USA > Illinois > Christian County > History of Christian County, Illinois > Part 34
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He fought uuder MeClellan, at Antietam ; under Burnside, at Fredericksburg ; under Fighting Joe Hooker, at Chancellorsville, and under Meade, at Gettysburg-went south with Hooker and fought at Look-out Mountain, in the battle above the clouds and in the battle of Mission Ridge, and then proceeded to Knoxville to the relief of Burnside, who was besieged by Longstreet.
Their time having expired, Captain Kirkwood and his company veteranized and went home on furlough-thirty days-whose in- meusity of pleasures and glory beggars language aud defies descrip- tion.
They returned to duty at Rocky Face, Ga., and marched under Sherman to Atlanta, and "from Atlanta to the sca." At Savau- nalı he was made Commissary of the Brigade, and after it fell went
124
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
through the Carolinas to Washington and rejoined the Army of the Potomac. He was discharged at Louisville, Ky., August, 1865, and thus closed his long, severe, eventful and spotless military career.
His next venture was in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, where he lost his all through the treachery of a friend. He went to Cleveland, and from there started for Kansas City, but was forced to go into winter quarters at Pana, Ill., for want of funds. Hc worked for his board during the winter of 1866 and '67 for John Hunter, in Shelby county. In the spring, aided by Mr. Hunter, he opened a three horse livery stable in Assumption, and soon after a hack line to Taylorville (the first and only daily line to that place) which line was maintained until superseded by the railroad.
In 1869 he moved to Taylorville and continued in the livery business until Nov., 1873, when he was elected County Clerk on the democratic ticket by an unprecedented majority of 932 votes. For four years he served the people of this county as County Clerk, in a most satisfactory manner. As an officer he was affable, correct and honest, and at the expiration of his term his many friends urged him to become a candidate for re-election. But wishing to engage in regular business, he declined in favor of Mr. Whitmer, and after assisting in the struggle which resulted in Whitmer's election, he moved to St. Louis, where he now resides.
" Kirk's " strong points are his courage, his integrity and his brain. He is formed for political combinations and leadership. Nothing escapes his eye and car. Nothing slips from the iron grasp of his memory, and nothing is beyond the reach of his shrewdness and invention. While others sleep he labors, and, of course, where others fail he succeeds.
He is sometimes too frank and always too liberal-he never for- gets a friend, and sometimes, it is whispered, remembers an enemy.
A penniless boy, he forced his way to recognition and success, and left behind him a multitude of friends, real friends, who have confidence that hereafter, as herctofore, he will never shirk a duty hoist a white flag or tarnish the purity and brightness of his per- sonal honor.
MAJOR D. D. SHUMWAY .- (DECEASED).
ONE of the most prominent carly settlers of Christian county, was Major D. D. Shumway, who was born in Williamsburg, Worcester county, Massachusetts, September 28, 1813. Attracted by the glowing accounts of the far west, he, on attaining his majority, emigrated from the " granite hills" of his native state in 1834, and settled at first in Zanesville, Ohio, where he remained till the year 1837, when he removed to Zanesville, Montgomery county, Illinois, and embarked in mercantile pursuits.
On the 3d of June, 1841, he was married to Miss Emily R. Roun- tree, daughter of the late IIon. Hiram Rountree, of Hillsboro, Ill. In the spring of 1843, he removed to Christian county, and on the wild prairie some four miles cast of Taylorville, improved a farm of several hundred acres, on which he resided till the year 1851, when he became a resident of Taylorville. There he again en- gaged in mercantile business, and continued with marked success till 1858.
The Major was accustomed to relate the following rather amus- ing incident : When his first goods were landed in Taylorville, he was accosted by a sturdy-looking blacksmith with, "I say, Major, have you got any vises ? "
The quick retort was, " No, but this looks like the place to ac- quire some."
In 1858, he retired from active life, and expended a large part of his accumulated wealth in improving his landed property, and espe- cially in adorning and beautifying his homestead adjacent to town.
He was a gentleman of culture and taste, and it was one of the chief purposes of his life to make his home pleasant and attractive to his family.
