USA > Illinois > Cass County > History of Cass county, Illinois > Part 26
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EDWARD T. OLIVER, banker, Virginia; was born in the city of Virginia, Cass County, April 23, 1849. His father, Charles Oliver, was one of the pioneers of Cass County, and in the year 1835, in company with Dr. Hall, came to Virginia. Dr. Hall was one of the first merchants of Virginia, and Charles Oliver was for a time his clerk, and in time following entered the mercantile business for himself, in which he continued with success until his
death, which occurred Sept. 5, 1877, he at that time being sixty-three years of age. He married Lydia Ann Job, second child of Archibald and Jane (Brierly) Job, one of the earliest settlers of Southern Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver had five sons and one daughter, viz .: William A., Charles R., Morrison J., Rudolph B., Edward T., and Harriet, deceased at two years of age. Thus it will be seen, that Edward T. was the fifth son. He re- ceived a thorough common school education, and gained a thorough and practical business experience while in the employ of his father as salesman in his store. In 1866 he entered the Farmer's National Bank, as a book-keeper. In 1872, the management of this house prac- tically had a change, and as Mr. Oliver's posi- tion in the concern was wanted by another, he was retired. His ability as a rising young business man was very generally recognized in business circles, and his talents found a ready market, as he was immediately called to assume a more responsible position in the well known banking firm of Petefish, Skiles & Co. Since his connection with this institution, he has been the cashier, and a partner in the business. Oct. 20, 1870, Mr. Oliver married Miss Maggie S. Vance, daughter of Samuel S. and Martha (Steven- son) Vance. Mr. Vance was one of the old settlers of Morgan County. He died in 1868. They have had four children, viz .: Edward C., Bertha L., George W., and Rena, who died in 1873, when three months old. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver are, since 1874, members of the Pres- byterian Church of Virginia. Mr. Oliver is regarded as one of the most substantial and enterprising business men of his city; is alive to any and all business enterprises tending to the prosperity of his town, or the general public good. He was active as a member of the City Council, when it authorized the build- ing of their present commodious court-house, and afterward became a member of the Build-
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ing Committee. A sketch of the banking house of Petefish, Skiles & Co., with which Mr. Oliver is connected, appears elsewhere in this volume.
SAMUEL H. PETEFISH, banker. Very few of the present citizens of Cass County have been and are more closely identified with the business interests of their prosper- ous little city, than has been and is the sub- jeet of this sketch. Mr. Petefish came to Cass County at a time when men of pith and energy were most needed to develop its un- seen resources, and establish its growth upon the foundations of solid business principles; and the success of this work, done by the pi- oneers of his and earlier days, stands out in bold relief as a monument to their industry and perseverance. Mr. Petefish's parents were natives of Old Virginia. They emi- grated from that State and settled in Morgan County in 1835, upon the three-mile strip, finally attached to Cass County and about five miles south of the present location of the city of Virginia. His father, Jacob, died in 1849, on the homestead, and his mother was former- ly Elizabeth Price. They raised a family of ten children, six sons and four daughters: William, Jacob, Samuel H., John A., Andrew J., and Thomas B. Besides our subject, Ja- cob and John are residents of Cass County; William and Thomas reside in Douglas Coun- ty, Kan .; Andrew fell a soldier in the late war. Mrs. Sarah (Robert) Maxfield is the only surviving daughter. She and her hus- band reside in Macoupin County, in which lo- cality died her sister, Mrs. Ellen (Joseph) Crum. Mrs. Dinah (Rev. Daniel) Short died in Sangamon County. Christian Petefish, our subject's grandfather, came to this eoun- try as a Hessian soldier. He deserted the English army soon after the battle of Prince- ton, and joining the patriot forces, fought no- bly for the independence of America. He settled in Old Virginia after the close of the
conflict, where he raised a family of children, viz .: John, Christian, Georg ., Jacob, aud Mrs. Catharine Chamberlain, who now lives in Ne- braska. March 18, 1848, Mr. Petefish mar- ried Miss Naney M., daughter of Peter and Melinda (Huffman) Hudson. Mrs. Petefish is a native of the State of Virginia. Her father removed from that State to Kentucky, and then to Cass County, in the year 1827, lo- ing in township seventeen, range eleven, on section fourteen. He was twice married, Melinda being his first wife, who left him two sons and three daughters. Mrs. Petefish was the elder, and was born May 2, 1827, soon after her parents arrived in Cass County. With the exception of five years spent in Mc- Donough County, he lived in Cass County. Mrs. Hudson died in June, 1853, and in 1855 Mr. Hudson married Mrs. Mathias. Mr. and Mrs. Petefish have been blessed with eight children, of whom three only are liv- ing: Miss Mary E., married Joseph Chamber- lain, Louis, and Miss Ada L. Mr. Chamber- lain died in Missouri about 1870, and Mrs. Chamberlain is living with her parents. Hen- ry T., a lad about twelve years of age, was lost during the burning of the steamer Ocean Spray, which sad catastrophe occurred on the Mississippi river, about five miles above St. Louis. Mr. Petefish is known through Cen- tral Illinois as being one of the most enter- prising and successful business men of Cass County, and at the head of three successful banking houses, sketches of which appear elsewhere in this work, and also a full page portrait of our subject.
