USA > Illinois > Jersey County > History of Jersey County, Illinois > Part 53
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GROSS, Joseph, one of the prosperous general farmers and stock- raisers of Ruyle Township, is a man of consequence in his neighbor- hood. He was born in West Baden, Germany, February 1, 1856, a son of William and Catherine (Peaton) Gross, who in 1857 crossed the Atlantic Ocean and located in Ruyle Township, Jersey County, Ill., there buying eighty acres of timberland, which the father lived long enough to clear and improve, although he died in 1877. The mother lived until January 21, 1895.
Joseph Gross grew up on the farm and went to the Hawkins Prairie district school. At the age of twenty years on November 19, 1874, he
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was married to Sarah Schimmehorne, born in La Grange County, Ind., a daughter of James and Charlotte (Prough) Schimmehorne, natives of Indiana and Ohio, respectively. They came to Jersey County, Ill., in 1867. After his marriage, Joseph Gross remained with his parents for a year and then moved to an eighty-acre farm owned by his father, fifteen acres of which were cleared of timber. After his father died, he bought this farm from the other heirs, and has made on it all the present improvements, including the buildings and has added to his holdings until there now are 200 acres in the farm of which about sixty acres are in timber and the balance is under cultivation. On this land Mr. Gross raises horses cattle and hogs and carries on gen- eral farming meeting with success that is gratifying.
Mr. and Mrs. Gross became the parents of the following children : Mary E., who was born September 12, 1876, is Mrs. George Morhman. of Fidelity Township, John W., who was born November 20, 1878, died April 14, 1914; Curtis J., who was born July 20, 1884, lives in Ruyle Township ; Charlotte B., who was born January 6, 1887, died December 6, 1915, the wife of John Williams; and Ada C., who was born June 6, 1889, married W. F. Bennett, and lives in Macoupin County, Ill. Mr. Gross is a member of the Bethel Baptist Church, of which he has been a trustce for many years. He is a Democrat and served for one term as tax collector and for three years as road supervisor.
HAMILTON, Oscar Brown, senior member of the law firm of Hamilton & Hamilton of Jerseyville, is one of the most eminent law- yers of Jersey County. He was born in Greene County, Ill., January 31. 1839, a son of Nathaniel and Mary B. (Dougherty) Hamilton, he born in Washington County, Ohio, and she in Adams County, Miss. The grandparents were Thomas McClure and Apphia (Brown) Hamilton, natives of Vermont and New York; and James Dougherty, born in South Carolina. The latter came, by the river route, to what is now Otter Creek Township in 1831, and here entered land from the gov- ernment. The Hamiltons came here in 1830, settling on section 13, Otter Creek Township, and entering 160 acres of prairie land on sec- tion 13 and 14. The grandfather developed this farm, placing it under a high state of cultivation. He was an executor of the will of his uncle, Dr. Silas Hamilton, and erected the original "stone schoolhouse," and managed it until it was incorporated as the Hamilton Primary School in 1839. His name appears as one of the grand jurors called for the first time in Jersey County in 1839. In every way he was a prominent man, and his death occurred in 1844, when he was fifty-nine years old, having been born January 3, 1785. While James Dougherty owned land and farmed in Illinois, he also conducted a large plantation in Mississippi and owned a considerable number of slaves. His death occurred in 1842.
On July 9, 1835, Nathaniel Hamilton and Mary B. Dougherty werc married, and settled on section 15, Otter Creek Township, where they owned eighty acres of timber land. While living here, Nathaniel
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Hamilton was a justice of the peace for many years, and also held that office in Greene County. In the spring of 1848, he sold his original farm and bought one in Quarry Township. A prominent man, as was his father, he was active in many movements and served as captain of militia during the early days. After the death of his first wife, in 1850, he was married (second) to Maria Durand. In August, 1893, the life of this useful citizen was terminated by death.
