History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 105

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 948

USA > Illinois > Union County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 105
USA > Illinois > Pulaski County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 105
USA > Illinois > Alexander County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 105

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).

ambition and venturesomeness. He has often been consulted by physicians who live many miles from him relative to cases of dropsy, and has ventured to perform an opera- tion and thereby save the patient, when all other consulting physicians declined. He is a member of Jonesboro Lodge, A., F. & A. M .; is an energetic worker in the Democratic party.

REV. J. L. MILLER, minister and physi- cian, Makanda, was born in Tuscarawas Coun-

ty, Ohio, September 17, 1839, to John D. and Jane (Lashley) Miller. He was born in Mary- land, in 1800, just after his parents had arrived in America from the German fatherland. She. was born in Ohio in 1813. Her parents were also German ; they had come to America at the same time as her husband's. His occupa- tion has always been that of farming, but is also a minister of the United Brethren faith. Our subject remained at home till he was fifteen years of age. He then began his studies for medicine, and also began to exhort and preach. About two years later, he was licensed to preach the Gospel, at Marietta, Ohio. He continued his studies at Cincinnati for three years, also studied the sciences at Westville, Ohio. Since about eighteen years of age, he has been engaged iu the ministry and the practice of medicine. practicing his profession as physician only in connection with the ministry. Until 1877, his field of labor lay in Ohio. He then came to Illinois, and for the last three years has had his present charge of the United Brethren Church in this precinct. He also has the Worthington appointment, in Jackson County, and preaches at each appointment alternate Sundays. Our subject has purchased for himself a farm in this township, and for the future will give more attention to the practice of medicine and over- seeing his farm. In politics, he is Republican.

F. H. RAUCII, farmer, P. O. Makanda, was born in Lebanon County, Penn., June 15, 1828, to Jacob and Catherine (Boeshore) Rauch. They were both born and raised in the same county as our subject, and she died there in 1879. IIe, however, died in Pittsburgh, Penn., in April, 1883. His occupation was that of farmer. They were the parents of eight children, our subject being the oldest. Six of the number are still living. Our subject was educated in the common schools of his native county. At the age of fourteen, he began driving a team hauling iron ore from the mines to the furnace, and continued at the-

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same employment almost all the time till he was about thirty years of age. He then began farming, and has continued in his present occu- pation since. In 1856, he moved from Penn- sylvania to Ohio, and in the spring of 1865, to his present farm in Rich Precinct, where he is engaged in farming, fruit and vegetable raising. In 1849, he was married in Pennsylvania to Sa- rah Artz. She was also born in Lebanon Coun- ty, Penn., to John and Sarah Artz. They were also natives of the same county as our subject, but moved to Richland County, Ohio, 1856, and died there. Mr. and Mrs. Rauch have nine children, all of whom are now living-Amanda, Aaron, Rosa, Lydia, Frank, Laura, Clara, Will- iam and Morton. Mr. and Mrs. Rauch are mem- bers of the United Brethren Church. In poli- tics, he has always been Republican.

EDWIN WIGGS, farmer, P. O. Lick Creek, was born in Wayne County, N. C., July 18, 1826, to Lazarus and Sarah (Brewer) Wiggs. They were both born and raised in the same county as our subject ; he June 10, 1802, she January 8, 1802 ; he died in this county May 13, 1865 ; she is still living. They moved from Wayne County, N. C., to Union County, Ill., in 1841, where he continued his occupation of farming. They were the parents of thirteen children, four of whom are now living-our subject, who is the oldest ; William, now of Franklin County, Ill .; Mary (Penninger) and Martha (Menees). Our subject never had the opportunities of a school education, never at- tending but three months, but has studied and taught himself. He has always been engaged in farming, and from 1862 to 1866 he ran a

cotton-gin which he put up on his farm, and obtained cotton from the surrounding country. His best year's work he put up 111 bales o cotton that averaged 400 pounds lint cotton. As soon as peace had come and cotton-raising resumed in the South, he quit the business. His farm consists of 300 aores, 240 of which are in cultivation and well improved, with good farm buildings, etc. The clearing and improv- ing on the farm he has done since coming to it in 1849. He was married in Johnson County, Ill., April 5, 1849, to Rhoda Bird. She was born August 25, 1828, in Washington County, Ill., to John and Tabitha Bird. They were from South Carolina, he born March 30, 1780, she October 1, 1795 ; he died September 5, 1863, she March 2, 1870. He was with Gen. Jackson in the war of 1812, and two of his sons, Thomas and William, were in the Mexi- can war, and were wounded at the battle of Buena Vista. Mr. and Mrs. Wiggs have never been blest with a child of their own, but raised a son of her brother's, Christopher Columbus Bird. He is now married and lives near them, having a family of three children. Mr. W. is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Union Lodge, No. 627, and has held all the offices in the lodge, and has been Master for ten years. He first joined a lodge in Johnson County in 1863, and was a charter member in Union Lodge. In politics, he has always been Dem- ocratic. With the exception of a five months' trip through the Southwest to San Antonio, Texas., etc., he has remained on his present farm since first settling there.