JACOB PETEFISH was born in Rock- ingham County, Va., and came with his father and family into the present limits of Cass County in 1835. A settlement was made in Tp. 17 north, range 10 west, where his parents continued to reside until taken away by death. His father departed this life in 1849, and his mother in 1853. They were
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members of the Lutheran Church, and had the reputation of being devout Christian peo- ple. They raised the following family: Mrs. Mary (Reuben) Faltz, and William (twins), Dinah, Mrs. (Rev. Daniel) Short, Elizabeth, Mrs. Sarah (Robert) Maxfield, and Mrs. Helen (Joseph) Crum, Jacob, Samuel H., and John A. Of these, Andrew was in the Union service during the late rebellion, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Look Out Mountain. Thomas, the youngest, resided in Kansas. In May, 1855, our subject married Miss Nancy C., daughter of Benjamin and Margaret Strickler, of Rockingham, County, Va., by whom he had the following children: Benja- min S., Berryman S., Edward E., Joseph H., Andrew J., Marcellus C., Nellie, Frank, and Lizzie L. Mr. Petefish's paternal grandfather, Christian, was one of the Ilessians, hired, or rather sold, into the English service against the Infant Colonies, confederated against Brit- ish oppression. True to the native instincts of a noble manhood, he deserted the English army and espoused the cause of patriotism. After the close of the war, he settled in Vir- ginia, where he died. In this State his son Jacob, father of our subject, was born and ro- sided, and there married Miss Elizabeth Price, the mother of the children pre- viously mentioned. Mr. Petefish, when about of age, purchased on his own re- sponsibility, about 200 acres of land and com- menced farming. With industry and perse- verance he has added to his estate until he now owns about 600 acres of finely improved land, which includes his father's old homestead. It may justly be said of Mr. Petefish and his family, that they form one of the honest and trustworthy elements of Cass County. Mr. Petefish, besides being a successful agri- culturist, has done something in the way of grazing and stock feeding.
ADAM PRICE (deceased), one of the first settlers of Cass County, was a son of Adam
and Elizabeth (Miller) Price, and was born in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, in Rocking- ham County, in August, 1803. Here he lived until about thirty-two years of age. In 1833 he married Miss Susan Rosenberger, and came to Cass County the same year. He was the first emigrant, direct to Cass County, from the Old Dominion State. He first located in Morgan County, near Arcadia, and remained there until his removal to Virginia Precinct, in 1853, settling on section 28. He raised a family of three sons and four danghters; five of his offspring having died in infancy. Of these, William T., and Adam C., are still resi- dents of Cass County. William T. was born Nov. 6, 1839. In 1861, he entered the Union army, and was mustered in at Springfield, and assigned to the 114th Ill. Vol. Infantry Co. D. The regiment did valiant service in the department of the lower Mississippi, and was engaged in several lively battles, including the forty days' campaign before Vicksburg. Mr. Price was taken prisoner at Grand Tower, Miss., June 10, 1864, and confined at Ander- sonville, Millen, and Florence prisons, for about eight months, and finally paroled in February, 1865. He was then furloughed for thirty days, reported again to his regiment, and received his discharge at the expiration of his term of enlistment, Aug. 13, 1865. Mr. Price was married Dec. 29, 1860, to Miss Ra- chel Augusta Marshall, daughter of William Marshall (deceased). Mr. Marshall was also one of the early pioneers of Cass County, and located and owned at one time a large landed estate, a portion of which Mr. Price now owns and lives upon. James Marshall, Sen., and father of William Marshall, came to Cass County as early as 1825, from Kentucky, and was a native of Woodford County. Mrs. Price is the eldest of her father's family; Miss Jen- nie M. was next, and Louise W. (deceased 1863), was the third. William T. Price is an active, industrious, and successful farmer, as
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is his next younger brother, Adam C. Price, who was born in May 16, 1844, in Morgan County. He was the third child of the fami- ly, attended the common schools of Cass, and commenced farming for himself at twenty years of age. He married Miss Ruth Bacon, daughter of Ira Bacon, a farmer of Arcadia, Morgan Co., in November, 1864. Mr. Ba- con is a native of Connecticut, married Ann Christie, a native of the Empire State. Mrs. Price is the oldest of the family of eight chil- dren. Mr. and Mrs. Adam Price have eleven children, as follows: Ann, Thomas, Edwin, Harry, Minnie, Della, Adam, Frederick, Ber- tie, Archie, and Mary.