Prior to the age of nine years, Oscar Brown Hamilton lived on the farm, but after that was reared at Grafton, and attended the Hlamil- ton primary school, principally being under the charge of Linus Humiston, and later the St. Louis Law School. From 1857 to 1861, Mr. Hamilton and his brother, Thomas James, conducted a general store at Grafton, and after the dissolution of the partnership, Mr. Hamilton boated cord wood and staves from the western part of Jersey County and Calhoun County to St. Louis, from 1861 to 1864. In the latter year he associated himself with John A. Campbell in a mercantile busi- ness at Otterville, which was conducted for a year, when the con- nection was severed, and Mr. Hamilton taught the Shiloh school in 1868. Ile then took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1871. For the subsequent three years he practiced his profes- sion at Otterville. In February, 1874, he came to Jerseyville, and with Orville Snedecker opened a law office. These partners continued together for nine years and then separated, and Mr. Hamilton formed a partnership with Allen M. Slaten, which continued until the fall of 1886, when it was dissolved and Mr. Hamilton went to Meade, Kan., to become president of the Merchants and Drovers State Bank, which office he held until July 1, 1890, during which time he was District judge pro-tem and held several terms of district court. Returning to Jerseyville in 1890 he resumed his practice at the county seat, in the offices he still occupies. In 1894 he took his son, Paul M., into partner- ship with him, the present firm style of Hamilton & IIamilton being then adopted. Mr. Hamilton was nine years secretary of Piasa Chautauqua Assembly ; has been president of Jersey County Historical Society since its organization; was president of Jersey County Bar Association for many years; he was a delegate and member of the "Old Guard" in the Republican National Convention in Chicago, 1880, and has been interested in many other occupations of greater or less importance.
On October 25, 1860, Mr. Hamilton was married to Eliza Minerva Brown, born in Jersey County, a daughter of Chauncy Brown, who was born in Massachusetts, while his wife was born in Morgan County, Ill. In 1820, Chauncy Brown was one of the mounted rangers who ren- dered such efficient service during the Indian troubles of that period. He helped to build the first log house at Carrollton, which was after- wards used as the first courthouse of Greene County. In the spring of 1835 Mr. Brown came to Jersey County, and was one of its first commissioners, and the land on which the courthouse now stands, was decded to him and Cyrus Tolman as county commissioners of Jersey
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County. He served as commissioner from 1840 to 1843. Ilis death occurred in 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton became the parents of the following children: Mark B., who died at the age of fourteen years; Bertha, who is Mrs. George M. Coekrell, resides at Omaha, Neb .; Rose, who is Mrs. Leighton E. Brown of Vietor, Iowa; Silas E., who lives at Palco, Kas .; Paul M., who is his father's partner ; John J., who lives at Grand Junetion, Col .; Dr. Fred W., who is in practice at Robinson, Ill .; Dr. Ray A., who is in practice at Whitehall, Ill .; Clara and Margaret, who are at home; and Ethel, who is Mrs. Leslie S. Noble, of Alton, Ill. Four of these sons, Paul M., John J., Frederic W., Ray A. Hamilton and Leslie Noble, son-in-law, and four grandsons, Harry H. and Edward G. Coekrell, Ernest Brown and Mark W. Hamilton, were sub- ject to draft under the act of 1918, including men from eighteen to forty-five, for service in the World War.
Mr. Hamilton is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has held all of the offiees of the ehureh, has been president of the board of trustees for many years, and superintendent of the Sunday school for nine years. A stauneh Republiean, he was a great admirer of Gen- eral Grant, and supported his candidaey for the presideney for the third term in 1880. A Mason in good standing, he belongs to Jersey- ville Chapter No. 143, R. A. M. Perhaps there are very few men in the county who are connected by blood and marriage with so many of the makers of history in this seetion as he, and in all of his actions he has proven himself worthy of them for he has always lived np to the highest eoneeptions of eivie duty. Born in a log eabin, within one half mile of the old stone school house, son of, and reared in the homes of pioneers, he early imbibed a lively interest, listening for hours at a time to their conversation, relating to the first settlement of the county, the lives and experiences of themselves and others, in eonnee- tion therewith. Having a retentive memory, and an unusual interest in the subjeets of those conversations, he early began to investigate mat- ters relating to the first settlements, and settlers, and in after years as aequaintanee was extended to the pioneers of all parts of the county, and faets learned from them, he was still further impressed with the importance of devising some means of seeuring and preserving all of the faets relating to the habits of life, implements of industry, habi- tations, intereourse, education, secular and religious, natural produe- tions of the soil and its adaptation to the growth of sueh erops of grain, vegetables and fruits as would best supply and support the first oeeu- pants, so that the future generation might have ready access thereto. This led to the organization of the Old Settlers' Society, and later, the Jersey County Historieal Society, with its location in the courthouse, with its library, manuscripts, pietures and relies, which, though, not as extensive as it should be, is very valuable, and it is expected to be materially enlarged in the future.
