USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 72
USA > Illinois > Bond County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 72
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
150
BIOGRAPHICAL :
George Perry, Sarah Frances and Annie Hughes. In September, 1862, he entered the army, with the appointment of Assistant Sur- geon of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and, after one year, was appointed Surgeon of the Third United States Heavy Artillery, with quarters at Fort Pickering, Memphis, Tenn., holding that position three years, during a part of which time he was on the staff of Gen. John E. Smith as Surgeon-in-Chief of the District of West Tennessee. In July, 1869, he was married to Mrs. Abigail Elvira Paden, daugh- ter of the late Joseph Torrey, of Springfield, Ill .; two children, both living, were the fruits of this marriage-Harold Humphrey and Abigail Louise. Dr. Hood has been three times elected Alderman of the city of Litchfield, and once Supervisor of the town of North Litchfield; the discharge of his offi- cial duties have invariably been with the most thorough and conscientious exactness, always making himself familiar with the business before him and the best method of disposing of it for the public good, before committing himself. The same traits, together with a warm fidelity to the interests of his friends, have characterized his conduct in private life. In politics, he and his brothers were origin- ally Free-Soilers, and, since the organization of the Republican party, close adherents of the latter. Benjamin Smith Hood, eighth child, was born October 24, 1832; was edu- cated in the public schools of Philadelphia; came West in April. 1852; tanght school the following summer in Madison County, Ind., and afterward, till the spring of 1856, in Illinois, principally near Jerseyville, but, in the summer of 1854, in the old Lutheran Church, which stood on what is now Scherer's Addition to Litchfield. In April, 1856, he, with J. L. Hood, engaged in the drug busi- ness, from which he retired in January, 1867.
Since that time, he has been a Notary Public and insurance agent. In April, 1859, he was married to Miss Mary Tanner, second daugh- ter of Charles S. Jackson, of Jerseyville, who died December 25, 1866; three children were born to them, of whom Mary, Louise and Charles are still living. In December, 1867. he bought the offices of the Union Monitor, of Hillsboro, and the Litchfield News, and consolidated the two under the name of the Litchfield Monitor. He sold this business in January, 1870, but again bought it in Jan- uary, 1878, and has since conducted it, the last year in partnership with Mr. John G. Campbell. He was Village Clerk in 1857, and at different times bas filled the office of City Clerk for nine and a half years. In 1861, he served three months as private in Company D of the Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
P. T. JAMES, physician, was born in Franklin County, Va., January 5, 1828, and passed his youth in the village of Rocky Mount and vicinity; was educated at Emery and Henry College, in Washington County, Va., from which he graduated in 1846, when he began the study of medicine, reading a preliminary course with Dr. William L. T. Hopkins, of his native place; entered the Medical Department of the University of Vir- ginia in 1848, and graduated from that insti- tution in March, 1850. He began practice at Elamsville, Va., but only remained a short time, when he returned to his native county. In 1855, he went to Missouri and practiced until the war broke out, when he entered the First Missouri Cavalry Regiment, under Col. William Brown, afterward becoming Regi. mental Surgeon of the First, and then Acting Division Surgeon under Gen. Sterling Price. serving until the latter part of 1863, when he was captured by Missouri Federals, held two months, and finally released on bond. Sec-
151
LITCHIFIELD.
tional feeling becoming so bitter at that time, and the Doctor feeling that his property was in jeopardy, he removed to Illinois in 1864 and located at Litchfield, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profes- sion, with good success. In addition to his previous preparation for the intelligent and thorough understanding of his profession, the Doctor attended a regular course of lectures at the St. Louis Medical College, from which he received the degree of M. D .; he also re- ceived the degree ad eundem from the Mis- souri Medical College. In December, 1850, he married Miss Emily R. Woods. of Frank- lin County, Va .. a relative of Gen. Jubal Early. His paternal ancestor was Welsh, and his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Thompson, was of English parent- age, both of whose families settled in the Old Dominion before the Revolution. the Jameses being amongst the first colonists at James- town ; he has seven children living. The Doctor received the nomination for Coroner of Montgomery County at the hands of the Democratic convention in June. 1882.
of his township. In religious matters, he entertained the Baptist doctrine. He was the father of nine children, six of whom grew to maturity, and are still living. Our subject was raised on the farm, and educated in the common schools and in Bunker Hill Acad- emy. He began reading law with Woodson & Walker, of Carlinville, Ill., in the spring of 1866, and was admitted to the bar in Sep- tember, 1867. He began the practice of his chosen profession as the law partner of George P. Fowler, in Litchfield, in the spring of 1868; the partnership was dissolved in the fall of the same year, and he has practiced in this city ever since. He was elected City At- torney in 1869. and served one year; he was first elected City Clerk in 1878, and is now serving his fifth term; in the spring of 1882. he was elected City Attorney, and is also serving in that capacity. He is Director of the Public Library, and Secretary of its board. On October 26, 1870, he married Miss Eu- genia A., youngest daughter of J. V. Hopper. of Bunker Hill.
