History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 71

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 758

USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 71
USA > Illinois > Bond County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 71

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).

WILLIAM H. FISHER was born in Mid- dlesex County, N. J., October 15, 1829, where he lived until six years old, when his parents moved to Ohio, residing at Mt. Vernon for eight years. In 1845, his parents came to Illinois and settled on a farm in Jersey County, where William H. lived ten years. In 1856, he married Elizabeth Ivens, of Dayton, Ohio, and, the same year, bought forty acres of land three miles from Litchfield, adjoining the county line of Macoupin County, and in ten years he acquired 480 acres of valuable land, which he sold in 1865, and moved to Litch- field, and, a short time thereafter bought 160

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acres within the corporate limits of the town where he has since lived and been engaged in farming near the city, possessing about four hundred aeres, the larger portion of which is in Montgomery County. The father of our subject, William B. Fisher, was a native of New Jersey, and a farmer in that State, but keeping a hotel after moving to Ohio. After moving to Illinois in 1845, Mr. Fisher, Sr., resumed farming, which he continued until his death, some ten years later; he was the father of ten children, nine of whom are liv- ing, William H .. our subject, being the sec- ond son: the mother is still living, aged sev- enty-seven years. Our subject has three children; is a member of the Baptist Church.

HENRY K. GARDNER was born in Will- iamson County, Tenn .. November 24, 1807; was reared on a farm in Maury County, Tenn., and worked in a distillery during the winter. He came to Illinois in 1833, stayed one year near Mulberry Grove. Bond County, then moved to the eastern part of Montgomery County, where he entered eighty acres of land, on which he worked five years, and improved the greater portion of the farm; he then re- moved to Fayette County, where he worked a farm for sixteen years, then, in 1855, bought his present place of 120 acres of prairie land, which at that time had a small patch of ground broken, and on which stood a small cabin. Since he came to Montgomery County, Mr. Gardner has been chiefly engaged in farming, but has also worked at the brick and stone mason's trade, which he learned from his father, though he never served any regu- lar apprenticeship. In Tennessee, in October, 1829, he married Winnefred Wollard, born October 1, 1307, who bore him three sons and three daughters (all living), and died in Fay- ette County in April, 1854. October 12. 1854, he married his second wife, Mrs. Amanda Jane Jones, widow of Lewis Charl-

ton Jones and daughter of Alexander Mc- Williams, one of the pioneers of Montgom- ery County; she was born in that county April 29, 1826; from this second marriage two children have been born-one son and one daughter, both living; Mrs. Gardner had four children (all living) by her first hus- band, Mr. Jones. Mr. Gardner has had fair success as a farmer, and is now owner of 254 acres of land, though he began without cap ital; he has always been a Democrat; has been a member of the Old-School Baptist Church for about forty years.

FRANK H. GILMORE, Master in Chan- cery, Litchfield, was born in Greenville, Bond Co., Ill., on January 3, 1833. Here he passed his early youth, except a few years spent in Northern Illinois. His father, James Gilmore, died when he was twelve years old, and, two years later, he entered the printing office of the Protestant Monitor, which was the first paper of Greenville, and finished his trade in the office of its successor. In 1851, he came to Hillsboro, Ill., and there started the Prairie Mirror, of which Dr. Francis Springer was editor: he conducted that and other papers as publisher at the same place until 1862, excepting two years. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war; at the organization of the com pany, he was elected Second Lieutenant, and came home its Captain. At Memphis, Tenn., our subjeet was detached, and was a depot ordnance officer for the Army of Tennessee from Chattanooga to Atlanta; he joined his company, and, just after the battle of Nash- ville, led his command in the battles attend- ing the capture of Mobile, Ala., and in other engagements, till the close of the war. He returned home, and, in 1866, was elected Sheriff and Collector of Montgomery County,