With three or four exeeptions, Mr. Hamilton has known every county offieer, every member of the Constitutional Convention, sen- ator and representative in the General Assembly, member of Congress,
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every judge of the Circuit court and circuit attorney elected in the circuit of which this county is a part, since the election of Judge David M. Woodson, 1848; almost every member of the bar who has resided and practiced his profession in this county since its organization, all city officers of Jerseyville since 1867, every banker who has operated a bank in this county, and a large majority of the pioneers who sur- vived the organization of Jersey County, and their descendants, with a large number of whom he has transacted business. It can be truth- fully said that as a rule all of these people, officers and classes with very rare exceptions, were honest, competent, accommodating, just, friendly and clever neighbors and citizens, ready and willing to do and to contribute their part in promoting the welfare and upbuilding of the county so recently evolved from its primitive wilderness con- ditions.
Among his earliest recollections of the natural productions of the forests and prairie lands of this county, were its blackberries, rasp- berries, strawberries, grapes, plums, cherries, black and red haw, per- simmons, pawpaw, mulberries, crab apples and May apples; of nuts there were hazel, pecan, hickory, in great variety, walnuts, black and white, and acorns from oak trees in great variety and abundance used for the fattening of swine; and grasses and other herbage for live stock; of game, consisting of deer, squir- rels, rabbits, turkeys, pheasants, prairie chickens, quails, very plentiful; with fish in the streams and rivers, for the taking, and in the spring and fall of each year, great flocks of geese, ducks, and pigeons gave abundant employment for the sports- man. In addition were the bees of the forest, storing large quan- tities of honey in hollow trees. Bee hunters became very skillful in tracing bees to their hives, by putting out bait and watching the direction taken by the laden bees, then following the bee line and marking the tree for cutting in late fall or winter. Then there was the maple sugar camp, where, in the spring of the year, when the sap begins to flow, holes were bored and alder spiles driven therein and wooden troughs placed below to catch the sweet sap. This was later placed in a barrel and hauled away, on sleds to the large kettles, in which it was boiled and skimmed until condensed to the proper con- sistency for syrup or sugar. Large quantities of both were made, both in the large camps and by individuals having only a few trees. The main camps in this connty were those of Col. Josiah Askew in 6-11, and Henry Noble in Sugar Hollow southwest of Otterville, 7-12. Sixty years ago maple sugar was a staple article of trade at the stores, as were also three and fonr-foot oak clapboards and pickets, staves and heading, hoop-poles and ten-foot rails. These commodities were in as constant and regular demand then as were dry goods and groceries : but this demand has now passed away, and other articles of merchan- dise have superseded them. Smokehouses were full of bacon, and the larders of thrifty housewives of the pioneer settlers were stored with fruits, preserves, jams, jellies, apple butter, besides apples, potatoes,
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sweet potatoes and all sorts of vegetables in their seasons, with rich cheese of their own making, thick sweet cream for fruit and puddings and coffee, direct from the springhouse to the table, with honey from the bee stands; verily it was a land flowing with milk and honey, and those housewives were famous cooks in those days. Our ancestors made no mistake in selecting "Little Jersey" as the home for theni- selves and their descendants. Their hospitality to neighbors and strangers was proverbial.
This biography can best be concluded in Judge Hamilton's own words for he says : "As our memory wanders back over these associa- tions, experiences, occupations and friendships, to the beginning of our interest in material things, we can truly say that our lives have been chosen for us in pleasant places, for it is our honest belief that there are few places upon the earth, where the inhabitants have more of the blessings and comforts of life, and fewer of its hardships, than do the citizens of this county. For which we are truly grateful."
HAMILTON, Paul Morton, one of the able attorneys of Jersey County, is engaged in a general law practice at Jerseyville. He was born at Otterville, Ill., December 18, 1872, a son of Oscar B. and Eliza N. (Brown) Hamilton. Paul Morton Hamilton attended the public schools of Jerseyville and a Kansas high school. He studied law with his father, took a course in the St. Louis Law school, and was admitted to the bar in 1894, becoming his father's partner immediately thereafter, the two since continuing together, and forming a very strong firm.
On September 3, 1896, Mr. Hamilton was married to Alma W. Carlin, born at Jerseyville, Ill., a daughter of Walter E. and Mary (Cross) Carlin, he born in Greene County, and she in Jersey County, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have had three children : Helen Eugenia, who was born September 22, 1897; Pauline C., who was born March 25, 1903; and Mary, who was born June 23, 1905, died August 5, 1907. Mr. Hamilton is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He served two years as city attorney, and in 1916 was elected state's attorney on the Republican ticket. In 1915 he was elected president of the Jersey Township High School board, having been a member of that board since 1911. He is an aggressive, forceful man, and has shown himself a fearless official, prosecuting criminals with unprejudiced justice, and securing a large number of convictions. As a citizen he is public-spirited and upright, and he holds the confidence of his fellows. and the respect of all.