WILLIAM B. PAYNE, the leading dry- goods merchant of Virginia, was born at Nicholasville, in Jessamine Co., Ky., August 24, 1824. His father, Flemming Payne, was a native of the same State, Todd County, Green River Country; was a tailor by trade, and made it the occupation of his life. He married Miss Susan Hightower, daughter of Captain Richard Hightower, a native of Old Virginia, a farmer and hotel-keeper. Flemming Payne's father was Charles Payne, who raised a family of eleven, the youngest of which lived to be thirty years of age, and the oldest ninety-three, and two are still living at an advanced age. They all settled in Ken- tucky, but the two now liying are residents of Missouri. Flemming was the seventh of the family, and raised two sons and one daughter. Charles F. (deceased 1860) was a farmer of Cass County, Mo .; Miranda H. is now widow of Charles F. Lowery, a merchant of Lexing- ton, later Circuit Clerk of Fayette County. She still resides there at fifty-five years of age. William, our subject, attended school at Nicholasville, and left home at sixteen years of age. He clerked in a store for a time in his native town, and then went to Lexington and clerked about five years. At twenty- three years of age he entered the dry-goods
business at Oxford, Scott County, Ky. In 1853 he went to Cass County, Mo., and fol- lowed farming successfully for about eight years. He came to Virginia, Cass Co., in 1864, and re-entered the mercantile business, and has since that time continued in trade. Mr. Page has spent about thirty years as a merchant, and eighteen years in Virginia. He was married February 24, 1848, to Miss Hannah E. Allender, daughter of Edward Allender, of Lexington, Ky. They have nine children living: Sue, now Mrs. Finis E. Downing, present Circuit Clerk of Cass County; Charles F., a merchant of Ashland, Cass Co., this State; Miranda H., wife of A. M. Thompson, farmer, Cass County; Hen- rietta, B., or Mrs. D. M. Crum, farmer, of this county; Wm. G., who married Miss Eva L. Black, of Virginia; Richard H., James S., Eva L., and John S. are still at home. Mr. and Mrs. Payne are members of the Metho- dist Church, and Mr. Payne is a member of the I. O. O. F., of 36 years' standing.
HENRY QUIGG, of Virginia Precinct, a native of Wilmington, Delaware; was born May 22, 1827. His father, William Quigg, was a native of Ireland, and emigrated to America in the year 1822, and brought with him his wife and one child. Mrs. Quigg was also born in Ireland, and her maiden name was Sarah Rogers. William Quigg was by occupation a contractor, and did quite a suc- cessful business in this country, especially in the East. In 1832, he superintended the con- struction of Pennsylvania avenue, Washing- ton, D. C., the famous street, one mile in length, that connects the United States Capitol building with the White House. This was in its day a very important job, as was all the work that pertained to the permanent laying out of our Nation's Capital. Mr. Quigg after- ward became a contractor on the Baltimore and Ohio R. R., and in 1834 came to Cass County. He brought with him his family,'
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including wife and one son, our subject. A second son, Mathew, was born to him after his arrival here, who is now a wholesale mer- chant of Atchison, Kansas. Mr. Quigg was a prosperous and thrifty farmer, and a shrewd business man. He died in 1867, his wife having preceded hin to the land of eternal rest about ten years. Henry Quigg, our subject, received his schooling almost entirely in Cass County, attending at last in Beardstown. He com- menced farming for himself in the year 1852, on the old homestead, and removed on to his present place in April, 1856. February 22, 1852, he married Miss Margaret Cotney, daugh- ter of Thomas Cotney, of Kent County, Mich., who was of Irish nativity. This union has been blessed with seven children, five sons and two daughters. James F., a farmer of Virginia Precinct, who married Catharine Treadway, William, Thomas John M., Henry C., Steven A., Sarah A., and Annie. Mr. and Mrs. Quigg are members of the Catholic Church of Virginia.