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UNION PRECINCT.

ROBERT B. GOODMAN, farmer and stock- raiser, P. O. Anna, was born in Wayne County, Ill., October 24, 1832, and is a son of Robert and Mary (Lacy) Goodman. They were the par- ents of nine children, of whom our subject is the youngest. He went to school but a few days, his father having died when he was only five years of age, leaving his mother in lim- ited circumstances. In 1837, he came with his mother to Union County, where he worked for different people as he could obtain employ- ment, and has plowed many a day where the flourishing town of Anna now stands. He married Miss Malinda Anderson, by whom he had six children. After the death of his wife, he married a second time to Miss Martha Johnson, a native of North Carolina and a daughter of William H. and Sarah (Patrick) Johnson. She is the mother of six children. of whom there are now three living, viz. : Robert N., born September 15, 1869 ; Martha E., born December 25, 1876, and Lula M., born Septem- ber 2, 1882. Mr. Goodman is a self-made man. He has now a farm of about 500 acres, in a good state of cultivation and well im- proved. He is a Democrat, but always votes for the best man.

A. LENCE, merchant, Willard's Landing, was born in this county, December 1, 1835, and is a grandson of Peter Lence, who was born in North Carolina. Jacob Lence, the father, was also born there, and came to this county in 1818. He was married to Miss Barbara Klutts, also a native of North Carolina. She was the mother of six children, of whom Alfred Lence, our subject, was the youngest. Mr. Lence re- ceived his education from the schools of his county, and in early life farmed some. In 1862, he commenced clerking in a general store at

Vancils Landing, Mo. He remained at that place for about one year, and then commenced running the ferry at Green's old ferry, and fol- lowed his vocation for about seven years. In 1871, he opened a general store at Willard's Land- ing, which he still continues in operation. He is at present also acting as Postmaster at that point. He has quite a farm of 560 acres, that claims part of his attention, too. He first married So- phia Rheinhart, who died in 1864, and he was married the second time to Martha Hardin, a native of Missouri, born January 30, 1849. She is the mother of four children, all of whom are living-Anna, born March 13, 1870; Emma, born February 12. 1872 ; Birda, born Septem- ber 14, 1874 ; Effie, born July 27, 1876. Sub- ject is a member of Jonesboro Lodge A., F. and A. M., and of the Jonesboro K. of P. fraternity. In politics, Mr. Lence is a Democrat, and as such has been elected to the office of County Commissioner for six years.

CALEB M. LYERLE, farmer, P. O. Jones- boro, was born in North Carolina, July 17, 1820, and is a son of John and Susanna (Walk- er) Lyerle. His father was Christopher Ly- erle, who came from North Carolina in 1821, in company with him. John was married twice while he lived in North Carolina, and before emigrating to this county. His first wife was Miss Lence, who died after giving birth to four children-three boys, now deceased, and one girl named Nancy. He was married a second time to Miss Susanna Walker, who is the mother of five children, viz. : Caleb (our subject), Dan- iel, John, Isaac and Polly Ann, the latter. de- ceased. Our subject went to school in the pio- neer schoolhouse, and to the old-fashioned sub- scription school. He has paid considerable at- tention to farming, and bought out the interests

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of the heirs in his father's farm. He married Miss Catherine Hileman, born May 10, 1821. She died in December, 1875. She was the mother of six children now living-Elizabeth, Louisa, Sarah, Malinda, Lucinda and Matilda. Mr. L. was married a second time to Mrs. Mary E. Humphries, a daughter of Alfred and Betsey (Weaver) Meisenheimer. She is the mother of three children-Martha Humphries. Cynthia Ann Humphries, and Alfred M. Ly- erle. Mr. and Mrs. L. are both members of St. John's Lutheran Church. He was originally a Democrat, but since the firing upon Fort Sum- ter has been a Republican.