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serving one term-at that time the full limit; after those two years, he engaged in the real estate business with John D. Maddux, at 1 Hillsboro, continuing until 1874, when he came to Litchfield and engaged in the pur- chase and shipment of grain, the firm name being Ballweg & Gilmore; he continued at that but one and a half years. In November, ISSO, he was appointed, by Judge Zane, Master in Chancery of this county; he is also Director and Secretary of the Litchfield Oil and Pipe Lime Company, and has been since its organization. November 16, 1858, he married Mary S .. daughter of Col. Robert Blackwell, of Vandalia, Ill. ; they have had the following children: Angelina E., James R. and Frank P. (both deceased), Henry E., May V., Sarah E. (deceased) and Mary E. A. He was raised a Whig, but voted for Stephen A. Douglas, since which time he bas acted with the Democratic party, being conservative in his views. His father was a native of East Tennessee, and his mother of Virginia; they emigrated here from Hardin County, Ky., about 1828, and settled in Greenville: his father was a carpenter and builder, and died June 13, 1844; his Grandfather Gilmore was for many years Probate Judge of Bond County.

CAPT. EPHRAIM M. GILMORE, retired, Litchfield, was born in Christian, now Todd County, Ky., January 15, 1811. Seven years later, he was brought by his parents to Bond County, III., who settled within four miles of Greenville, where he grew up and learned the elements of an English education. There he married, January 19, 1832, Miss Mary W. Harris, a native of Tennessee. after which he moved to Greene County, Ill., where he farmed until 1861, in October of which year he raised a company of cavalry, and, by permit of Gov. Yates, it was attached to Col. Logan's Thirty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry,

and went into Camp Butler for the winter, and in December, it was detached from the Thirty-second; in February, 1862, it was ordered to Quincy, and, in the last days of February, it was Company F. in the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, and ordered back to Camp Butler until July, 1862, when they were or- dered to Martinsburg, Va .; there Capt. Gil- more was forced to resign because of poor health. In April, 1832, he was out forty- seven and one-half days in the Black Hawk war. In December, 1862, he came to Litch- field, and has resided here ever since. For some years, he engaged in the grocery busi- ness, but is now passing his time in retire- ment. He has always been a Democrat; in 1868, he was elected to the Legislature in Montgomery County by the Democratic party ; he became a member of the State Board of Equalization in 1876, and served four years; he was also a member of the Land Com- mittee. In 1866. he was elected Mayor of Litchfield, and is now Assessor of North Litchfield Township. Capt. Gilmore has had the following children: Lucinda Isa- bella, John H., Harvey M., Harriet Elvira, Rachel Eleanor, William Persis, James Polk, Louis Barr, Naney Mitter, Mary Murphy. He lived in Bond County till 1834, when he moved to Maconpin County, and lived there until the spring of 1852, when he moved to Greenfield, Ill., where he was a merchant and farmer for ten years. His father, John Gil- more, was appointed Justice of the Peace by the first Legislature of Illinois, at Vandalia, and held that office for many years; for many years he held the office of Probate Judge of Bond County.

SAMUEL M. GRUBBS, banker, Litchfield, was born in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., III., in 1835, where he was educated in the public schools. At the age of twenty-two, he en- gaged in general merchandising in the town

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of his birth, and continued with fair success until the close of the war, when he sold his stock and came to Litchfield, where, in part- nership with R. H. Peall, he engaged in mer- cantile pursuits, they having bought the bus- iness of J. W. Jefferis; the firm afterward became Jefferis & Grubbs. Our subject sold to Mr. Jefferis in 1868, and became a partner in the private banking house of Brewer, Sey- mour & Co., which became the firm of Brewer & Grubbs in 1880. Since January, 1869, Mr. Grubbs has given exclusive attention to banking. In 1857, he married Miss Mary, daughter of William Brewer, whose sketch appears elsewhere. In 1874, Mr. Grubbs, by an independent ticket, was elected Mayor of Litchfield; prior to this, he was City Treas- urer. He is a Steward and Trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The father of our subject was Moody Grubbs, a native of Virginia, who moved to Todd County, Ky., when a young man. He married Miss Cyn- thia Boone, of Bowling Green, Ky .; she was a great-niece of Daniel Boone. Moody Grubbs came to Hillsboro, Ill., in about 1833, and died four years later: he was a brick-ma- son by trade: his wife still survives, in her eighty-eighth year.

