History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 92

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 92
USA > Illinois > Pulaski County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 92
USA > Illinois > Alexander County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 92

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).

In Ohio, in 1855, he was again married to Mrs. Elizabeth C. (Humphrey) Covington. She was born in Indiana to Holman S. and Mary Hum- phrey. He was born in Virginia, she in Penn- sylvania. He died in Edgar County, Ill., but she is still living there. She was mostly raised in Ohio, near Cincinnati. Mrs. Barker was first married in Edgar County, Ill., to Edward Covington, and by this marriage she has one son living, John, and one daughter dead. Mr. Covington died in Edgar County. Mr. Barker has five children by present wife-Lizzie, Mary, Cyrus, Linnie and Emery. In politics, he is a Republican, but was a Whig before the Repub- lican party started.

M. A. BENHAM, fruit and vegetable grower, Cobden, was born in Yates County, N. Y., Jan- uary 18, 1836, to Ansel and Lucy A. (Willard) Benham. Ansel Benham was born in New York September 8, 1800, but his ancestors were from New England, and still farther back from England. He died April 24, 1857. He was one of a family of nine children, all of whom lived till after the youngest was forty- five years of age ; two brothers and one sister now living. He resided in New York till 1839, then moved to Boone County, Ill., where he remained for seven years, then to Knox County, and died there. His occupation most of his life was in the harness business. In 1833, in Elmira, N. Y., he was married to Lucy Willard. She was born in Sterling, Mass., August 26, 1812, to Asa and Lucy Willard. The Willards are of English origin, and this family descended from Maj. Josiah Willard. Mrs. Ansel Benham is still living. To them a son and a daughter were born, both of whom are still living-our subject and his sister, Mrs. Emma L. Henry, of Irvington, Ill. Our subject

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received most of his education in Galesburg, Ill., in the academy. He entered college three times, but health failed and he had to abandon it. However, he completed a commercial course at the original Bell's Commercial Col- lege, Chicago. IIe learned his father's trade of harness-maker, but that has not been his life work. When twenty-two years of age, he began farming, and continued for six years in Washington County, and, in the fall of 1863, came to this county and rented land for two years. In the spring of 1866, he came to his present farm, and has been here since engaged in raising fruits and vegetables, asparagus and sweet potatoes receiving most of his attention, having about four acres in the former and from twenty to twenty five in the latter. He has a large potato house in which he can store 3,000 bushels. Just after the battle of Bull Run in 1861, he entered the service-Company E, Tenth Missouri-and was Sergeant in the company. Most of his work was scouting, so he was not in any of the heavy engagements. His health was completely wrecked, and the deafness with which he was afflicted before entering the service became worse, and on this account he was discharged after being in the service for about one year. In the spring of 1864, he was married to Mrs. Josephine (Fos- ter) Newton. She was born in Erie County, N. Y., May 10, 1835, to Joseph and Lucinda Foster. Mrs. Benham died November 12, 1881, leaving no children. In politics, Mr. B. is Republican.

B. F. BIGGS, farmer, P. O. Cobden, was born in Cobden Precinct January 28, 1839, to D. W. and Thisbe (Anderson) Biggs. D. W. was born in North Carolina November 21, 1805, and when five years of age he moved to Ten- nessee with his parents. He remained in Ten- nessee till 1825 ; then moved to this county and settled near his present home, and has resided here since. A short time before coming to this State, he was married, in Tennessee, to

Thisbe Anderson. She was born in Tennes- see in 1809, and died here October, 1856. By this wife he had seven children, our subject being the youngest-Mary (now dead), William J. (supposed to be dead), Nancy, J. J., Sarah, Mahala and B. F. He was married to his sec- ond wife in 1857, Mrs. Catherine Burkey. She was a native of Pennsylvania. His occupation has always been that of farmer. Our subject was educated in the district schools of the county, and his occupation has also been that of farmer and fruit-raiser. November 1, 1860, he was married to Elizabeth Parmly (see sketch A. J. Parmly). She died September 15, 1861, leaving a child which died in infancy. August 11, 1862, he enlisted in Company E, Eighty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged May 27, 1865, on account of disability. He remained with the regiment till May, 1864, rejoicing in its successes or suf- fering in its disasters. He was then so crip- pled by disease that he could no longer stay with the regiment, so was placed in the hospi- tal at Memphis, where he remained till receiv- ing his discharge. Most of the time he was clerking in the hospital office. Before leaving his company he was one of the Sergeants. He has been receiving a pension of $64 per year since his discharge. February 16, 1866, he was married to his second wife, Eliza J. Fe- gans. She was a native of Kentucky. Her parents moved to this State when she was young, and settled in Clark County, where her father died. In 1859, her mother moved to this county and died here. Mrs. Biggs died in February, 1877. By her he has three chil- dren-Letta E., Beatrice L. and Charles W. After his marriage in 1866, he settled on his present farm, and has been engaged in general farming and fruit raising since. May, 1877, he was married to his third wife, Nancy A. Davis. She was born in this county to James K. and Harriet Davis. He died in Johnson County in 1877. She is still living. Two