R. S. REYNOLDS, farmer. P. O. Cape Girar- deau, Mo., was born in Hagerstown, Washington Co., Md., December 15, 1815, and is a son of John hnd Mary (Woltz) Reynolds, both natives of Maryland. The grandfather of subject was John Reynolds, Sr., who was a Captain in the Maryland Line, in the war of the Revolution. He was on his way to Kentucky with his fam- ily, where he designed making his future home, when he was killed by the Indians and his fam- ily captured. They were held as prisoners and then liberated. John (subject's father) was a jeweller in Hagerstown, Md., and served as Major in the war of 1812. Both he and his wife died in Maryland, she on the battle-field of Antietam. She was a daughter of George and Charity (Shugart) Woltz, of Holland descent. She was the mother of twelve children, of whom only our subject and his sister, Elizabeth Clark,

mother of Samuel Clark, the editor of the Gate City, Keokuk, Iowa, are living. Subject was educated in Hagerstown and in Chambersburg, Penn., and early in life studied law with Hon. Samson Mason. He was admitted to the bar in the Supreme Court of Ohio, at Xenia, in the spring of 1838, and practiced there for two years, when he went to Iowa and practiced in that State for two years. After this, he came to Union County, Ill., and engaged in business. He farmed about five years south of Jonesboro. In 1849, he came to the Mississippi bottoms, in Union Precinct, this county, where he has farmed ever since, and now owns 1,600 acres. of land in this county, but lives in Cape Girar- deau, Mo. He was married, April 19, 1861. in Alexander County, Ill., to Miss Amanda Greenly, born in Kentucky, and a daughter of James Greenly. She is the mother of five children, four of whom are now living, viz .: Robert S., William R. S., James G. and Joseph LeRoy. His eldest son (John) died in 1882. Mr. Reynolds has never been an office seeker. He is wholly a self-made man, beginning in the world with but little, and winning his way by his own energy and industry. He was identi- fied with the old Whig party, and afterward became a Free-Soiler. In 1860, he was almost mobbed, because he wished to vote for Abra- ham Lincoln. Since then he has been some- thing of an Independent, voting for the candi- dates he deems best qualified for the positions to be filled.

PRESTON PRECINCT.

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PRESTON PRECINCT.

THOMAS L. ALDRIDGE, farmer, P. O. Grand Tower. Those of the Aldridge name now living in this County are descendants of Isaac Aldridge, who was a German who settled in North Carolina. From North Carolina they moved to Kentucky, and then to this State, at an early date ; but when first coming, their thoughts were not of selecting a good place for a future home, but the place where game was the most plentiful, so they made numerous moves, and it was not till 1825 that James Al- dridge made a permanent settlement on Sec- tion 20, Town 11 south, Range 3 west. He died in 1855, near the bluffs. In 1826, Joseph, Elizabeth and William Aldridge all settled in the bottom on the Big Muddy River, and had permanent homes from this time on till their death. Although the descendants of these early members of the family were quite numerous, there are now but very few left to claim the name, James and Thomas L. being the only males now in maturity, and they reside in this precinct. William Aldridge, the father of our subject, died October 8, 1877, at the age of about sixty-eight years. He was married in this county to Adaline Johnson, daughter of James Johnson ; she was born in Alabama, but moved with her father to Tennessee, and then to Illi- nois. He died in this county. Our subject is the only son now living, but has three sisters. He was born February 28, 1850, in this pre- cinct, and has made it his home ever since, and in early life attended such schools as were in reach. His occupation has always been that of farming, and in this he has been very success- ful. He started in life for himself when only sixteen years of age, having a two-year old colt and forty acres of heavy timbered land. He now owns over 1,300 acres, about 250 be-

ing in cultivation. Ilis attention is given to corn, cattle and hogs. April 12, 1874, he was married to Miss Nancy Lyerle ; she was born in this county, daughter of Zachariah Lyerle, also one of the early settlers of the county, coming from North Carolina. Both her par- ents are dead, he dying in 1874. Mr. and Mrs Aldridge have two children dead and three liv- ing-Permelia Belle, Thomas Franklin and James Monroe. In politics, our subject is Dem- ocratie, but was a Republican during the war. On his farm is an old Indian burying-ground, and often his plow turns up skulls and other bones, some of great size.