WILLIAM A. LEACH, grocer, Litchfield, was born October 11, 1833, in Philadelphia, Penn., and, at the age of one year, was taken
GEORGE W. JONES, City Clerk and at- torney at law, Litchfield, was born on April 14, 1846, in Macoupin County, Ill., near 1 to Salem, N. J., thence, two years later, to Bunker Hill; he is the son of Simeon and Dorothea (Starkey) Jones, who were natives of Madison County, Ill., both being born near Bethalto. His father was born in 1811, and was raised to the occupation of farming. The grandfather of our subject was Rev. William Jones. one of the first Baptist preachers in the State; he was sometimes called the "fighting preacher." Simeon Jones came to Bunker Hill in 1828, having just married and settled on a farm one mile west of that place, and resided there until his death. in 1852. By his efforts he ac- ' quired a handsome property. He was a prom- inent man in his county, and was Treasurer Wilmington, Del., where he grew up, and, at the age of sixteen, apprenticed himself to the molder's trade, serving his time under Bush & Lobdell, in their foundry, working also two years as journeyman. He went to At- lanta, Ga., in 1859, and worked four years in a foundry there, and at Macon, Ga., was fore- man for one year in the Macon & Western Railroad shops. In December, 1864, he came to Litchfield, where he has since resided. He worked as molder here in the railroad shops ten years for Mr. H. H. Beach. In about 1875, he bought a farm in South Litch field Township of 206 acres, and conducted it five years with good success; he still owns it.
152
BIOGRAPHICAL:
In January, 1880, he engaged in the grocery trade with Mr. Thorpe, and since has con- ducted a prosperous business under the firm name of Thorpe & Leach, on Jackson street. In 1862, he was married to a widow lady, Mrs. Jones, née Miss Temperance Fowler, at Atlanta. Ga.
BENNETT P. LEWRIGHT was born near Winchester, Frederick Co., Va., May 4, 1813, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Price) Lew- right; Robert was at one time wealthy, but became involved through security debts. Bennett P. received a good English education at Upperville, Va .; went to Ohio when twenty- one years of age and taught school there three years; went to Missouri about the year 1837, and taught school three years in Franklin County, that State, where he afterward farmed till 1856, then moved to Miller County, Mo., where he remained nine years engaged in farming. In 1865, he came to Montgomery County, III., having exchanged 555 acres of land in Missouri with Mr. Bowen for 172 acres near Litchfield; here he lived about two years, then moved to his present place, con- sisting of ninety-six acres, to the cultivation of which he devotes his time. In Ohio, in 1838, he married Narcissa Soofbourow, a native of Fayette County, Ohio, who has borne him twelve children, viz .: Edmund M., Maria S., Alphonso J., Robert W. (deceased), Mar- ium F., Corinne P., Robert, William L., Harley B., Jennie R. (deceased), Frances E. (deceased) and James S. Mr. Lewright is a stanch Democrat; he has been a member of the United Baptist Church forty years.
ness, opening a general store on the site of D. Davis & Co.'s present grocery building, continuing four years, when our subject went out of the business and returned to his home in New York. In 1860, he returned to Litch- field and remained a year, when he went to East Saginaw, Mich., where he engaged in the manufacture of salt for a period of four years; retaining an interest in real estate, he has frequently visited the place since. He lived five years in St. Paul, Minn., when he went to New York, where he engaged in the real estate business.