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children have been the result of this union -Benjamin F. and Elmer J. Mr. Biggs is Republican in politics, and was once nominated by his party as County Clerk, but was defeated by the Democratic candidate. and has since taken no active part in political life.

A. H. BROOKS, farmer, P. O. Cobden, was born in Union County, Ill., February 18, 1847, to Larkin F. and Martha R. (McCaul) Brooks. He was born in North Carolina July 22, 1814 ; died August 14, 1878. She was born in Ten- nessee June 15, 1820, and is still living. They were married September 22, 1836. In the spring of 1842, they came to Illinois and set- tled in Perry County, where they resided until 1845, when they moved to Union County. In 1846, they settled on the old homestead, on which he died. To them eight children were born who reached maturity. Three sons, M. C., William T. and James T., were in the serv- ice during the war of the rebellion. James T. died in 1870. He is the only one of the family of children deceased. In politics, he was Dem- ocratic. In early life he was a member of the Baptist Church, but after coming to this coun- ty he joined the Hillerites, and to this church all his family belong. His occupation most of his life was that of farmer, but had been vari- ously engaged, building flat-boats and working on the river in Tennessee, in saw mill and flour- ing mill on his old homestead in this county, etc. Our subject was educated in the schools of this county, and has resided here all his life. His occupation is that of farmer, but for nine years he acted as engineer, most of the time in the mill, in which he was interested with his father and brother. In 1877, he be- gan farming, and in 1878 came to his present farm of eighty acres. This he has improved till now he has good farm buildings and about 112 acres cleared. May 19, 1877, he was mar- ried to Margaret Johnson. She was born in this county to Frederick and Darthula (Ledger- wood) Johnson. Her father died previous to

her birth. Her mother was afterward married to Abram Hankley, who died at Jackson, Tenn., during the war. She is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks have two children dead and two living-Arthur and Alfred Ernest. In politics, Mr. Brooks is Democratic.

WILSON BROWN, physician and surgeon, Cobden, is a native of Union County, III., born December 5, 1845 ; is a son of Charles and Elizabeth (Grear) Brown. Our subject is one of ten children, eight of whom survive-Alson, Wilson, Martha J., Andrew, Amanda E., Laura I., Augusta and John W. The Doctor attend- ed the pioneer log cabin schools, and also the Jonesboro Seminary. He was brought up on a farm. About the age of twenty, he began teaching school, and continued it successfully for fifteen terms, when he withdrew. He en- tered the study of medicine actively, with Dr. G. W. Schuchardt, of Jonesboro. He attended lectures at the College of Physicians and Sur- geons at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1871-72, and grad- uated at the Missouri Medical College in 1876. Began the practice in the spring of 1872, at Unity, now Hodge Park, Alexander County, and afterward practiced at Jonesboro and Willard's Landing. In the fall of 1878, he had one case of the yellow-fever at Anna. In 1878, he located at Olmsted, Pulaski County, and in March, 1883, he came to Cobden, where he is doing a fine business. In connection with his professional duties, he attends to a drug store owned by C. L. Otrich, at Cobden. During his period of preparing for his chosen profes- sion, he clerked in drug stores at Marion, Sparta and Jonesboro, by which he obtained means to forward his studies. He was married, May 18, 1881, to M. Anna Dodge, of New Grand Chain, Pulaski County, and has as a re- sult of his union one child, Alice. His estima- ble lady is a member of the Baptist Church. He is an active Democrat. Dr. Brown is a specimen of a self-made man, possessing that indomitable characteristic necessary to succeed

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in everything he undertakes. He is pleasant, sociable, and merits the trust many people have already given him.