JUDGE J. W. REARICK, Judge elect, of Cass County; was born in Prussia, on March 17, 1833, and is the fifth of seven children. In 1837, his father emigrated with his family from Prussia to this country, settling first in Franklin County, Pa. Here he engaged in work at his trade, that of a tinner. About the year 1856, he came West in quest of a location, and fixed upon Beards- town, Ill., as his future home, to which town he soon removed. Here he commenced work at his trade, which he prosecuted with suc- cess, until his death, which occurred in 1868. He was known as a workman of more than ordinary skill, a substantial and fair minded citizen. It is scarcely necessary to add, that the father was careful that his sons each ac- quired a trade, to the end that they might be more useful men, and independent citizens. Jacob W. accordingly received instructions in tin-smithing of his father. He also ac-
quired a fair schooling. He preceded his father to Beardstown, having located there in 1854, and commenced work as a tinner with his brother, Francis H., who was at that time established in business there. With the lat- ter Jacob W. soon formed a partnership, which lasted for nineteen years. During this time he also formed a partnership with another brother, Frederick, and the firm erected, and for about five years conducted, a steam flour mill. Mr. Rearick at the same time continuing with Francis H., in this busi- ness, which had merged into a general hard- ware and agricultural implement trade. Judge Rearick was married April 29, 1862, to Miss Elizabeth Kuhl, daughter of George Kuhl, of Beardstown. Mrs. Rearick died April 17, 1863, leaving an infant son, George Francis. Judge Rearick again married on April 3, 1866, to Miss Amanda, daughter of William L. Sargent, Esq., of Morgan County. By this union they have eight children, all of whom are living, viz .: Elsie, Ann, Lydia, John H., Susan A., Frederic, Elizabeth and Jennie. In November, 1877, Judge Rearick was elected to the Judgeship of Cass County, and since that time has filled the responsible posi- tion with entire satisfaction to the citizens of the county. His re-nomination was strongly urged by many of his friends, but the de- mands of business and other duties made upon his time, was his excuse for declining further honors, and at the expiration of his present term of office he intends to retire from politics. The success of Judge Rearick in rising from comparative obscurity to the prominent position he now occupies as a citi- zen, standing at the head of the public affairs of his county, is worthy of note, as showing what uprightness, and increasing energy, worked with a purpose, will accom- plish in our country of free thought, free speech, and free institutions.
GEORGE W. RAWLINGS, farmer, P. O.
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Virginia; Mr. Rawlings was born Dec. 22, 1834, in Cecil County, Maryland, and is the oldest son, and third child of Greenberry Rawlings and Elizabeth Dobler Rawlings, who raised a family of four sons and three daughters, having lost one son and one daugh- ter. Greenberry Rawlings was also a native of Maryland, and a hatter by trade, which oc- cupation he followed until 1837, the year that he came West, and located about four miles west of Virginia in Cass County. He was of Scotch and English extraction, a thrifty and enterprising citizen, and a most successful farmer, which business he followed until his death, in 1864. His family all lo- cated in Cass County, exceptone son in Kan- sas, and a daughter in Jacksonville, Morgan County. Our subject received his schooling in the common schools of Cass County; was brought up a farmer; has been engaged in that occupation and stock feeding up to the present time. Nov. 18, 1860, he married Miss Martha E. Robertson, daughter of Charles Robertson, an early resident of Cass and Morgan Counties. She was born Feb. 18, 1844, and was the fifth of a family of ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings have had nine children, seven of whom are living, viz .: Charles W., Franklin E., Greenberry A., Will- iam E., George E., John T., Samuel J., Harry, and Mary C. George died at four years of age, and Harry at the age of three. Mr. Rawlings was a life-long Republican; voted first for John C. Fremont. He cast the first Republican vote in his precinet, and at a time when there were but two Republi- can voters in his voting precinct. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, and of the A. O. U. W. of Virginia.
