adelaide Constance Ticknor.

TINDALL, Isaac F., who, until 1904, was suc- cessfully engaged in farming on an extensive scale, but is now living in honored retirement in Jacksonville, Ill., was born in Philadelphia, Pa., February 22, 1828, the son of Isaac N. and Jeanette (Ferguson) Tindall. Isaac N. Tin- dall was a carpenter by trade. In 1835 he trav- eled with his family by stage and canal to the Ohio River, continuing thence by boat to the Illinois River, and up that stream to Meredosia, Ill. Thence he came to Jacksonville, where he began working at his trade, one year receiving but $25 in cash, the remainder of his income be- ing based upon barter. He worked in Jackson- ville two seasons and then removed to the coun- try, where he followed his trade during the re- mainder of his life, one of his contracts being the erection of a house for Daniel Smedley on the Smedley farm. Mr. Tindall died when eighty-two years of age, his wife having pre- viously passed away. They had five children, who reached maturity, namely: Samuel, a farmer, who died in 1903; Ann E., who died single; Daniel, who lived in Taylor County, Mo., and died in 1904; and Robert, who lives near Cameron, that State.

Isaac F. Tindall attended the subscription school at Jacksonville-a small one-room build- ing, located near the Square, in which Mr. De- vore was the teacher. When he moved seven miles into the country he attended school in a log house, with puncheon floor and slabs for seats. His first teacher there was a Mr. Wright, and his final schooling was received under him.

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

When a boy Mr. Tindall worked for Daniel Smedley, plowing for $5 per month. The next year he and his elder brother operated a small farm for their father, while the latter plied his trade. After they had obtained sufficient means to buy a team, he and his brother Samuel worked in partnership. In 1848 they bought 240 acres of land on a small cash payment, and that year sowed 100 acres, which yielded 40 bushels of wheat to the acre. This they sold at $2.50 per bushel. Soon afterward they pur- chased 200 acres adjoining their farm from Col. Samuel Mathews, continuing in partner- ship until about 1867, when Isaac bought his brother's interest in the farm. There the former remained until 1904, when he located at Jacksonville, but still manages his ťarm, which now comprises 1,040 acres, all in the same neigh- borhood.

Mr. Tindall has bought and fed cattle for a great many years. In 1860 he and Thomas Orear went to Iowa, where they purchased 260 head of cattle and drove them to Illinois. Mr. Tindall fed from 300 to 500 head of cattle each year. During his long experience as a farmer, he has seen corn sold at five cents per bushel, wheat at twenty-five cents, and hogs at one cent and a quarter per pound.

Mr. Tindall is one of the most prominent agriculturists of Illinois. He is thoroughly self-educated and self-made, having begun his active life without means. Charitable, although judicious in his benefactions, he is so unostenta- tious that few of his kindly deeds have become generally known. He has contributed liberally to all enterprises tending to promote the pub- lic welfare, and represents that type of men to whom is due the abounding prosperity of Mor- gan County. In politics, he is a Republican.

VAN WINKLE, Alexander, retired farmer, Franklin, Ill., is one of the worthiest citizens of Morgan County. He is a veteran of the Civil War, in which he received a severe gunshot wound. He was educated at McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill. His intelligence, his upright life and Christian character unite in making him one of the worthiest citizens of the county. The ancestors of the VanWinkle families of Morgan County came to New Amsterdam in 1642. The great-grandfather of Ransom A. VanWinkle at one time owned 13,000 acres of land near New York City, which he sold for twenty-five cents

an acre, and two years later became a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His maternal great- grandfather was in the same war. Ransom A. Van Winkle's father was for a time Sheriff of Wayne County, Ky .; and was a Justice of the Peace in the same county for thirty years. He died in Iowa at the age of seventy-seven years. Micajah VanWinkle was an original Abolition- ist, and he and his son Ransom supported Cas- sius M. Clay for Governor of Kentucky. Ransom is still living at Arrington, Kans., being eighty- six years old. He took an active and prominent part in public affairs in the early history of Kansas, and was one of the founders of the Kansas State Agricultural Society. He has also filled a number of important public offices. Of Ransom A. VanWinkle it has been said that no State Convention was complete without him. He was a member of the Territorial Legislature of 1860, and of the State Legislature of 1862. He . helped write the Kansas constitution, and was a member of the first executive committee. The VanWinkles from the beginning have been among the leaders in all civil and moral re- forms. The same honorable mention deserves to be made of those who have lived in Morgan County, and who still preserve the high char- acter of the ancestral name of their old Dutch stock.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 188

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