S. H. GEROW, D. D. S., Litchfield, was born in St. John, New Brunswick, in 1850, and there was educated in the grammar schools. In October, 1879, he entered the Dental Department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which he grad- uated in March, 1881, with the degree of D. D. S. In July, 1881, he came to Litchfield to locate for the practice of his profession, and has since been actively engaged, having pleasant dental rooms on State street, where he performs both mechanical and operative dentistry. Although he has been here but a short time, he has been very successful in the practice of his profession.

CONSTANTINE HOOG, dealer in boots and shoes, Litchfield, was born in Baden, Germany, in 1825. At the age of nineteen. he began learning the shoemaker's trade, and completed it in two years. In 1850, he came to the United States with his parents, and in that and the year following, worked as jour- neyman in Alton, Ill., where he opened a shop of his own and carried on his business until 1856. In that place, he married Miss Charlotte Niemann in 1854. In April, 1856, he came to Litchfield, and lived in a small shanty just east of the dwelling now owned and occupied by William Wiegreffe; here he put out a sign and made shoes during the summer; then he bought the site of his pres- ent home, it being Let 3 in Block 29, and occupied a little frame building which stood on it until 1859, in the fall of which year he built the present two-story brick residence, moving into it the same year. He conducted a shop for the manufacture of custom work from 1856 te 1873, when he began selling Eastern work. Two years later, he sold his store, and. for three years, ran a hide house and sack depot. In 1878, he re-opened his present shoe store, and has since conducted a good business in boots and shoes. He was the second shoemaker of Litchfield, and, from his humble beginnings, he has steadily gained a prominent place among the business men of this city. He has always been a Democrat, and was Alderman from the Sec- ond Ward in 1869. Mr. Hoog's wife died in 1874. He has one son and four daughters living.

VALENTINE HOFFMAN, merchant, Litchfield, was born in Bavaria on May 14. 1833, and came to the United States in 1842 with his parents, who settled in Columbus, Ohio, shortly after removing to a farm near Reynoldsburg. Franklin Co., Ohio, where our subject grew up and received an English

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education in the public schools. At the age of sixteen, he learned the trade of iron-mold- ing at Gill's Foundry, at Columbus, serving five years as apprentice and journeyman: he then traveled two years as journeyman, work - ing in St. Louis and Indianapolis. In 1856, he came to Macoupin County, Ill .. where he married Miss Martha Turner January 15, 1857, and, the following year, came to Mont- gomery County, Ill. ; here he entered the em- ploy of H. H. Beach & Co., as molder, and continued until the war broke out. He first enlisted for three months in the Seventh Illinois Regiment, and served his time out. He then returned to his old place with H. H. Beach & Co., and remained until September, 1862, when he again enlisted. this time in the Ninety-first Illinois Regi- ment, as private soldier; he was mustered in as Orderly Sergeant. and his first engage- ment was at Elizabethtown, Ky., where he and the entire command were taken prisoners. During his confinement, he was made Second Lieutenant at Benton Barracks; he was re- tained a prisoner from January I, 1863, to June 3. 1863, and was then exchanged, when he joined the Thirteenth Army Corps in their first engagement at Morganza, La. He went into quarters at Carrollton, above New Or- leans, and, in December, 1863, he went with Banks' expedition across the Gulf to Texas, where, for seven months, he experienced con- tinual skirmishing. In March, 1865, he left Texas, and took part in the capture of Mobile. Fort Blakely and Spanish Fort. At Fort Blakely, Capt. Hoffman was wounded in the wrist by a Minie ball while on the skirmish line, March 26. 1865. In 1864. he was pro- moted to Captain of Company A, Ninety- first Illinois Regiment. After his wound. he was sent home on leave of absence, and was honorably discharged, being mustered out at Camp Butler, III., in September, 1865. The