ADAM BUCK, retired merchant, Cobden. Prominent among the leading, honorable, up- right citizens of Cobden is Mr. Adam Buck, a native of Cork, Ireland, born December 24, 1824. His parents, Frederick and Harriet (Craig) Buck, were never residents of America, as will be noticed in the sketch of John Buck in another part of this work. Adam emigrated to this country in 1848, on board the " Thomas Worthington." Immediately on his arrival at New York, he began working in the navy-yard at that city, where he remained one year and then took charge of the construction of a plank road connecting Newberg and Ellenville, a dis- tance of forty miles. This completed, he acted as Surveyor of a railroad from Chester, N. Y., to Delaware Water Gap. In 1852, he was ap- pointed Assistant Surveyor on the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad from Centralia to Cairo. He took charge of the construction of twenty miles of the same, extending from Centralia. In 1854, he was elected Surveyor of Dallas Conn- ty, Iowa. He remained in that borough until 1857, when he engaged in the general dry goods business at Cobden, Ill., having traded his farm in Iowa to William H. H. Brown for said stock of goods. From this he withdrew in 1880, and is living somewhat in the quiet enjoyment of his little fortune, of which he is the artificer. He, however, devotes some time to his farms in this county, and orange groves in Florida. He was married, August 1, 1852, to Hannah E. Sheppard. She died Jannary 24, 1865, being the mother of Frederick, Mary A., Harriet, Hannah and Adam. His second union was with Clara M. Griffin, born April 25, 1837. The result of this marriage has been Clara, Fred, Harry and Walter. Mr. Bnek is serving as Village Trustee ; is a member of the A., F. & A. M .; votes the Democratic ticket. He takes a deep interest in educating his children in both literary and musical lore.

JOHN BUCK, merchant, Cobden. In every city, village or neighborhood, there are persons whose names are always at the head of all pub- lic enterprises, and whose pocket books are ready to assist such efforts. Prominent among such whole-souled inhabitants of Cobden, is John Buck, a native of Cork, Ireland, born 1827. He is a son of Frederick and Harriet (Craig) Buck. natives and always residents of Cork, Ireland, and the parents of seven chil- dren, five of whom survive, viz., Frederick, Adam, Alfred, Sydney and John. The father ranked among the finest miniature painters of the period in which he lived. Our subject emigrated to America at the age of eighteen years. He followed civil engineering for many years, and was among the party who surveyed and constructed the Illinois Central Railroad, working on the Southern Division. He was employed for awhile in Iowa, and on his return to Illinois he was appointed Master on the Southern Division of said road. In 1864, he formed a partnership with his brother Adam in a general dry goods store ; and in September, 1879, he became the owner of the entire busi- ness, which he has increased, until he possesses the largest and best line of dry goods, together with a fine assortment of groceries, etc. He is also dealing largely in farming implements and machinery, and small hardware. In fact, he proposes to furnish his large class of customers anything they may desire. He is making a specialty of buying and storing away sweet po- tatoes, having a large and commodious building for that purpose. He was married to Sarah K. Fulton, of Perry County, Ill., the result of which was Edgar, Jessie H., Maggie H., John F., Lewis J., Bessie M. and Nellie M. He is a member of the A., F. & A. M., and votes the Democratic ticket.

HENRY CASPER, farmer, P. O. Cobden, was born in Rowan County, N. C., March 6, 1815, to Peter and Esther Casper. She was born in Ireland ; he in New Jersey ; but his father moved to North Carolina when he was a small

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boy. He moved to Union County, Ill., in 1818. He settled on a farm two and a half miles north- east of Jonesboro, and died there. He had a family of four sons and four daughters. Our subject and three sisters are now living. The father died early in the year 1863, at about the age of seventy-five ; the mother about eight years previous to his death. Our subject was raised on the farm, and his early life was spent in improving it and helping to develop the country. He remained at home till March 14, 1838, when he was married to Eliza Rich, daughter of Thomas Rich. (See sketch of J. M. Rich.) For about eight years after mar- riage, he remained on a farm near his father's, then sold out and came to his present farm, and has been engaged in farming and fruit- growing since. In this he has been very suc- cessful, and at one time had 860 acres of land ; but has deeded good farms to his sons and a daughter, and so has but 270 acres at present. He has retired from active life, and rents his farm. Mr. and Mrs. Casper have seven chil- dren living, and three dead -George W., Thomas P., John M., Minor W., Susan (Sifford), Mary (Brower), and Alice. Mr. and Mrs. Cas- per are members of the M. E. Church of Cob- den, and have belonged to it for over thirty years. In politics, he is Democratic.

