History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 95

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 95
USA > Illinois > Pulaski County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 95
USA > Illinois > Alexander County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 95

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).

A. J. PARMLY, farmer and fruit-grower, P. O. Cobden. John Parmly, the father of our subject, was born on the present farm of

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N. B. Collins, Alto Pass Precinct, November 22, 1816. He was the son of Giles Parmly (see sketch N. B. Collins), who was one of the earliest settlers in the county. John Parmly resided in this county all his life, except one year he lived in Stoddard County, Mo. In the latter part of 1835, he was married when about nineteen years of age, to Bernice Hen- son. She was also born in this State, and was but fourteen years of age at the time of her marriage. She was the daughter of Jesse Henson, who was an early settler in Jackson County, and who made quite a good property by stock-raising near Grand Tower, Jackson County. For some years after marriage, Mr. Parmly would buy and sell farms, so he did considerable moving from place to place. In 1841. he sold out and went to Missouri, where he remained for one year ; then returned to this county, and settled on the Mississippi River bottom, and lived there till 1858 ; he bought the present farm owned by his widow as her dowry. At time of his death, October 6, 1878. he had a landed property of about 900 acres. His first wife died either in the last days of 1859 or first of 1860. By her he had five children who reached maturity-Martha J. (Seely), Elizabeth (Biggs), deceased, A. J., W. L. and N. B. June, 1860, he was married to Mrs. Sarah (Biggs) Freeman, daughter of D. W. Biggs, an old resident of this county (see sketch of B. F. Biggs). She still survives. She was the widow of James H. Freeman. By this wife, there are four children living-Olive M. (Tweedy), W .. D., Sarah E. and Thisbe E. Mr. Parmly never had the opportunities of an education, but was a man who did a good deal of reading and studying, and when undertak- ing anything he made it a study till it was . fully understood. He did not make up his mind hastily, but when convinced that any- thing was right. he could not very easily be changed. In early life, he was rather wild and reckless, but in later years professed religion,

and for some years before death was a min- ister in the Baptist Church. His occupation was that of farmer and fruit-raiser, and he was eminently successful because he made it a study. His home farm in Section 6 was one of the best in the north part of the county. . He was a man with a great influence in any direc- tion in which he was willing to lead, in politics or in agriculture. Often his advice was asked with regard to kinds of fruits best to cultivate, etc. Till after Lincoln's first election, he had been a Democrat, but he then changed and was so outspoken in regard to the war that he made many enemies, and it was threatened to burn him out, but none dared to make the venture. His family seem to have imbibed the same spirit of thrift and attention to business, and we find his sons among the successful farmers and fruit-raisers of the precinct. Our subject, the eldest son of John Parmly, was born November 4, 1846. His early education was obtained in the district schools of the county. He afterward attended one term at McKendree College, Leb- anon, Ill., and his father offered to furnish money for him to complete the course and take a profession, but he preferred the farm, and re- mained at home till he was twenty-nine years of age. He was married, March 5, 1875, to Miss Gertie A. Freeman, daughter of James H. and Sarah (Biggs) Freeman. Here we find a peculiar relationship. Elizabeth Parmly, daughter of John Parmly, first married B. F. Biggs. John Parmly married for his second wife Mrs. Sarah Freeman, who is a sister of B. F. Biggs. Then our subject married his stepmother's daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Parmly have two children-Sarah Nellie, born August 5, 1878, and Bernice Alice, born February . 14, 1881. Since his marriage, Mr. Parmly has been on his present farm, which consists in all of 490 acres, his wife also having an undivided half of 248 acres. About 112 acres of his land is in cultivation, with about seventy acres of that in fruits ; thirty acres in apples, large

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peach and pear orchards, also strawberries. In politics, he is Republican, but never took any active part in politics till the fall of 1882, when he was persuaded to take the field as a candidate for Assessor and Treasurer of the county. He was elected by a good majority. Mr. Parmly is not a member of any church or society, but is free to give his support to any- thing that will advance the moral and intel- lectual standard in his county.