Hc was a man of noble, generous disposition, and was highly esteemed by his fellow citizens. He filled with honor the offices of County Commissioner, (Montgomery county), Major of State Militia, and County Judge, (Christian county). In 1845, he was elected to the legislature from the counties of Christian and Shelby, and at the following session was elected clerk of the State Senate. In 1848, he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention, and was prominent in the important deliberations of that body.
After his retirement from mercantile pursuits, he commenced the practice of law to the reading of which he had devoted his leisure hours while in business.
He was, in fact, a strictly self-made man, his qualifications being such as to fit him for any pursuit or position.
He possessed one of the finest libraries in the country, and his fund of information on all the leading topics of the day was as ample as his collection of books was complete.
At the time of his death and for many years previous, he was master in Chancery of the county. For several years he was an honored member of both the county and state Agricultural Societies, and always took a lively interest in the farming pursuits of the county.
To him is due much praise for advancing the material prosperity of this town and county. By his efforts and speeches, he contributed very largely to the securing of railway communication through Christian county, and gave liberally of his time and means to all public enterprises, thus proving himself to be not only a public- spirited man but a noble benefactor of his race. While a member of the state legislature, he never failed to guard the interests of his own district, and to advocate wise and prudent legislation for all parts of this great common wealth.
The location of the Terre Haute and St. Louis Railroad through the south-castern part of his county, at that time, a wild unsettled region, was accomplished by his untiring energy and legislative strategy.
Otherwise Christian county would have been deprived of this im- portant medium of travel and traffic, and of the flourishing towns of Pana and Roscmond. He became also one of the incorporators and directors of the Springfield and South-castern Railroad. He held and discharged the duties of many minor offices always with honor and fidelity, never betraying any trust reposed in him by his fellow-citizens. The Major devoted much time to the interests of Masonry.
In 1839, he was made a master Mason, and was a charter member of Mound Lodge and the Taylorville Chapter, and after serving his Lodge as Worshipful Master for eighteen successive years, he was complimented on his retiring therefrom with a Past Master's Jewel. He was High Priest of the Chapter at the time of his death, and was buried with Masonic honors.
He contributed frecly to the M. E. Church at Taylorville, and sad to relate his was the first corpse borne from the sanctuary his own hands had helped to erect. His death occurred May 9, 1870. On the day of his funeral, the stores, shops and public buildings closed their doors, that all might pay the last sad tribute of respect to departed worth, and mingle their tears and sympathy with the bercaved family. His widow still survives, and his seven children, as follows: Hiram P. Shumway, John N. C. Shumway, D. Dwight Shumway, Augustus F. Shumway, Nellie Shumway.
Mrs. Sarah Moore, wife of D. T. Moore, of Nebraska, and Mrs. Nannie Weber, wife of Geo. W. Weber,-all amply provided with the comforts of life.
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
THE Squier family are natives of New Jersey. David F., the father of John J., emigrated from that state to Ohio at an early day. He remained there until 1844, when he came to Illinois, and settled in Stonington township, Christian county. He subsequently removed to Taylorville, where he died in 1854. He engaged in farming until his removal to Taylorville, after which he followed merehandizing. He married Elizabeth Smith, who was also a native of New Jersey. She died in 1879, in Taylorville. There were cight children by this union, four of whom have survived the parents. The subject of this sketeh is the sixth in the family. He was born in Sandusky county, Ohio, February 18th, 1842. Hc received a good edueation in the sehools of Christian county. At the age of 16 years he entered the cireuit clerk's offiec of this county, where he continued as clerk for several years. He then taught school for a time, worked on a farm, and afterwards learned pho- tography. The latter business he continued for three years. In 1866 he purehased a half interest in the Taylorville Flag, a Repub- liean newspaper, printed in Taylorville, the name of which was subsequently changed to the Republican, and which still continues as the principal exponent of Republiean ideas in the county. He beeame sole owner of the journal in 1867. As a newspaper man, Mr. Squier has demonstrated his ability to run a newspaper suc- cessfully. He early recognized the fact that in that business it requires close and careful management, and good business qualifieations if sueccss was to be attained. The latter qualification he possesses in an eminent degree. As a writer, Mr. Squier is about the average,
and he makes his journal interesting and instruetive to his rcaders. Politically, the Republican wields an influence second to no other journal in the district. In 1872, Mr. Squier was appointed post- master by President Grant, and re-appointed in 1877, and at present exercises and performs the arduous and perplexing duties of that office, to the entire satisfaction of the people of this vicinity. On the 5th day of October, 1871, he was united in marriage to Miss Anna Anderson. She is a native of Indiana, but was a resident of Tay- lorville at the time of her marriage. Four children, three of whom are living, are the fruits of this union. In politics, it will be readily known that Mr. Squier is a republican. He cast his first presi- dential vote for the martyr Lincoln, in 1864, and sinee that time he can be placed with the stalwarts of that political organization. He is an honored and active member of the ancient and honorable order of Freemasonry. Besides the publishing of his paper and duties of postmaster, he is a member of the firm of Simpson & Squier, dealers in books, periodicals and notions. Thus have we briefly sketched the life of Mr. Squier. In his manners, he is of pleasing ad- dress and unpretentious style, of rather a reticent and retiring disposi- tion. As stated above, he is possessed of more than ordinary business qualifications, and, being a man of energy, has, as a matter of course, succeeded, where perhaps others would have failed. He exhibits enterprise and skill in the publication of his journal, and is fully abreast with the times in all new ideas in the progressive art of modern journalism. In his character as a man and citizen he bears an honorable reeord.