following year, he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Litchfield, at first having but a small stock: he has won success by his in- dustry and perseverance, and for nine years has been located on Jefferson street, where he has built up a large trade in groceries. queensware, boots, shoes, etc .; he employs four persons in his store. He cast his first vote for Fremont, and has always been a Re- publican. He has ever taken an active inter- est in city affairs and all matters of public interest. He served one term in the City Council. Mr. Hoffman, true to his German birth. is fond of music, and creates it on var- ious musical instruments.

MRS. MARTHA HOFFMAN, Litchfield, daughter of James and Catharine (Anderson) Turner, was born in Westmoreland County, Penn .; she received a common-school edu- cation in Ohio, to which State her parents moved, settling in Licking County, when she was eleven years old; after living in Ohio about seven years, they moved to Macoupin County, Ill., where her father engaged in farming; he now resides in Litchfield, being in his eightieth year; her mother died four- teen years ago. Our subject married Capt. V. Hoffman in Macoupin County; of their marriage, six children have been born, but three of whom are living. the others having died in infancy ; those living are, namely. Ella Nora. the oldest daughter, who was born in Litchfield on February 1, 1861, and who received her education in the public schools of this city, in addition to a fine musical edu- cation; on May 3, 1882, in Litchfield, she married George Andrew Beeler, of Hamilton, Ohio; the second daughter, Ida, was born September 15, 1872; and the third living child, a son, Walter R., was born March 11, 1876. Mrs. Hoffman is one of a family of nine children, five of whom are deceased. JOHN C. HUGHES, deceased. The father

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of our subject, Thomas C. Hughes, was born in Knox County, Tenn., in about 1804. He was raised on a farm, and was married, in his native county, to Miss Mary Godsey. In 1828, he came with his family to this county and first settled in the Gray neighborhood, afterward moving to the place now owned by John Cover; he moved thence to the Craw- ford neighborhood, and thence to where Mar- tin A. Ritchie now lives; here he lived sev- eral years, and each one of the previous places he improved and sold at an advance. After leaving the Ritchie place, he moved to the head of Shoal Creek; thence to Litchfield, where he traded largely in town property, at the time of the building up of the city; here he lived until after the war, when he moved to Section 22. In all, he owned about four hun- dred and sixty acres of land, and was remark- ably successful in almost every undertaking. Mr. Hughes was Justice of the Peace in North Litchfield Township four years; he was a member of the Methodist Church for many years. He was the father of four sons and three daughters, all of whom are living ex- cept John C. Hughes, his oldest son, whose sketch appears in another paragraph. Thom- as C. Hughes died November 14, 1871, an ! his wife in 1866. John C. Hughes was born in Knox County, Tenn., on December 17, 1823, and came to Montgomery County, Ill., with his parents when in his sixth year; he was fortunate in obtaining a common-school education superior to that of most farmer boys, and was the school-mate of Gen. Jesse Phillips. He was ingenious with tools, and picked up the carpenter's trade, building several barns and houses in the country when not engaged in farm labor. On November 26, 1846. he married Miss Susan E. Roberts, daughter of Josiah and Susan (Hart) Roberts. He bought a Mexican land warrant abont three years after he had settled here, on va-

cant land, and by it became the owner of 160 acres in 1849. He engaged in farming here until 1852, when he went by ox team from St. Joseph, Mo., to California, the journey continuing over one hundred days. After spending about eighteen months in the mines, he returned by the Panama route in 1854, and lived on his farm until his death, on November 17, 1879. At the time of his de- mise, he owned 200 acres of land, all of which was acquired by his own labor; he was a hard-working. shrewd and enterprising farmer. He had five sons and one daughter: one son died at the age of six weeks; his children are William H., born June 23, 1849, a stock-dealer in Colorado; Hiram J., born February 27, 1855; John C., Jr., born June 23, 1857; Mary J., born October 15. 1862, the wife of John Gundy, of this county : and George B., born April 19, 1864. Three sons are still living at the homestead.