W. L. PARMLY, farmer, P. O. Cobden, was born December 18, 1852, in this county, on Running Lake, son of John Parmly. (See sketch of A. J. Parmly.) He was educated in the schools of this county, and has always been engaged in farming and fruit-raising. He was married, August 3, 1872, to Frances Winstead. She was born in Missouri Decem- ber 13, 1857, to William and Barbara Winstead. Mrs. Winstead was born in Missouri. Mr. Winstead either in Missouri or Tennessee. He was killed by accident about 1864, in the mill of Charles LeBarr, Cobden, the saw severing his head from his body. He left a widow and five small children, three sons and two daugh- ters. His widow married Samuel Ferrill, Au- gust, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Parmly have three children living and two dead-Ernest, Herbert, and DeVere (Lena May and Lola), deceased. Mr. Parmly bought his present home place in 1872, and settled on it when married ; he af- terward bought sixty acres more. His farm now consists of 120 acres, about seventy im- proved, but little had been improved when he first purchased. Grain and fruit receive his attention. In politics, he is a Republican.

N. B. PARMLY, farmer, P. O. Cobden, son of John Parmly and brother of A. J. (see sketch of A. J.), was born in Mississippi River bottom, October 11, 1856, and was raised and educated in this county. His occupation has been that of his fathers-farmer and fruit-grower. He was married, August 20, 1879, to Lucy E. Anderson. She was also born in this county,

March 5, 1862, to E. J. and Polly Ann Ander- son. They are both still living in this county. She was born in Indiana, he in this county, his parents being carly settlers here. Mr. and Mrs. Parmly have two children, John Garfield and Ervin Jackson. Since marriage, he has been living on his present farm of 137 acres. He bought it January, 1877, and rented it till marriage, living at home and running his father's farm till that time. In politics, Mr. Parmly is Republican.

COL. F. E. PEEBLES, fruit-grower, hotel, etc., was born May 8, 1833, in Vandalia, Ill .; is a son of Robert H. and Augusta (Ernst) Pee- bles, natives, the former of Pennsylvania, and the latter of German parentage ; was born on an ocean vessel. The father was of Scotch descent, and settled at Vandalia when it was the capital of the State. He was an early physician of that city, and served in the Black Hawk war. He made his advent into the State of Illinois in 1818. The parents were Presbyterians. Our subject had good common school advantages and an academic course at Chicago. He first began business for himself in 1855, in Chicago. where he continued for two years, and then transferred to Winona, Wis., where he remained until the war, at the breaking out of which he enlisted in a Wisconsin B. L. R., as First Lieu- tenant, which position he held for two years, and was then promoted to the command of the Forty-seventh U. S. C. T., and was mustered out as such in two and one-half years. Soon after returning from the war, he bought a farm near Mobile, Ala., and in one year came to Cobden, where he yet resides. He engaged for four years in the manufacturing of fruit boxes, and later engaged in the growing of fruits. For the last seven years, until lately, he has been actively engaged in traveling for Hager & Spies' fruit house, of Chicago, which position he resigned to accept the management, as gen- eral consignee, of the Cobden Fruit-Growers' Association, a situation he now holds. He

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was married, 1864, to Mary Stone, one of two children, as the result of the union of Isaac and R. C. Stone. Mr. Peebles' marriage has given him four children, viz .: Gertrude, Au- gusta, Elizabeth and Robert. He was an active worker in establishing a first-class library at Cobden, a history of which is given elsewhere. His daughter, Gertrude, is the efficient librari- an. In addition to his above mentioned busi- ness, he has been running the Phillips Hotel, to remunerative advantage, and satisfaction of many guests, but the Colonel recently gave up the hotel business, and is giving his entire time to his farm in Cobden Precinct. He has held some small offices, and is a stanch Republican.

AMOS POOLE, fruit-raiser, P. O. Cobden. Some time in the seventeenth century, one by the name of John Poole was born, either on the Isle of Man or Taunton, England. Early in life, he came to America, and for some years resided at Beverly, Mass., working with one Richard Woodbury, who died in 1690, leaving a widow whom Poole afterward married. In April, 1700, he bonght of John Emerson, Jr., a tract of land at "ye Cape," and moved to it, finding but one family on Sandy Bay, now Rockport, Mass., that of Richard Tarr, who had settled there a short time before. Poole became a large land-owner, and died in 1727, quite wealthy. He had been married four times and had seven children. One son, Ebenezer, was born in 1699. He also had quite a large family, and one, Francis, was the grandfather of our subject. His son, Aaron Poole, the father of Amos, was born November 12, 1767, and lived to the age of seventy-six years. His wife, Sarah (Butman) Poole, was born May 10, 1770, and reached the advanced age of eighty-seven years. They were the parents of nine children, only four of whom reached ma- turity. There are only two now living, the oldest son, Aaron, born October, 1798, and our subject, who was born September 8, 1814, in Rockport, Mass. Aaron still lives on the old