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Josiah. A. Heile
THE present efficient Circuit Clerk was born in Montgomery county, Illinois, January 5th, 1831. Henry Hill, his father, was a native of South Carolina. The Hill family removed to Kentucky and settled in Warren county, and in 1829 came to Illinois and settled in Montgomery county, where they remained until 1842, when they removed to Fayette county. In 1856 Henry Hill came to Christian county, and remained here nntil 1857, when he re- turned to Montgomery county, where he lived until his death, which occurred in March, 1862. He was by occupation a farmer and school-teacher. He married Ruth Adams. She was a native of Virginia, but a resident. of . Warren county, Kentucky, at the date of his marriage. She survived her husband but two weeks, dying in the same month and year. Eleven children were the fruits of that marriage, eight of whom have survived the parents. Joshua A. is the third in the family. He, in his youth, received a limited education in the common schools of his native county. The schools, and educational system of Illinois, forty years ago, were very crude and imperfect, as compared with the present, and the youth of that day had to be content with what would now be regarded as a very slight education. Mr. Hill, at a comparatively carly age, became self-supporting and reliant. He worked upon a farm, and when the Hinois Central railroad was in progress of building, he helped to grade the track and get out ties upon which to place the iron. In 1852, and prior to this, he came to Taylor- ville and found work, and assisted in getting out the timbers for the mill that stood in the west part of the town. He afterward returned to Fayette county, where he remained until February, 1855, when he moved his family to, and permanently settled in this county. He engaged in farming upon his arrival here, and con- tinned in that ocenpation for a number of years. He was elected Justice of the Peace twice. He was the first Town Collector of
H.M. SNYDER
Elisabeth Hill
South Fork township, under the township organization act. In 1867, '68, he was Deputy Sheriff under John White, and in 1868 was elected Sheriff, and remained in office until his term expired, in 1870. He then engaged in mercantile business in Taylorville for a short time, when he went to his farm and remained there until 1874, when he was elected Sheriff of the county for the second time, and that, too, without opposition. He remained in office until 1876, when he was elected Circuit Clerk, and at present dis- charges the duties of that office in a manner that gives entire satis- faction to his numerous friends. In politics Mr. Hill is a democrat. He cast his first vote for Franklin Pierce, in 1852, and since that time has been a reliable and consistent member of that political organization. He is also a member of the A. F. A. M. Lodge, both Blue Lodge and Chapter. On the 22d of April, 1852, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Casey, a native of Fayette county, Ill. Her father, Thomas Casey, was born in Ken- tucky. This union has been blessed with six children, five of whom are living. Martha, the eldest daughter, died in her nineteenth year. The others are yet beneath the parental roof, except Sarah J., who is the wife of I. J. Glass. The names of the others are, Mary E., Amanda, Emma, and Levi Eugene Hill. As an official of the county, Mr. Hill possesses the entire confidence of his con- stituents. Hle is a reliable, capable and trustworthy servant of the people. That this is the verdict of the citizens is attested by his frequent elections to responsible offices. In his manners he is a quiet, unobtrusive gentleman and a straightforward man, polite and attentive to all who come in contact with him in his official position. He has been honored by his fellow-citizens by being elected to dif- ferent offices, for which he returns them his sineere thanks, and in retiring to farm-life once more, feels the proud satisfaction of knowing that he carries with him their best wishes.