ESQUIRE WILLIAM C. HENDERSON, real estate agent, was born in Columbus, Miss., on January 25, 1817. When about ten years old, his parents removed to Illinois, first settling in Clinton County, where they lived on a farm until 1835, in which year they moved to Macoupin County, settling near Gillespie. In 1838, our subject mar- ried Miss Martha Caulk and settled near Mt. Olive, Macoupin County, where he farmed twenty years with good success. He came to Litchfield in 1858. In April, 1876, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and since that time has filled the office of magistrate. He is now engaged in the real estate and col- lecting business. Politically, Mr. Henderson is a Democrat, and always has been such. In 1859, he married a second time, the lady be- ing Mary A. Green, of this county; of thi marriage there are no children, but of his first there are six living.

H. H. HOOD, Litchfield, was born Sep-

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tember 19, 1823, in the city of Philadelphia; his father was Lambert Hood, born near Camden, N. J., April 16, 1792, and died July 27, 1850; the mother of our subject was Sarah (Hughes) Hood, who was born in Wales January 25. 1793, and died July 20, 1844. Mr. H. H. Hood was married, first in Jerseyville, Ill., June 11, 1855, to Matilda W. Jackson, born in Philadelphia August 23, 1829, daughter of Charles S. Jackson, of Philadelphia. His second marriage was at Taylorville, Ill., July 7, 1869, to Abigail E. Torrey, born September 10, 1833, daughter of Joseph Torrey, of Woodstock, Conn. The following children have been born to Mr. Hood: Charles L., who died in infancy; George P., Sarah Frances, Annie H., Oliver, Harold H. and Abigail Louise.

WILLIAM W. HEWITT, Superintendent of Planet Mills, Litchfield, was born in Shrop- shire, England, in April, 1849, and was brought to the United States in the fall of 1851 by his parents, who settled in Terre Haute, Ind., and there raised and educated him. He was successively book-keeper and manager of a yard and freight department of the Vandalia Railroad at Terre Haute from 1869 to 1875; since 1875, he has been in the lumber, grain and milling business, first with MeKeen Bros., of Terre Haute, with whom he continued until October, 1881, when he entered the employ of D. L. Wing & Co. as Superintendent of the Planet Mills, which were erected in Litchfield in 1881.

JOSEPH E. HICKMAN, Honey Bend, was born in Crittenden County, Ky., June 1, 1851, son of William B. and Eliza A. (Witherspoon) Hickman, who were the parents of eight chil- dren, all living. William B. removed from Kentucky in 1851 and settled on a farm near Hillsboro, Ill., where he died in March, 1857; his wife removed to Butler, Ill., with her family, and died November 9, 1869. Joseph

E. received his education in Hillsboro and in Butler, and left school at the age of sixteen and entered the store of Hedge & Bro. as clerk, and remained with them and their snc- cessors, McGowan & Watkins, for seven years. He spent the year 1872 in Nebraska, then returned to Butler and worked on the farm one year, and from that time until 1878 he ran a steam threshing machine during the summer season, and taught school in winter. In January, 1878, he came to Honey Bend, which at that time consisted of a post office and blacksmith shop, with no railway facili- ties except a side-track for passing trains; there were but two houses in the town; he was appointed station agent and Postmaster in March, 1878, which positions he has since held, in addition to which he is now agent of the Pacific Express Company; he also en- gaged in mercantile business with his brother, under the firm name of Hickman Bros .; they do a fine trade; besides general merchandise, they also deal in coal and lumber. Mr. Hick- man married, January 20. 1SS1, Ida L. Hart, born in St. Clair County, Ill., December 20, 1861, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Hilt) Hart; they have one child, Ida May.