homestead, where his father lived and died. By trade, the father of our subject was a cooper, but most of his life was spent in farming. When a boy, Amos learned his trade of black- smith, and then began working by the day. This he continued for six years, and in that time saved $2,000; then established a business of his own at Milton, Mass., six miles south of Boston Court House. Here he continued for about twenty-five years, till coming to Union County, Ill., February, 1868. When coming to this county, he bought but forty acres of his present farm, and has since been engaged in general fruit and vegetable growing. His farm contains eighty acres and is well improved, but contained few of the present improvements when he bought it. In Milton, Mass., October 6, 1841, he was married to Miss Caroline C. Rand. She was born in Bradford, Vt., but her parents moved to 'Milton, Mass., when she was small, and resided there until the time of their death. She is the daughter of John and Eliz- abeth (Babcock) Rand. They were both na- tives of Massachusetts. She was born at Mil- ton. In early life, he resided in Beverly, Mass., where his father was a baker, and he learned the trade of chaise-maker, and was established in business at one time in Boston, but sold out and entered the ministry, being one of the early Christian ministers. He traveled for a num- ber of years preaching the Gospel, then settled in Milton, where he died at the age of seventy- four. She died at the age of sixty-six. The Rands formerly came from England. Mr. R. was one of the early workers in the temperance cause, and also one of the earliest Abolition- ists. They were the parents of eleven chil- dren who reached maturity, six of whom are still living. Of Mrs. Poole's brothers, it is use- less to speak, for their reputation is world- wide, one establishing the publishing house in Boston of Rand, Avery & Co. ; another is the senior member of the Chicago house of Rand, McNally & Co. ; and still another, Franklin

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Rand, devoted thirty years of the best part of his life to Zion's Herald, and it was largely due to his energy that the paper made its financial success. Mr. and Mrs. Poole have five sons living, one daughter dead : George A., Caroline S. (deceased), William H., Arthur B., Franklin R. and Frederick C. The daughter died Janu- ary 5, 1867. She was the wife of John Ritchie, of Boston. The Poole Bros., George. A. and William H., started into the printing business for themselves January, 1881, and have in their employ over eighty persons. Rooms 117-119 Lake street, Chicago. Entrance also on Clark street. They were both with Rand, McNally. & Co. for quite a time, and are still interested in the company as stock-holders. George A. had clerked for them, but William H. learned the printer's trade. The other three sons are in Montana. In politics, Mr. Poole is a Repub- lican, and has not been without political honors serving one term in the Massachusetts State Legislature.

J. P. REESE, farmer and fruit-grower. P. O. Cobden, was born in Wilson County, Tenn., April 7, 1834, to William and Martha (Taylor) Reese. They were both natives of Tennessee. He was born 1796, and was one of the first white men born in the State of Tennessee. Died February 28, 1883. She was born 1803, died 1845 in Williamson County, Ill. They came to Illinois, 1839, and settled in Williamson County. He resided in Williamson County till he was so old that he was almost helpless, then came to our subject's and died there. He was the cousin of President Polk, and as his parents were wealthy, he was raised a typical Southern gentleman. He spoke little of his early life, but we know that before leaving Tennessee he was Clerk of the Court, and after settling in Marion he was Justice of the Peace and Notary Public till too old to attend to busi- ness. For four years, his office was in the same room as Col. Bob Ingersoll's. He was twice married ; by first wife there were two sons and

one daughter, and by the second, the mother of our subject, four sons and four daughters, all of whom are living except one daughter. He was a man of strongly Southern principles, but was opposed to slavery. One of his oldest sons was in the Southern army, and was killed at Perryville. Four sons were in the Northern army and all came out but one. J. P. received four flesh wounds. He was Captain of Company E, Eighty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, after first three months. Enlisted August 11, 1862, mustered out Aug- ust 5, 1865. Except for three and one-half months when he was a prisoner of war, he was with his company during the service. He was captured at Guntown, Miss., June 11, 1864, and was one of the number put under fire of the Union troops at Charleston. After his exchange, September 25, 1864, he returned to his company. Our subject never attended school but about nine months, but since he has had a family of his own he has done a great deal of reading and studying. His occupation has been that of farming, since starting for himself. After his mother's death, he worked on farms from place to place. January 12, 1855, he was married in this county to Miss A. T. O'Daniell, daughter of John and Betsie (Penrod) O'Daniell. Mr. O'Daniell was born in Tennessee, his wife in this county in 1816. She is probably the oldest person now living who was born in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Reese have five children-Willis A., Zeb, Louisa, Lena and Ann. Willis A. is a lawyer by profession, but is now farming at home. Zeb is operator at Richview, Ill. When first married, he settled on his present farm, which contains 200 acres, one-half in cultivation. He is engaged in general farming, but fruit-raising receives most of his attention, and he is very successful. He- hauled the first load of wheat to Cobden, having to eut and blaze out a road. He is a charter member of the Cobden Lodge, A., F. & A. M., and is Republican in polities.