G. W. CASPER, farmer, P. O. Cobden, is a native of Union County, Ill., born January 18, 1841, to Henry and Eliza (Rich) Casper. His early life was spent at home, assisting to till the soil of the home farm. He, in the mean- time, received the benefit of the common schools. At twenty years of age, he left his home and engaged in farming on his own account on his present farm, which at the time was unim- proved. It now contains 124 acres of good land, of which eighty-five are under a high state of cultivation. He was married January 7, 1861, to Miss Margaret Culp, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Henry and Mary Culp, the former of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Ohio.

Mrs. Casper died October 8, 1875, leaving five children as the result of their union, viz., Quit- man S., Henry W., Lucinda A., Robert F., Alvan. In November, 1879, he married a second time Mrs. Marietta Gifford, daughter of A. Leroy, a resident of near Chicago. The re- sult of this union is the following two children -Etta May and Effie Maud. Mr. Casper com- menced life a poor man, and by his honesty, industry and economy, he has succeeded in accumulating a good property, and a name and reputation which is beyond reproach. He served as Deputy Sheriff under William C. Rich, Jacob Hileman and Joseph McElhany, and was Constable over fourteen years. In politics, was formerly a Democrat, but now is identified with the principles of the Republican party.

E. N. CLARK, fruit grower, P. O. Cobden. Among the fruit-growers in this township who have been active in developing the fruit interests of the county, we find Mr. Clark. He was born in 1823, in Milford, Conn., six miles from New Haven; both his parents, and all their children, were born in the same town. Our subject's father, Alpheus Clark, was born March, 1795, died in New York, November, 1874. His mother is still living, and is about eighty years of age. In 1833, Mr. Clark's parents moved to New York, settling first in Monroe County, but afterward removed to Lockport, N. Y., and there our subject re- mained, until coming to this county, in the spring of 1858. In early life he followed carpentering and ship building, but for two years previous to coming here, he was engaged in the flour business in Lockport. When com- ing to this county, Mr. Clark brought several varieties of strawberry plants ; these he set out, also planted pears, peaches, etc. In 1859, he made an exhibit of twelve varieties of straw- berries, which he had grown, at the fair at Jonesboro. He received the first premium. He has continued since to be quite successful

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as a strawberry grower. . When he first bought his farm, the previous owner told him that grass would not grow here, and in fact at that time there was but little grass to be found in the country, none along the roadsides, etc. However, between Cobden and Jonesboro, there had been a few acres of clover sown by two Northern railroad contractors, and this field fully proved that clover was well adapted to this soil. In New York, June, 1854, our sub- ject was married to Miss Frances E. Goodrich. She was born January 31, 1828, in New York, to William and Betsie Ann (Gibbs) Goodrich. William Goodrich was born in New England September 28, 1786, died November 9, 1863. Betsie Gibbs was born near Great Barrington, Mass., July 12, 1788, died October 22, 1843. They were the parents of five sons and five daughters. One son, I. G. Goodrich, and four daughters are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have two children-Ed. S. and Kittie. In poli- tics, he is a Republican.

ED. S. CLARK, druggist. Prominent among the leading business men of Cobden is the gentleman whose name heads this biog- raphy. He was born in the State of New York; is a son of E. N. Clark, a prominent farmer of this county. He attended the school of Cobden, and two terms at Champaign, Ill. He was brought up on the farm ; he clerked for awhile for Linnell & McLoney, in this village; they were then the only druggists in the place. In September, 1880, he, in partnership with H. C. Babcock, opened up a drug store in Cobden, at which they were successful, until June, 1882, when they located at Cairo, July 14, 1883. Mr. Clark having purchased Mr. Babcock's interest, removed the entire stock to his present cozy little room, where he is enjoying a lucrative trade. He gives his own personal attention to the business. He was married in March, 1881, to Elizabeth C. Wat- kins, of this county.