JOHN LANGE, Superintendent Car and Machine Company, Litchfield, was born in Oldenburg six miles from Bremen, Germany, in August, 1832. In his fifteenth year, he left school and became a seaman on a mer- chant vessel; he shipped as boy, and, after sailing four years, became ship carpenter, in which capacity he served four years; he was on the sea from 1845 to 1853, and sailed on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Mediter ranean, North and Baltic Seas in his travels; he rounded Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope, visited Australia, the Indies and South America; he made several trips between Eu- rope and the United States. Leaving the sea, he came, via New Orleans, La., to Alton, Ill., in the fall of 1853, and there became car-builder for the Terre Haute & Alton Rail- road; he remained at Alton until the shops were moved to Litchfield, in 1858, when he came also, and worked in the car department, where he rose to the position of Master Car- Builder; when the shops were removed to Mattoon, Mr. Lange went there for six months to aid in starting them in operation. He be- came a charter member, and also a Director, of the Litchfield Car Manufacturing Com- pany; at the opening of that company's shops. he became Superintendent of refitting shops
EGBERT S. LITCHFIELD, real estate, New York City, was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., in 1836, and, when a mere child, was removed to Cazenovia, where he was educated in a seminary. He came to Litchfield in the fall of 1855, with his brother, E. E. Litch- field, and they engaged in mercantile busi- . for manufacturing purposes, and was the first
153
LITCHFIELD.
Superintendent of the shops, which position he virtually has held ever since, at various times having been elected to other offices in the company. At the re-organization of the Litchfield Car and Machine Company, he be- came a stockholder and Director; he has been Superintendent and Vice President of the present company. Since 1858, he has been in the shops continually, except the six months at Mattoon In Alton, Ill., on De- cember 18, 1853, he married Miss Fanny Bohnens, a native of Hanover, Germany. His father's name was Charles Lange, a car- penter.
GEORGE B. LITCHFIELD, restaurant, Litchfield, was born in Syracuse, N. Y., in 1842, and came West in 1856, with his par- ents, locating in Litchfield. At the age of sixteen, he began his apprenticeship in the office of H. A. Coolidge, publisher of the Litchfield Journal. In 1863, he formed a partnership with E. J. C. Alexander and ran a job office here for a year, when he formed a partnership with B. S. Hood and published the Litchfield Monitor for a period of two years; then, selling his interest in that pa- per, he bought a job office, and, during that year, printed a paper for the Fithian Broth- ers of Carlinville. He next sold the job office to Kimball & Taylor, who established the Independent, and he then became mana- ger of its office, continuing about one year, when he started the Montgomery Democrat, which afterward became the Litchfield Demo- crat. For the first year, he took in R. S. Young as editor, after which he conducted it in his own name until September, 1881, when he sold it to Mr. Charles T. Tobin, and en- gaged in the restaurant business on State street. His father. Elisha W. Litchfield, was born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1819, and moved to Syracuse, N. Y., at which place, in 1839, he married Mary E. Johnson. At that place
he was a large wholesale grocer and last manufacturer. After coming to Litchfield, he engaged in the lumber trade, and subse- quently in the grocery business, at which he continued until his death, on April 28, 1862; his wife and son died in the same year. He was the second Mayor of the town, and held that office two years.
ELI LEE, grocer, Litchfield, was born in Greene County, Ill., where he lived until De- cember, 1829. He entered a grocery in Car- rollton, where he conducted business until he came to Litchfield, in 1863, and opened a grocery and provision store on the site he now occupies, at No. 67 State street, where he has carried on that business ever since, except a period of about three years, during which he was engaged in the agricultural implement business. Mr. Lee has taken an active inter- est in public affairs of the city and county, and has served several terms in the City Council; he is now a member of the Town- ship Democratic Committee. In 1859, he married a daughter of Capt. E. M. Gilmore. The father of our subject is Archibald Lee, who was born in Huntsville, Ala., in 1804, and came to this State in 1814, with his par- ents, who settled in White County and lived there until 1832, when he removed to Greene County, where he has since resided; he now lives in Greenfield, Greene County, in his seventy-seventh year. He served in both campaigns of the Black Hawk war. He mar- ried Miss Jane Upton, of White County, in 1822, and raised a family of fourteen chil- dren, twelve of whom are living.