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
127
H.M.SNYDER
ISHay
THIS gentleman represents the substantial farmers and pro- minent stock dealers of Christian county. His father, Stephen U. May, removed from Kentucky and settled near Whitehall, in Greene county, Illinois, in 1842. He soon after removed to near Wilmington, where he remained until his death in 1844. He mar- ried Elizabeth J. Allen, who was also a native of Kentucky. She died in 1849. There were six children by this marriage, three of whom are living. Thos. G. is the youngest of the family, and was born in Butler county, Kentucky, April 28th, 1837. His father and mother dying while he was yet in his youth, he was deprived of the advantages of even a common school education. He was thrown upon his own resources, and was compelled to provide for his own maintenance, at an age when youth needs the kind and caressing hands of parental affection. But if he was disciplined in a hard school, it taught him habits of self-reliance, which have been of service to him in every subsequent step in life. He remained in Greene county until 1856, when he went to McLean county, in this state, and worked upon a farm, and soon afterward leased land and engaged in farming, and so continued until 1862, when he came to Christian county and settled in Taylorville township, where he re- sides at present. During his residence in this county he has engaged in agricultural pursuits and live stock shipping. In the latter business he has, in connection with others, been among the largest and most extensive buyers and shippers in the county.
On the 9th of September, 1858, he was united in marriage to Miss Emeline Simmons. She was born in Indiana, but was a resi- dent of McLean county at the time of her marriage. By this union there have been six children, four of whom are living. Their names are John Irvin, James T., Levi A. and Minnie Ellen.
In politics he was formerly a democrat, and cast his first vote for Stephen A. Douglass for President in 1860; but after the breaking out of the war he arrayed himself on the side of the party of the union and constitutional liberty, and since that time he has been a consistent and reliable member of the republican organization. In 1876 he was nominated by the republican party of Christian county in convention assembled for the office of Sheriff, and at the ensuing election in November following was elected by a handsome majority, notwithstanding the county was largely democratic. Another evi- dence of his popularity and standing as a citizen of the county was shown in his running twelve hundred votes ahead of his party's strength. He remained in office and discharged the duties thereof in a manner that gave complete satisfaction to those who had honored him with their suffrages; and when his term expired he returned to his farm in this township, where he had formerly re- sided, and commenced again his agricultural pursuits. Before he was clected Sheriff he was, in the years 1875 and 1876, elected Assessor for his township, and was appointed in 1880 Census Enumerator for Taylorville township outside of the corporation of the city of Taylorville.
Mr. May is one of those who started in life unaided. Left an orphan at an carly age, he had to go out and take his place among men and earn a livelihood for himself. What he has now, in the way of worldly possessions, has been the accumulation of his own toil and patient industry, aided by economical habits and good management. In thus accumulating he has made for himself at the same time a name for strict honesty and integrity in both public and private life.
128
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
H.M.SNYDER
Chas Phirus
Is a native of Ohio. He was born in the village of Jacksontown, Licking county, on the 2d day of February, 1847. The Whitmer family, on the paternal side, is of German ancestry. John Whitmer, the father of Charles, was a native of Pennsylvania. He came with his father to Ohio at an early period in the history of that state. In September, 1847, the family left Ohio, and removed to Crawford county, Illinois, and entered a large body of land. John Whitmer remained there until November, 1856, when he removed to Edina, Knox county, Missouri, where he followed the trade of carpenter and house-joiner. He subsequently moved to Macon county, in the same state, and in 1861, at the breaking out of the war, he came back to Illinois, and stopped in Hancock county, subsequently re- moving to Sangamon county, and, in the Spring of 1862, located in South Fork township, Christian county. He then engaged in farm- ing, at which he continued until his death, which occurred Sept. 28, 1874. He married Sarah Overmier, a native of Pennsylvania, but a resident of Ohio at the time of her marriage. She was also of German ancestry. She died in South Fork township, Christian county, Illinois, January 9th, 1874.