GEORGE BARRINGER, farmer, P. O. Union Point, was born in Union County. Ill., January 2, 1849, to Charles and Matilda (Hile- man) Barringer, both of whom were born in this county, and are still living (see sketch of Charles Barringer). Our subject was educated in the Jonesboro schools, and when seventeen years old, he began teaching school and con- tinued for five years in Union County, and one year in Alexander County. Then, for a num- ber of years, he held different offices of trust, being Deputy Sheriff, Deputy Circuit Clerk, etc., and took an active part in local politics. In 1878, he was elected Sheriff of Union County, but when his term expired he retired to his farm on account of ill health, and has since avoided politics. His home farm consists of 300 acres of splendid bottom land lying along the Mississippi River, most all of which is in cultivation. He also owns another 200 acre farm farther down the river. He is engaged in grain and stock-raising, and experimenting on clover-raising. In Missouri, November 21, 1877, he was married to Miss Belle Byrd. She was born and raised in Cape Girardeau County,

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Mo., daughter of Stephen Byrd; both of her parents dying when she was small. They were both born in the same county as their daughter, the Byrd homestead having been in the family for 100 years. Mr. and Mrs. Barringer have two children-Georgia Belle and Byrd Polk. May 8, 1879, the Hileman family had a family reunion, the grandmother of our subject, her eight children, their husbands and wives, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren all were numbered, and made eighty-five ; since that time her descendents have increased till they now will number about 100. Mr. Barringer has always been Democratic in politics, and is also a member of the Knights of Honor. Jones- boro Lodge, No. 1891, and has represented the lodge in the Grand Lodge of the State.

GEORGE W. BEAN, farmer, P. O. Union Point. was born in Union County, near Cobden, March 28. 1852, to T. H. and Mary (Brown) Bean. He was born in Tennessee, about 1827, she in this county, about 1835. He came to this connty, when but a boy, and they have made it their home up to the present. They are now residing on their farm near Cobden. They are the parents of ten children, only four

of whom are now living, our subject is the old- est of the family. He was educated in the schools of this county, first in the country schools but afterward attended the schools of Anna, Jonesboro and Cobden. His occupation is that of a farmer, but has taught three terms of school. In 1875, he came to the Mississippi River bottom with nothing, but has since bought and paid for a farm of 200 acres, 125 of which are in cultivation. Stock and grain are his main dependance. So successful has he been in farming, that in 1882 his gross re- ceipts from his farm were $3,500, having raised about 2,000 bushels of wheat, 3,000 of corn and 900 of oats, besides stock, etc. For two sea- sons past, he and Mr. R. E. Seeley have run a threshing machine during the season and made it another source of income. Mr. Bean's farm is well situated for stock-raising, and he is turning his attention toward stock more all the time. September 2, 1880, he was married in this county to Miss Bernice Caroline Wilkins, daughter of Jerre and Martha Jane (Parmley) Wilkins. Mr. and Mrs. Bean had one child- Elmer Bernard, who died in 1882. In politics, he is Democrat.

MILL CREEK PRECINCT.

JOHN CRUSE, farmer, P. O. Mill Creek, was born February 16, 1827, in Union County, Ill. His grandfather, Peter Cruse, was a na- tive of North Carolina, a farmer by occupa- tion, who emigrated to Illinois and settled in Mill Creek Township, Union County, in 1819; here he and his faithful wife died after experi- encing the hardships of the pioneers' life, and seeing the country where they settled turned from a wilderness to productive gardens. They raised eight children whose descendants are nu- merous in Southern Illinois. Their son, Henry

Cruse, was a native of North Carolina, where lie married Miss Elizabeth Lippard, who was born in North Carolina, and died in 1863 in Union County. Henry Cruse, who came to the county with his parents, and with them experienced the hardships of life in a new country, died in 1868, leaving many friends to mourn his death. Our subject was raised on the farm, and re- ceived such an education as the subscription schools of the period afforded. He began life for himself as a farmer, an occupation he has since been engaged in, with the exception of

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MILL CREEK PRECINCT.

about five years spent in mercantile pursuits. On the 9th of February, 1851, he married Miss Maria Smith, a daughter of James and Harriet (Weaver) Smith, early settlers of southern Illinois. Mrs. Cruse was born in Pulaski County, Ill., March 16, 1833. She is the mother of the following children : James H., born December 15, 1854; Martha J., wife of John Miller, born April 8, 1853 ; Laura, born December 27, 1862, and Henry S., born April 15, 1869. Mr. Cruse is the owner of an eighty- one-acre farm ; he was formerly a Democrat, but is now identified with the principles of the Republican party. Mrs. Cruse is a member of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Cruse is a reading man, and has filled school offices.

PETER CRUSE, farmer, P. O. Mill Creek, is a native of this county ; was born October 20, 1829, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Lippard) Cruse ; he was born in North Caro- lina, and died here. He was the son of Peter Cruse, Sr., who was of German descent, and came to this State several years in advance of Henry, probably about 1815-16, and is dead, but has many descendants living here. The parents of our subject had nine children, of whom he was the fifth. His education was limited to the common schools of this community. In early life, he embarked in farming, and, in the spring of 1854, he, in company with Solomon Lingle, crossed the plains to California with cattle. While there, he mined with varied suc- cess, and returned home in 1856, via Panama. He was married in 1858 to Miss Catherine Poole, daughter of Jacob Poole, also a North Carolinian. They have three children now living-Elizabeth, Minta and Dacota. Mr. C.

has a farm of 200 acres ; in politics, he is a Democrat ; is a liberal-minded, wide-awake man. and favors prohibition.