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W. O. RICE, fruit-raiser, P. O. Cobden, was born in Portage City, Wis., August 8, 1851, to William and Miranda (Winchell) Rice. He was born in Mt. Morris, N. Y., September 20, 1813. She also in same State, in Ticonderoga, February 16, 1814. He died April 27, 1882. When Mrs. Rice was a child, her parents moved from New York to Vermont, and there she remained till twenty-eight years of age, re- moving thence to Wisconsin. He, however, had moved to Wisconsin from New York, and it was there they were married. They remained in Wisconsin till November, 1864, when they came to Union County and settled on their present farm. A son, W. O., and a daughter, Belle, blessed this union ; both are now living at home. Mr. Rice was the youngest of a family of five brothers. By trade, he was a carpenter and joiner, and had made that his occupation till coming to this county. Then he engaged in the fruit culture. He was in the service for six months with Gen. Butler, but being too old for active duty, he was commissary clerk. At the time of his death, he was on a prospecting tour in Kansas. He was taken suddenly sick, and died and was buried without his family know- ing anything of it. Mrs. Rice is one of a family of ten children, six girls and four boys. Seven of the number are still living ; one died in the Mexican army. Mrs. Rice is a relative of the Winchells, of Michigan, where all her father's family now live, except one of her sisters, who resides in Wisconsin. Mrs. Rice's mother, with a number of other women, were in the battle of Plattsburg, during the war of 1812. Her hus- band was taking part in the engagement, and as the men would fire and retire to load. the women would give them water, and watch to see if some dear one was missing. Both our subject and his sister were instructed in their studies at home, till they were well advanced in their studies. Miss Belle afterward attended the State Normal, at Carbondale, and has made

teaching her profession. Before coming to the State, our subject had attended the German school for one year, then the Cobden schools in this county, and one year at the State Universi- ty at Champaign. He has always been en- gaged in fruit farming since working for him- self. Their farm consists of forty-seven acres, and is in a good state of cultivation. All the members of the family are Presbyterians in re- ligion, belonging to the Presbyterian Church of Cobden. Our subject has made quite a study of archæology, and has exhumed the remains of several human beings, and remains of an an- cient civilization. These have been taken from the deposits under overhanging cliffs. He has here found complete skeletons, pieces of pottery, ashes, parched corn, bones of different smaller animals, and also pieces of fabrics showing hand-weaving. The skeletons arelying on the sides, knees to the breast, arms between the knees, etc., showing that such was the custo- mary way for burial. He cannot yet determine the exact age in which they lived, but from the deposits in which they are found knows they are of an ancient race.

HON. WILLIAM C. RICH, SR., capitalist, Cobden. Among the few who have been pre-emi- nently successful in this county, we find Mr. Rich. He was born on the Tennessee line in Alabama November 18, 1819, to Thomas and Catherine (Noah) Rich. The ancestors of the Rich family were Germans, but had been in America for generations. The grandfather of our subject moved from North Carolina to Tennessee, Franklin County, when his son Thomas was but a young man, and resided there until the time of his death. Thomas Rich was married in Tennessee to the mother of our subject, and lived in that State until after.several children were born to them ; then he moved to Alabama among the canebrakes and Indians. Here he remained till 1834, when he moved with his family to Illinois, but had started with the intention of going to Ar-