HANLEY, John T., one of the successful business men of Jerseyville, is engaged in conducting a modern meat market. and enjoys a large trade. He was born at Jerseyville, August 2, 1867, a son of M. J. and Anna (Evans) Hanley, both of whom were born in Ireland, the latter January 27, 1833, and they came to the United States about 1854. After their marriage, they spent some time at Buffalo, N. Y., where the
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father worked as a laborer, and then went to Ohio, where they lived for a few years. In 1864, they came to Jerseyville, where the father was engaged in well-digging and tiling. His death occurred March 24, 1885, and the mother died December 26, 1876.
After attending the public schools, John T. Ilanley began working in a butcher shop, but in 1893 went into a grocery business for him- self, forming a partnership with H. W. Shafer, and this association con- tinucd nntil 1908, when Mr. Hanley sold his interest to his brother- in-law, and bought his present market, which he conducts with Martin Gibbons as his partner. The firm handles all kinds of meats in season, doing their own butchering, and having forty acres of pasturage for stock. Their market is thoroughly up-to-date in every particular, and they render an appreciated service to their customers.
On November 19, 1896, Mr. Hanley was married to Lottie Shafer, born in Jersey County in May, 1876, a daughter of George W. and Mary E. (Pittinger) Shafer, natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Hanley have the following children: Majorie, Helen and Florence, who are all at home. In politics Mr. Hanley is a Democrat, and has served his township as supervisor since 1906, and was city treasurer one term. His fraternal connections are with Charter Camp, B. P. O. E. No. 954, and Stechman Camp No. 3410, M. W. A.
HANLEY William Mitchell, now deceased, was for many years engaged in the retail meat business at Jerseyville, where he was rec- ognized as one of the most desirable of its citizens. He was born July 10, 1861, a son of Michael and Anna (Evans) Ifanley. William Mitchell Hanley attended the grammar and high schools of Jersey- ville, where his boyhood was spent, and was graduated under Prof. Joshua Pike. For some years thereafter he taught school at Otterville and other points in the county, and then he formed a partnership with James Perrings, the firm conducting a first class meat market at Jerseyville. Eventually Mr. Hanley bought the interest of his partner and conducted the business alone until his death, which occurred Sep- tember 29, 1908.
On June 12 1893, Mr. Hanley was married to Theresa J. Roerig, born at Jerseyville, July 1, 1867, a daughter of Anthony and Theresa (Zeiser) Roerig natives of Germany, who were married at Jerseyville. He was one of the early stage drivers between Jerseyville and Alton prior to the building of the railroads. Mr. Roerig died about 1874. and Mrs. Roerig died in 1888. They had six children: Fannic, who is Mrs. W. C. Pfeffer of St. Louis, Mo .; Frank William, who resides on the homestead : Mary, who is the matron at the Home for Feebleminded Children at Polk, Pa .; William, who lives at San Antonio, Tex .; Mrs. Hanley ; Anthony, who lives at Jerseyville. Two children were born to Mrs. Roerig's second marriage, Louis A. and Josephine, the latter of whom is Mrs. Fred Stamper of Godfrey, Ill.
Mr. and Mrs. Hanley had the following children: William F., who is assistant cashier in the State Bank of Jerseyville; Chester Thomas,
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who is an electrical engineer in the United States Navy ; Marguerite B., who is attending the Whitewater State Normal School, in Wisconsin ; and Loretta Theresa, who is at home; and one died in infancy. The family are members of the Holy Ghost Catholic Church of Jerseyville. A Democrat in politics, he served as city treasurer for several years and filled other offices, and was supervisor of Jersey Township when he died and had been for many years. Fraternally he was an Elk and Modern Woodman. A man of sound principles and integrity of purpose, he gained and retained the confidence of the people of his community, and, dying, left behind him a record of which his family may well be prond.
HENRY, Prof. D. R., superintendent of the graded schools of Jer- seyville, and of the Jersey Township High School, is one of the leading educators of the state, and a man of more than average ability and really brilliant attainments. He was born at Kempton, Tipton County, Ind., December 4, 1887, son of Harrison and Eliza (Vanarsdall) Henry. natives of Indiana. IIarrison Henry has given all of his mature years to the profession of teaching and is still engaged in this line of endeavor at Windfall, Ind.