GEORGE A. MATTHEWS, merchant and contractor, Litchfield, was born in Caroline County, Md., in 1830, and, when four years old, left his native State. He was raised in Muskingum County, Ohio, and, at the age of eighteen, began to learn the brick-mason's trade, and also brick-making; he served three
154
BIOGRAPHICAL:
years' apprenticeship in Zanesville, Ohio. In 1857, he came to Illinois to build the rail- road shops at Litchfield. and acted as fore- man of the men on brick and stone work dur- ing 1857 and 1858; he was foreman when the shops were remodeled for the Litchfield Car Manufacturing Company, and also rebuilt them after the fire of 1872; he was a con- tractor and builder in partnership with his brother, W. T. Matthews, under the firm name of Matthews & Bro., until the close of the war, after which the firm name was Matthews & Chamberlain, his business career in this direction extending over a period of twenty- five years, during which time they put up the major portion of the brick structures of the city. In 1865, he formed a partnership with Mr. Kessinger, the firm name being Kes- singer, Matthews & Co., and engaged in the grain and merchandising business, continuing about three years, when Mr. Matthews sold his interest to Kessinger & Baker. In ad- dition to the brick-yard and brick-laying, he afterward engaged in the manufacture of candies and in the bakery business for two | years, when he again devoted his entire time and attention to brick work. In October, 1877, he bought out the store of L. Cramp, and continued business in the frame building on the corner of State and Madison streets, which he replaced with a handsome two-story brick building in ISS1, in October of which year he sold his old stock. In January, 1882, he formed a partnership with Theodore Hart, - under the firm name of G. A. Matthews & Co., and opened a new stock of groceries in his new building on the old site, where they are conducting a good and lucrative business. He has built ten dwelling houses for himself, and two storerooms, and has given employ- ment to from eight to twenty men for a large portion of each year. Mr. Matthews is a stanch Republican. In 1866, he was mar-
ried to Miss Temperance Jones, of Litchfield. In 1859, he married Miss Hattie Carlo, of Zanesville, Ohio, and removed to Wyandotte, Kan., where he lived three months, when his wife and child died. in September, 1860. His present wife, née Miss Jones, has one daughter, Jessie, born on May 30, 1879. The father of our subject was a ship carpen- ter, and his wife, Mr. Matthews' mother, was of Quaker parentage-was Sarah Vain; she died at the age of seventy-eight. Their chil- dren, with the exception of our subject and another son, are residents of Ohio.
JACOB MOCK was born in Alsace, France, about twenty miles from Strasbourg, in 1826, and came to the United States with his par- ents when two years old. They settled in Montgomery County, Penn., where our subject spent his youth, and. at seventeen, went to learn the carpenter's trade, serving two years and three months, after which he worked as a journeyman; also worked one year under instructions in Philadelphia. He then went to Cincinnati, New Orleans and St. Louis, then to Madison County, Ill., where he and his brother worked, taking wild land in pay- ment, thus becoming owners of 140 acres of land; he worked at his trade for some years, and, in the meantime, improved his land. In 1863, he sold his farm and came to Litch- field, and has worked at car-building ever since, with the exception of six years at mill- wrighting. February 17, 1853, he married Miss Lucinda Wetmore, daughter of Reuben and Martha (Olmstead) Wetmore, of Madison County. They have had the following chil- dren: Charles J., George W., Martha An- netta, Jessie Bell and Orris C .; those living are Edward M., William F. and Mabel M. Mr. Mock was originally a Whig, but is now a Republican; is also a member of the Free Methodist Church. The father of our sub- ject, John Mock, was a cooper. His mother
155
LITCHFIELD.
died when he was eleven years old, and he was raised by a Dunkard named John Crater, of Pennsylvania.
JOHN H. McMANUS, photographer, Litch- field, was born in Macoupin County, Ill., near Palmyra, December 2, 1843; son of G. F. and Emeline McManus, he, a native of Tennessee and she of Kentucky. In addition to the or- dinary common-school education, young Me- Manns attended the high school at Carlin- ville, Ill. He removed with his father to Athens, Henderson Co., Tenn., in 1855, where he lived three years, dividing his time be- tween going to school and assisting his father in his cabinet-shop. His father removed to Texas in 1858, and our subject worked with him till the latter part of 1860, when he erected a large mill, in which he was engaged till January 8, 1862, when he enlisted in a company which ultimately became a part of the Twenty-second Texas Volunteer Infantry, and attached to the Trans-Mississippi De- partment of the Army of the Confederate States; in June, 1862, he became snare drum- mer, and remained till July, when he was transferred to a brass band, J. B. Norman, leader, and remained in it until the close of the war. in 1864-65, playing the leading in- strument. In May, 1865, the army disband- ing. Mr. MeManus returned to Mt. Pleasant, Texas, where he attended a select school for some time, after which he accompanied his father to Dallas, where they took charge of the Osceola Flouring-Mills, where the son worked as engineer. In 1866, he came to Macoupin County and obtained the position of engineer at the woolen factory, which he shortly gave up, and worked at carpentering till the fall; the following winter he spent as a student in a private school, taught by Mr. Coolidge. and. June 7, 1867, he entered the photograph gallery of D. C. Bacon, spending three months under instructions; then to
Macoupin County, farming, going to school in the winter; continued farming in 1868, and worked at building with his father. During a portion of 1870, he assisted Mr. Bacon in his gallery. In January, 1871, he bought his present gallery, in Litchfield, which he has since conducted with marked success, and turning out work equal in chem- ical effect and artistic execution to the best work done in the cities. Mr. McManus, hav- ing made a study of his present profession, is able to cope with the best artists anywhere, as he thoroughly understands the chemistry of photography, as well as that very impor- tant accompaniment of good portraiture -- ar- tistic effect.