J. B. COULTER, farmer and fruit-

grower, P. O. Cobden, was born in Pennsylvania March 20, 1820, and is a son of David and Lydia (Coulter) Coulter. both natives of Pennsylvania ; he was born in 1794, and died at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in 1882, and she born in 1796, and died in 1881. They were the parents of five children, all of whom are living. The Coulters were originally from Ireland, but for generations had lived in Penn- sylvania. When our subject was quite young, his parents moved to Ohio, where he was edu- cated in the common schools. At the age of eighteen, he began teaching, and afterward attended Miami University, but did not take a full course. Most of his time was spent in teaching, until he accompanied his parents to Iowa in 1850. He followed various pursuits in Iowa, and among others read law, and was ad- mitted to the bar about 1859-60. He continued there until 1866, when he sold out his business and came to this county, having previously in- vested money here when everything was very high, and owing to the depreciation of property he incurred great loss. After losing nearly everything he had, he began over again, and has been reasonably successful. His farm is now mostly in fruit-apples, peaches, cherries, plums, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. He has upward of fifty acres in fruits, and may be termed a successful fruit grower. He was married in Iowa, in 1851, to Miss Eunice Reed. Her father was a native of Con- necticut and removed to Ohio, and thence to Iowa. Both he and his wife are dead. Mr. Conlter is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has risen to the degree of Royal Areh Mason. In politics, he was long identified with the Republican party, but for some time has claimed no particular party.

M. M. DOUGHERTY, hardware, Cobden. Among the leading business men of this village is M. M. Dougherty, who was born August 7, 1832, in Alabama. His parents, Isaac and Rachel (Slimp) Dougherty, were natives of East

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Tennessee, and settled in Alabama, and finally in Mississippi, where they died after having been blessed with fourteen children, viz., John, Matilda, Alfred, William, Cynthia, Frances M., Amos. The eighth child was killed when quite young by a limb falling on it. The remaining children were M. M., Elizabeth, Allen, Parlee, Lafayette and Cansaday. The father served in the war of 1812, and he and wife were mem- bers of the Christian Church at the time of their decease. Our subject attended the log cabin schools as much as the circumstances of his father would afford. His carly days were spent on the farm, and, at the age of fifteen years, he began for himself. He was married February 21, 1858, to Eliza J. Wilcox, and with her took charge of a farm for a land-holder in the South, which he continued until the war pressed him from the position. After having engaged in the war, he located at Anna; this county, where he with a partner opened up a barber shop, from which he retired, after about twelve years, on account of ill health, and en- gaged at teaming for awhile, afterward at rural labors, until March 10, 1882, when he put in a full line of hardware in Cobden, to which he is giving his personal attention, and is succeeding remarkably well. He has sustained several downfalls in life ; but, through his energy and perseverance, has as often arisen. His wife died in 1879, and he subsequently married Maggie Hail. He was for many years a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F., and is now a member of the Knights of Honor of Jonesboro. He votes the Democratic ticket.

D. H. EVETT, merchant, Cobden, was born January 19, 1835, in Henderson County, Tenn .; is a son of W. B. and Sarah Williams Evett, natives of Tennessee, and the parents of eight children, all of whom grew up. Our subject only resides in this county. He had the chance to attend school but a few days, and did not then even learn to read and write. He was brought up at the duties of the ruralist, and at

the age of nineteen he began carpentering. At that time his only worldly possessions were a suit of clothing and $2.50. When about twenty-five years old, he began clerking for the firm of Crytes & Cooper, of Bloomfield, Mo., whither the family had gone from Williamson County, Ill., where they settled in 1843. He severed his connection with the above firm, and took a position with Bartlett & Legget, of Piketon, the same State. Here, under the instructions of Legget, he learned to read and write, and within two years was able and did post the books of his employer. He remained with this firm, however, only a few months on account of the war oppressing the business, which was finally closed up, and he then went to the individual store of Bartlett, of Bloom- field, where he was engaged actively for some time, and this store was also closed on account of the' war. He clerked for awhile at Cape Girardeau, and from there made preparations to start for St. Paul, Minn., to take a position as a clerk. James Morrison, an elderly man, with wife and no children, had for a long time clerked for an adjoining firm to Mr. Evett, just merely to have employment, and had in the meantime taken a deep interest in his strong competitor, and without any solicitation on the part of Mr. Evett, Morrison prevailed on him to draw from the account of Mr. M. $6,000, and go in business for himself, which he did at Piketon, where he was very successful, and in a number of years paid back to Mr. Morrison the $6,000, together with $1,800 interest that had accrued. While at Piketon, he served as Postmaster for fifteen years. While here, he lost his wife, Arabell Spiller, whom he married in 1867. This union gave him three children, one living-Betty. Soon after the death of his consort, he came with his little daughter to his farm in Williamson County, Ill. After farming for some time, he went to Neosho, Mo., where he merchandized under the firm name of Bid- dle & Evett, at which he was successful for

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History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 92

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