Prof. D. R. Henry attended the grammar and the high school of Windfall, Ind., and the state normal school at Terre Haute, Ind., being graduated from the latter institution of learning in 1910. He then entered the state university at Bloomington, Ind., and was graduated therefrom in 1913. Since then he has done more than two years post graduate work at the University of Chicago and Columbia University, New York, for he is a man of erudite mind and is always increasing his store of knowledge and expanding his natural talents. When but nineteen years of age lic began teaching school in the country districts of Tipton County, Ind., and was successively promoted, teaching a vear in the grammar schools of Kempton, Ind., and becoming superin- tendent of public schools of Perrysville, Ind., in 1910, and holding that position from 1910 to 1912. Following that he was superintendent of the schools of two townships in Vermilion County, Ind., where he resigned in order to attend the University of Chicago during 1914. In the fall of 1915 he was made superintendent of the graded schools of Jerseyville, and of the Jersey Township High School, and is still dis- charging the onerous duties of both positions.
On July 21, 1915, Prof. Henry was married to Allenc Marguerite Nopper at Elkhart, Ind. Mrs. Henry was born at Elkhart, Ind., Decem- ber 19, 1890 a daughter of Fred J. and Elizabeth (Deventer) Nopper, natives of Adrian County, Mich., and Indiana, respectively. Prof. and Mrs. IIenry have one daughter, Elizabeth Jane, who was born Novem- ber 4, 1916. Mrs. Henry is a graduate of DePanw University, and is a member of Alpha Chi Omega national fraternity, and Kappa Kappa Kappa Indiana fraternity. She belongs to the Monday Musical Club of Jerseyville. Prof. and Mrs. Henry are members of the Presbyterian Church. His political views make him a Democrat, while fraternally
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he belongs to Jerseyville Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Newport Lodge, K. P. He, with J. W. Becker, F. E. Pinkerton, Jr., and B. H. Bowen, organized the Community Club, and Prof Henry drafted and wrote the constitution of this club. Both he and Mrs. Henry are very popular and arc leaders in the intellectual life of Jerseyville.
HERDMAN, George Walker, now retired, was for a number of years one of the eminent attorneys and jurists of Jersey County, and is now an honored resident of Jerseyville. He was born at Haver- straw, N. Y., March 6, 1839, the fourth son of William John and Jane ITerdman, natives of the vicinity of Antrim, Ireland, where they were married. They also had three daughters. After a few years' residence, following their marriage, William John Herdman and his wife came to the United States in April, 1834, and eventually settled at Haverstraw, N. Y., where he was employed as a laborer in a rolling mill. In 1841 le came to Illinois and bought land in Randolph County, which he cultivated until 1854, when he sold his property and moved with his family to Jersey County. There he bought a farm and lived on it until 1858, when he retired and moved to Jerseyville, where he died June 3, 1883. The mother died November 2, 1856.
When he was eighteen years ofd George Walker Herdman canvassed Jersey County, selling Bayard Taylor's works on modern travel, and met with very gratifying success. After he had attended the Jersey- ville public schools and Prof. Foote's Academy, Mr. Herdman began teaching school in the Jersey County rural districts, and also taught in Greene County, Illinois, continuing his educational labors for eight years. For three years he studied law under the late Judge D. M. Woodson of Carrollton, Illinois. He then entered the law depart- ment of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, at Louisville, and remained for two years, being graduated in March, 1867. Returning to Jerseyville, he engaged in a general law practice, and a few months later bought out the interest of Judge R. A. King in the firm of King Pinero, he and Edmond Pinero continuing together until 1869, when Mr. Pinero went into the banking business at Grafton, Illinois, and Mr. Herdman remained alone for a year, when he formed a partner- ship with Robert M. Knapp; in the latter part of 1872 severing this connection to continue in practice alone until his retirement in 1913. Mr. Herdman served Jerseyville as city attorney, and from 1870 to 1872 was a member of the lower house of the State Assembly, and 1876 he was elected senator and served in the upper house from 1876 to 1880. In 1882 he was elected circuit judge of the Seventh Judicial District, and served continuously for fifteen years. For fifteen years he was president of the board of education of Jerseyville, and was elected to all of these offices on the Democratic ticket. A very ardent Knight of Pythias, he has held all of the offices in the subordinate lodge, and was elected grand chancellor of the Grand Domain of Illi- nois, and for eight years has been the representative to the Supreme lodge K. of P. of the World, from Illinois.
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