THOMAS McWILLIAMS, deceased, son of Alexander and Nancy (Kirkpatrick) Mc- Williams, was born in Hillsboro Township, Montgomery County, in July, 1822. He re- ceived an ordinary education, and learned the wagon-maker's trade. He served in the Mexican war under Capt. McAdams, and for his services received a land warrant of 160 acres, in addition to which he entere , in 1848, the land on which his widow now re- sides. He married, in 1850, Susan Jane Barry, daughter of John Barry, and from this union eight children were born, of whom two sons and four daughters are living. The names of the eight children are as follows: Sarah E. (died at two years of age), John Newton, Nancy P., Amanda J., Mary Alice A., William Henry (died at eighteen years of age), Franklin W. and Minnie. Previous to his marriage, he had ereeted a log cabin on his land. had broken a few acres and fenced a small tract; he afterward built a shop near his residenee, where he worked at his trade, principally on repairing; he also worked at the carpenter's trade, and assisted in the erection of his own residence and outbuild- ings; he, however, devoted his time chiefly
156
BIOGRAPHICAL :
to farming, and owned at his death 452 acres of land, which he had accumulated chiefly by his own labor, although his health was broken down by his army services; the home- stead farm of 280 acres he kept in a good state of cultivation. He was a supporter of the Democratic party.
JAMES N. McELVAIN was born in Simp- son County, Ky., five miles from the Tennes- see line, May 17, 1818, son of William and Jane (Neely) McElvain. William, the father of our subject, born in Cumberland County, Penn .. in October, 1783, went to Virginia when seven years of age, thence to Kentucky when twenty-two, and to Illinois in 1850; lived in Sangamon County for some years, and died in Macoupin County January 12, 1864; his wife, a native of Orange County, N. Y., died February 1, 1849; they were the parents of fifteen children-ten sons and five daughters, subject being the fifth child; of this family, six sons and one daughter are living. James N. received his education in the subscription schools of Kentucky, and began farming in his native county. In 1841, he married A. A. Hamilton. of Scott County, Mo., who has borne him six children, of whom four are living, viz .: Andrew J., William H .. James N. and Mary A. In the fall of 1847, he moved from Kentucky with his fam- ily and settled in Montgomery County, Ill., on 160 acres of land which he purchased of Benjamin Hathaway, who had entered it some years previous, and had broken about twenty acres. Mr. McElvain has since resided on the place, of which 120 acres are under cul- tivation, the remaining forty acres being tim- ber land; he also owns various tracts of land elsewhere. He has given particular attention to stock-raising, for which his farm is well adapted, and raises cattle of a good grade; before the late war, he raised horses and mules. In the fall of 1870, he was elected to
the State Legislature from Montgomery County, and served during the sessions of 1871-72; he acted on the Committees on Banks and Corporations; was elected Justice of the Peace in 1852, in which office he served four years. He was a Whig until 1852, and has since been an adherent of the Democratic party.
SYLVESTER MURPHY was born in Ma conpin County, Ill .. June 10, 1845; is the only living child of Hiram and Sarah (Huff) Murphy. Hiram Murphy, born in Clermont County, Ohio, December 8, 1816, came West with his parents in 1828 and settled near Carrollton, in Greene County, Ill., where he lived four years, then moved to Macoupin County, Ill., with his parents, where he has lived for half a century; he has been a suc- cessful farmer: beginning with nothing, he now owns 600 acres of improved land. His wife, whom he married about 1843, was of German descent. Sylvester received his pri- mary education in the district schools of Ma- conpin County, and finished at the high school in Carlinville. He came to Montgomery County about the year 1868; lived on the farm there two years, then moved to the city of Litchfield, and carried on farming in North Litchfield Township, raising good crops of corn and wheat; he served as Town Clerk of South Litchfield in 1880. The great-grand- father of our subject was a native of Ireland; his wife was a native of Germany, named Hess, and bore him seven sons; he started to return to the old country, but was never afterward heard of, and is supposed to have been lost at sea. John Murphy, subject's grandfather, was born in Jefferson County, Ky., January 26, 1791; he served in the war of 1812, and afterward located in Ohio; he engaged in flat-boating to New Orleans on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers; was mar- ried three times, and had eleven children by
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.