OSWELL SKILES, one of the substantial citizens of Cass County and most enterpris- ing business men of Virginia ; was born Oct. 18, 1828. He is son of Ilarmon and Polly (Thompson) Skiles, who was twice mar-
ried. Polly was his first wife, and was mother of Ignatius, and died leaving Oswell an infant. They were natives of the State of Pennsylvania, Ross Co., where their chil- dren were both born; Mr. Skiles was a farmer, in humble circumstances. Our subject, inci- dent to the death of his mother, was adopted by one George Smith, a farmer of Ross County, and he soon removed to Washing- ton County. Here Oswell grew up, and was the youngest in a family of ten children. He worked three years in a harness shop, learned the trade, and in the fall of 1851 came to Cass County and worked for an uncle, Os- well Thompson, near Arenzville, about one year. In 1853 he made an overland trip to California. There he worked for a farmer one year in the Sacramento Valley, and up to 1861 followed mining. He saved about one thousand dollars, returned home, and entered stock dealing with his brother, Ignatius, do- ing a shipping business. This he followed with marked success until the year 1870, and since that time he has been engaged in farm- ing and banking. Mr. Skiles married Miss Anna Conover, daughter of Levi Conover (deceased). She died March 31, 1877, leav- ing one son, Lee Harmon. In 1879 he was married to Miss Eliza Epler, daughter of George Epler, of Sangamon County. Mr. Skiles is a member of the well known bank- ing house of Petefish, Skiles and Co., Virginia; Skiles, Rearick & Co., of Ashland, and also of Petefish, Skiles, Mertz & Co., of Chandlerville; is a member of the Building Association of Virginia, the A. O. U. W., I. O. O. F., and he and Mrs. Skiles are mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church.
IGNATIUS SKILES, deceased, whose portrait appears in this volume, was born in Ohio, August 10, 1827, and was a son of Har- mon and Mary (Thompson) Skiles, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Ohio. The elder Skiles followed
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farming, and died in Ohio. Our subject left home when a small boy, and came to Indiana, where he lived with a man named Kirkpat- rick, until he was twenty-one years old, receiv- ing as compensation, when he became of age, a good suit of clothes, a pony, and forty dollars in money. With this he came to Cass County, Ills., in 1848, and commenced the battle of life on his own account. He was a man of but little education; leaving home early in life, as he did, deprived him of op- portunities to attend school, and he was com- pelled to make his way with what little knowledge he could pick up at odd times. Upon his arrival in Cass County he began farming and stock-dealing, a business he fol- lowed successfully, becoming one of the largest stock-dealers in the county, and amass- ing considerable wealth. At the time of his death he was the largest stockholder in the banking house of Petefish, Skiles & Co., a bank which is still in existence. He married Mary J. Thompson, in 1852, a daughter of Oswell and Elizabeth (Henderson) Thomp- son, natives of Ohio, but who came to Cass County in an early day; he was a farmer, and died in 1864, at the age of fifty-six years; his wife is now living in the City of Virginia, at the age of sixty-seven years. Both were members of the Protestant Methodist Church. He took an active part in the Mormon war at Nauvoo, Ills. Mr. and Mrs. Skiles had five children born to them, three of whom are living, viz .: Ressie A., wife of Wm. T. Mitchell; Hattie L., and Jessie E .; two died in infancy. Mr. Skiles died in 1873, and his widow afterward married Mr. Joseph F. Black, whose sketch appears in another page of this work.
I. M. STRIBLING, farmer, P. O., Vir- ginia ; was one of the oldest citizens and foremost agriculturists of Cass County ; is a native of Logan County, Ky., and was born January 13, 1821. His parents, Benja-
min and Nancy (Washburn) Stribling, emi- grated from Logan County to Morgan County, Ill., in the fall of 1827, and located near Lit- erberry. Benjamin Stribling was a native of old Stafford County, Va., and was born Feb. 11, 1797, and his parents moved from there to Kentucky about the year 1803. He remained in Morgan County until 1830, when he removed to near the present location of the City of Virginia, and until his death, which occurred June 25, 1880, he was a permanent citizen of Cass County. He was a man of his day ; always identified himself with every movement set on foot for the advancement of education and the rights or the interests of his State and county, or the public good. He will long be remembered as one of the stalwart pioneers of Cass County. Isaac M. is the second of a family of three sons; besides our subject, his brother, B. Franklin, jr., now deceased, lo- cated in Cass County, and his younger brother, Thomas, lives in Iowa. He resided with his parents until of age. Sept. 12, 1842, he mar- ried Miss Margaret Beggs, whose parents, Charles and Mary (Rudell) Beggs, were also early settlers on Jersey Prairie. By this union they had five children, two sons and three daughters. At the time of their mar- riage Mr. Stribling's father made him sole owner of about two hundred acres of land. This property he set about improving. He also engaged in stock dealing in a small way, and very successfully, and this business grew in proportion until he became one of the most ex- tensive feeders and dealers in his county, rais- ing all the produce required in his extensive business, and also a large quantity for the market. On Sept. 26, 1856, Mr. Stribling was made to mourn the loss of a faithful and devoted wife, and his family a loving mother.
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