T. LAWRENCE, physician, Mill Creek, was born July 17, 1830, in Swedesboro, Gloucester Co., N. J., and is a son of Job and Elizabeth (Tallman) Lawrence. He was born April 3, 1803, and received his medical education in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. He is yet living, but has not practiced since 1862, owing to an injury received by a fall from his horse while going on a visit to a patient. His wife was born in 1803, and was the mother of six children-all boys-of whom Charles, Edward and Thomas (our subject), are now living, and all are physicians. Charles is located at Neola, Iowa, and Edward at Osceola, Iowa. She died in December, 1879, in Randolph County, III. Our subject was educated principally at the Medical College at St. Louis, where he graduated in March, 1856. He was married in April of the same year in St. Genevieve, Mo., to Miss Mildred W. Eades, born in Albemarle County, Va. She is the mother of five children now living : George T., Joseph M., Samuel S., Arthur W. and Albert S. J. Dr. Lawrence, prior to his marriage, moved to Bollinger County, Mo., where he remained un- til August, 1861, when he entered the United States Army as Assistant Surgeon, serving un- til May, 1865. He then located in Alexander County, Ill., following his profession there for about ten years. He came to Union County and settled in Mill Creek in 1875, soon after the building of the St. Louis & Cairo Railroad. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and politically is a Democrat.

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Biographies Received too late for Insertion in Proper Place. ANNA PRECINCT.

D. W. BROWN, farmer, P. O. Anna. Prominent among the leading farmers of this county is D. W. Brown, born July 15, 1841, in Alexander County, Ill. His father, Daniel Brown, was born January 26, 1797, in Panton, Vt., and was a son of Warhem Brown, a native of Ireland. Daniel removed from his native heath to Alexander County, Ill., in 1832, and entered forty acres of land along the Missis- sippi River, which tract has never been trans- ferred from the Brown family, and is the property of our subject. Daniel was married in Alexander County to Elizabeth P. Hoop- paw. and born in 1803, in Charleston, S. C. She was a daughter of Ralph Hooppaw, a na- tive of Ireland. She removed with her parents to Tennessee some time prior to the year 1817, where her father died and her mother subse- quently married Absalom Heady, and with whom she came with her family to Alexander County, Ill., in 1817. The Union of Daniel and Elizabeth (Hooppaw) Brown resulted in four children, viz. : Mary A., deceased ; Eliza- beth, the wife of M. J. Inscore ; D. W .; and William M., a grocer of Murphysboro, Ill. The father of our subject died on January 16, 1845, having, at his decease, about 400 acres of land as a result of his industry and frugal dealings. The mother was afterward married to Dr. E. N. Edwards, of Kentucky, the result of which was one child, viz. : James E. N. She died January 9, 1879, in Anna, fifteen years after her second husband departed this life. We clip the following from an obituary of her, published in the Mound City Journal : " At the age of nineteen years, she united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for fifty-

seven years had lived as she has died, a con- sistent Christian. She was ever a fond, in- dulgent mother, obliging neighbor and true friend, full of charity with her fellows, with which greatest of all good gifts her pathway of life was ever strewn. Although she had lived beyond the allotted age, she retained her men- tal and physical faculties to a remarkable de- gree, when she was attacked with that dread disease, pneumonia, and died after an illness of a few days. She was taken while attending the sick bed of, one of her family. Thus fell one of the real mothers of Israel, with her har- ness on, fulfilling the injunction, ' Do good and not evil all the days of your life.' It is meet that when a person passes away so ripe in years, full of usefulness, that they deserve more than a passing notice. The old pioneers of this comparatively new land are nearly all gone, and when they take a farewell look around upon the great advancement and progress of their adopted homes in so few short years, how truly they can say, 'We have not lived in vain.' D. W., of whom we write, received such an education as the sub- scription schools of the country afforded, within the time he could be spared from the duties devolving upon him on his father's farm. In 1851, he engaged in a telegraph office under the management of Thomas Ellis, at Caledonia, where he remained two years and became pretty well acquainted with the art of teleg- raphy. About the year 1863, he engaged with S. Fenton & Co., of New York, as gen- eral agent at Cairo, buying grain and cotton, and cultivating the latter in the Mississippi Valley. This he continued for two years at

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History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 105

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 948

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 948