Nine children are the fruits of this marriage, six of whom have survived the parents. Of the latter all have reached the age of maturity, and all are residents of this county. Charles is the eighth in the family. He had but slight opportunities for receiving oven a good common school education. His advantages in this direction were mainly between the years of ten and fourteen. In these four years he attended the schools of his neighborhood during the winter months, and in the summer worked upon the farm. In May, 1864. while yet in his seventeenth year, he enlisted in Company A, 133d Regt. Ills. Vols. He was honorably discharged in September of the same year. In 1868 he was appointed deputy under Sheriff
Hill, with whom he remained until the end of his term. He then clerked for several years in a dry goods store in Taylorville, and was also for some time book-keeper in H. M. Vandeveer & Co.'s bank. In 1874, he again entered the office of Sheriff Hill, as deputy. He remained in the sheriff's office until the expiration of Hill's term. In 1876, Mr. Hill was elected circuit clerk of Christian county, and the subject of our sketch served with him as deputy clerk. He remained in that capacity until 1877, when he received the nomi- nation for county clerk at the hands of the democratic party. At the ensuing election in November of the same year, he was elected by a majority in excess of his party vote.
On the 28th day of April, 1870, he was united in marriage to Miss T. A. Greenwood, who is a native of Pleasant Plains, Sanga- mon county, Illinois. Her father is a native of Kentucky, and her mother of New Jersey, and both of English descent. Three children have blessed and cemented the marriage, two of whom are living, viz: Nellie M. and Freddie E. Whitmer. In politics it is hardly necessary to say that Mr. Whitmer is and always has been a staunch and reliable democrat. His first presidential vote was east for Seymour and Blair, in 1868, and since that time he has ad- hered to the fortunes of that political organization. He is a respected member of the honorable order of A. O. U. W.
In his manners Mr. Whitmer is a kind, genial gentleman, with a pleasant and affable address. In the affairs of his office, and in the capacity of county clerk, he is methodical and correct, and in the discharge of his duties is prompt and industrious. He is a good business man, and under his management the county's interest will be looked after and attended to with scrupulous exactness. His character as a citizen is above reproach.
129
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
JOHN BOND RICKS
BOTHI branches of the Rieks family are of English descent, the ancestors of whom came to America and settled in the Carolinas prior to the revolutionary war. Richard Rieks, the paternal grand- father, was a soldier of the revolution. The family subsequently moved to Kentucky, where William S. Ricks, the father of the pre- sent sketch, was born. He came to Illinois in the spring of 1835, and settled on Bear creek, on sect. 34, town 12, range 3 west, where he had purchased land of his brother-in-law, Col. Thomas P. Bond. He afterwards entered considerable bodies of land in other parts of the township and county. He remained there until an advanced age, when he moved to Hillsboro, and subsequently to near Spring- field, where he died March 7th, 1873. During his life he was a prominent man, particularly in the early history of the county. He was instrumental in having Christian county stricken off He was the first sheriff, and was re-elected for the second term He also in 1844 represented the district in the legislature, and while a member of that body was the room-mate and intimate friend of Lyman Trumbull. He married Margaret U. Bond. She was born in South Carolina, but was a resident of Kentucky at the time of her mar- riage. She died in 1865. Mr. Rieks afterward married Edith Gibsou. She is now a resident of Canton, Kentucky. By the first marriage there were eleven children, five of whom are living. John B. is the fifth in the family, and was born in Trigg county, Ken- tucky, near the Cumberland river, November 14th, 1833.
He attended the country schools of Christian county, and re- ceived such instruction as they could give, and also spent one term at the seminary in Mechanicsburg, in Sangamon county, and after- ward entered MeKendrce College at Lebanon, Illinois, where he remained two terms; then returned home and engaged in stock business, in which he became the most extensive dealer and largest shipper in the county. He continued in the business until 1873. In 1865 he was elected Sheriff of Christian county. In 1866 he was nominated by acelamation for the offiec of representative in the legislature, and in November of the same year was elected by a handsome majority. While a member of that body he was on several important committees, among which was the committee to investigate the Insane Asylum at Jacksonville and other state insti- tutions. He was one of the committee who accepted the place for the new State-house, and fought for its present location. In 1868 he was elected Circuit Clerk. In 1872 he was re-elected, and went out of office at the expiration of the term in 1876.
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