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kansas. After coming to this county, he re- mained for a part of a year in what is now Rich Precinct, then bought the farm now owned by John M. Rich, his youngest son. He resided then on the old homestead till his death in 1866. His wife, however, died in 1845. They were the parents of three sons and six daughters ; two sons and four daugh- ters are now living. Our subject was educated in the proverbial schools of the pioneer-round logs built up and a rude cover over it, but no floors ; their seats were made by splitting logs and putting legs in the pieces ; there was one door, but no window except an opening left be- tween two logs ; then the fire-place occupied one end of the building, and at noons the boys would have to cut down the trees and get in the wood which they burned. Notwith- standing such rude schoolhouses, our subject obtained sufficient schooling to engage in teach- ing school for some time in winters, farming in the summer. He frequently indulged in the sport of hunting. When about twenty-five years of age, he was married to Millie C. Guth- rie, daughter of Ansalen Guthrie, who had come to this county from Kentucky about four years after our subjeet. Mr. and Mrs. Rich have eleven children living-Samantha (Tripp), Catherine, Matilda (Moreland), Eliza (Condon), La Fayette, Amalphus, William, Maria, Lou, Lizzie and George. Mr. Rich has never given up farming, although his other business has frequently taken nearly his whole attention. When a young man, he was elected Constable, and from that time on has been in some public office most of the time. Served as Deputy Sheriff for a number of years ; afterward served

for twelve years as Justice of the Peace. In 1861 and 1862, he was School Commissioner. Then in 1863 was elected to fill out a vacancy in the Sheriff's office ; when the term was up, he was elected for the ensuing two years, 1865 and 1866. He then retired for two years, but was again elected for the term of 1869 and

1870. In 1871 and 1872, he was in the State Legislature, and from 1879 to 1882 he was one of the County Commissioners. In politics. he has ever been Democratic. About 1861, he joined the Jonesboro Lodge, A., F. & A. M. Is also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter at Anna. Although Mr. Rich has spent a great deal of his time in public life, he has not neg- lected his own business, and has made a large property by hard work and saving. His father being a man in very moderate circumstances, could not help his children to make a start, and so he early formed the practice of relying upon himself and of taking but few risks. A short time before the panic of 1872, he had en- gaged in the mercantile business in Jonesboro, in partnership with Willis Willard. The panic soon following, they found that they were not making anything, so they divided the goods and boxed them up. But Mr. Rich did not like the idea of having about $6,000 wortlı of goods on his hands and yielding him no profit, so traded one half and got a half-interest in a saw mill in Jackson County. So they ran store and mill for two years, running the lum- ber down Big Muddy and up to St. Louis. They then closed out business at the end of two years.

JOHN M. RICH, farmer and fruit-grower, P. O. Cobden, was born just across the line from Ten- nessee in Alabama October 4, 1828, to Thomas and Catherine (Noah) Rich. The grandfather of our subject moved to Tennessee when Thomas was a young man, and he lived the remainder of his days near a small town called Salem, in Franklin County. He was of German descent, and at the time of his death left a large family who scattered to the different States in the Union, Thomas coming to this State in 1834, and settled first in what is Rich Precinct, but either in the last of the same year or the first days of 1835, he bought the present home- stead of our subject, and resided there until the time of his death in 1866. His wife had

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died in 1845. They were the parents of three sons and six daughters, two sons and four daughters are now living. Our subject is the youngest child. He has always resided on the old homestead, and has been engaged in farm- ing and fruit-raising. He received his educa- tion in the subscription schools of the county, and had to go several miles to attend them. February, 1847, he was married in this county, to Ann Uffendill. She was born in England, 1826, to Michael and Mary (Robinson) Uffen- dill. They came to America about 1835. For a time they remained in New York ; then made several moves before coming to this State, going to Cleveland, Ohio, from New York; then to Troy, where they remained for about one year, and then to Evansville, Ind .; from Evans- ville to Cairo, Ill., at the time the State first projected the Illinois Central Railroad. They afterward moved to this county, and she died at Jonesboro, soon after coming to the county, he in Anna May, 1882. He had been engaged in different occupations, keeping hotel, butchering, etc., and for some years before his death had followed the family grocery business in Anna. Of their family of eight children that they brought to the United States, only three daughters are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Rich have eight children -Thomas J., William C., Jr., M. M., George D., Adelia, Mary A., Robert L. and Carry B. All of the sons except young- est are in business for themselves-farming, fruit-raising, etc., William C., Jr., is practicing law at Jonesboro. Except the youngest, the daughters are all married. Mr. R.'s farm con- sists of 188 acres, and on this he is engaged in general farming and fruit-raising, especially of the smaller varieties. He is also member of the mercantile firm of Rendleman & Rich, of Alto Pass, but does not stay in the store any him- self. In 1862, he entered the service of his country and was chosen Captain of Company C, One Hundred and Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but served only for about seven

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History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 95

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