JAMES B. HUTCHISON was born in Trigg County, Ky .. November 8, 1830, and received his education in Cumberland College, at Princeton, Caldwell Co., Ky. He came to Montgomery County in August, 1848, having preceded his parents, who followed in No- vember; they bought land in Bond County, where they died. Our subject taught school three terms at Walnut Grove, in the southern part of the county, and one term at Lazy Neck. In the spring of 1849, he married Miss Sarah J., daughter of Capt. James Black, an early pioneer: he spent some time in Marshall County about 1852-53, but re- turned to Montgomery in 1854 and engaged in mercantile business at Donnellson until

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1557, during which time he, in conjunction with T. C. Donnell, laid out the town named. Selling out his business, he traveled for some time in the nursery business. In 1865, he purchased seven acres, which he has since in- creased to twenty-two acres, and follows the nursery and market gardening business; he has about ten thousand apple and fifteen hundred peach trees, in addition to other fruits and shrubs. He has four sons and three daughters living. The father of our subject, Rev. William T. Hutchison, was a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and was born in Montgomery County, Tenn., in December, 1799. He traveled in Missouri when it was a Territory. His wife was Miss Mary Clay Davison, a native of Bourbon County. Ky., and by her had ten sons and two daughters, subject being the second son; he died on his farm near Greenville in Sep- tember, 1868, having preached in this State twenty years; his wife died in 1864.

THE HOOD FAMILY. Of the ten chil- dren born to Lambert and Sarah Hood, seven grew to mature years, and the four still sur- viving live in Litchfield. The family on the father's side were for several generations res- idents of the city of Philadelphia, where the four surviving children were all born; their mother was Welsh, coming in childhood with her parents to this country. The father was poor. and was able to support his family only by the constant labor of his hands, united with the strictest economy, and aided by his wife and older sons. In 1837, the parents, with four of the children (of whom H. H. and B. S. alone survive), removed to Alton, Ill., and afterward to Otter Creek Prairie, then in Greene, now in Jersey County. Their stay in the West was only for about eighteen months, at the end of which time they re- turned to Philadelphia. The mother died in 1844, and the father in 1850. Ann Hughes

Hood the eldest child, was for twenty years a teacher in the schools of Philadelphia; in 1857, she resigned her position as Principal of one of the secondary schools to accompany her brother (with whom she still lives) to Litchfield; she has been a member of the M. E. Church since her childhood. Joseph Lybrand Hood, second child, was born Au- gust 22, 1819. In 1845, he was married to Miss Rebecca Shapley, who died nine years later. Four children were born to them, of whom one died in infancy and two in woman- hood; those who attained maturity were Her- bert Shapley (still living), Sarah Hughes and Edith Prizer. In 1856, he left Philadelphia, and, with B. S. Hood, engaged in the sale of drugs and books, under the style of Hood & Brother; the successors of this firm, Hood & Son (Joseph L. and Herbert S.), are still in business. He united with the M. E. Church about forty years ago, and has been an active worker in church and Sunday school during most of that time. Humphrey Hughes Hood, the fourth child, was born September 19, 1823. In 1848, after reading with a tutor, he entered Jefferson Medical College, Phila- delphia, and was graduated in the spring of 1851. In the following autumn, he removed to Jersey County, Ill., where he had lived a short time during his boyhood. After teach- ing a winter school and having charge of a drug store in Jerseyville for one year, he re- moved to Hardinsburg, a village then about two miles southwest of the present site of Litchfield, and engaged in the practice of his profession. Late in the following autumn, Litchfield was laid out, and, in the summer of 1854, he removed his office to the new town. In June, 1855, he was married to Miss Matilda Woodhouse, eldest daughter of Charles S. Jackson, of Jerseyville, who died January 2, 1867; by this union he had five children, of whom three survive, namely, J

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History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 71

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin Number of Pages: 758

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 758