USA > Illinois > Macon County > History of Macon County, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 53
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
in the spring of 1858. For several years he followed breaking prairie, also purchased ditching machines, and part of the year was engaged in ditching. With the money thus earned he met the pay- ments on his land, on which, in 1862, he erected a dwelling.
In October, 1864, he married Mary Ritchie, daughter of Samuel Ritchie. She was a native of Pennsylvania, and died in 1872. His second marriage took place in the fall of 1873, to Mrs. Marga- retta Richards. Her maiden name was Margaretta Corman, and she too was born in Pennsylvania.
He has been engaged in farming, and owns two hundred and sixty-five acres of land, part of which lies in Illini township. His farm, which he has kept in grass, is one of the model farms of the township, and everything about it is kept in the best of order. It is amply supplied with fruit of all kinds, and the improvements and buildings are of a substantial character.
Beside managing his own land, he leases an adjoining half section. He has eight children, four by each marriage. When he first came to Hickory Point township, few improvements had been made on the prairie, which lay for miles open and uncultivated. Toward bringing it into subjection, and transforming it into productive farms, Mr. Batchelder has done his full share. He began life in the West, with no capital except his own energy, and his success illustrates what may be accomplished by well-directed industry.
He has taken no part in public life. He is a republican in politics, though he has never been strictly attached to any party, and for local offices has always supported the man whom he eon- sidered best fitted for the position.
W. J. MAGEE.
W. J. MAGEE, the present steward of the county poor farm, is a native of Sangamon county, Illinois, and was born about ninc miles north-east of Springfield, on the thirty-first of May, 1844. His great-grandfather was a native of Ireland, who emigrated to this country and settled in the state of Delaware. His father, John Magee, was born in Delaware, emigrated to Ohio when cighteen years old, and married Elizabeth Norris. He moved to Illinois in 1843, first settling in Moultrie county, and the next year moving to Sangamon, where the subject of this sketch was born. W. J. Magce was the fifth of seven children. He lived in Sangamon county till 1850, when his father moved to Macon county, and set- tled on a farm near Decatur, and is now living in Whitmore town- ship, where he has filled the office of constable for the last twenty years. Mr. Magee was living at home till toward the close of the war of the rebellion, when (on the fourth of February, 1865,) he enlisted in Co. K, One Hundred and fifty-second Illinois Infantry. From Springfield the regiment went to Tennessec and was stationed at Nashville and Tullahoma ; afterward at Louisville, Kentucky and then at Memphis. It was principally employed in guard duty. He was mustercd out of the service at Memphis, September eigh- teenth, 1865, and returned to Macon county. September twenty- third, 1866, he married Fannie Musselman, who was born in Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, and was principally raised at Monticello, Piatt county. In 1871 he purchased land and now owns a farm of one hundred and thirty-four acres in Whitmore township. He has had five children, John J., A. Mary, Samuel K., Marcus D., who died in infaney, and Ada Estella. For two years he has had charge of the county poor farm, the affairs of which under his man- agement have been earricd on with great success. He is one of the warm advocates of the cause of temperance, and is a member of the United Brethren Church.
ULYSSES HUSTON
Is one of the old residents of the county. His father, John Huston, was a native of Virginia, who emigrated to Ohio and settled at Bloomfield. He was married in Pickaway county, Ohio, to Phobe Swisher, who was descended from a Maryland family of Dutch descent, who came to Ohio at an early period. Ulysses Huston was the third of a family of six children, by this marriage, and was born in Pickaway county. Ohio, on the 25th of August, 1824. He was raised on a farm. The greater part of his educa- tion was obtained in Ohio, which the family left in October, 1836, to come to Illinois. They struck the Sangamon river five miles from Monticello, on the 2d of November, just a month from the time they started. After staying there a few weeks they settled in what is now Whitmore township, near the mouth of Friend's creek. He there went to school a few weeks, one of the teachers being the Rev. D. P. Bunn. The school-house was built of logs, with greased paper for windows, puncheon floors and slab benches. His father died in 1847, and the old place on which the family settled, on coming to the county, is now in the possession of Mr. Huston's brother. In February, 1858, he married Matilda McCoy, a native of Champaign county, Ohio, whose family moved to In- diana when she was small; settled in McLean county, of this state, about the year 1844, and a couple of years afterward, moved to Macon county. After his marriage he went to farming for him- self, in Whitmore township. Three of his brothers were in the army during the war of the rebellion. In 1867 he purchased his present farm, situated on section thirty-four, Hickory Point town- ship. He has seven children whose names are as follows : Phœbe, now the wife of Robert McCoy, Robert, Martha, now Mrs. Marion Major ; Orus B., Jane, William and Mary L. He was first a whig, voted for Taylor in 1848, and afterward became a republi- can. While residing in Whitmore township he acted as justice of the peace.
DANIEL S. WEIGEL.
THE Weigel family are among the old settlers of Hickory Point township. Solomon Weigel, the father of Daniel S. Weigel, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the third of July 1813. He married Caroline Hinkel, who was born in the same county on the third of November, 1828. In June, 1849, the family emigrated to Macon county, Illinois, and in the fall settled on eighty acres of school land in section sixteen of Hickory Point township, which Solomon Weigel had purchased while on a visit to the state several years previous. At the time the family located here it was the furthest settlement out on the prairie. Duc North, there was no house until Salt Creek was reached. Solomon Weigel died on the fourth of March, 1864. His wife, Caroline, departed this life on the thirteenth of October, 1868. They were parents of twelve children, whose names are as follows: Daniel S. Weigel ; Henry S. Weigel ; Mary C. Thompson ; Simon Weigel, deceased ; Bar- bara E Gepord ; John F. Weigel ; Nancy A. Schroll ; Martha J. Reed ; Martin V. Weigel ; Solomon R. Wcigel ; Caroline Weigel deceased ; and Carrie E. Weigel.
Daniel S. Weigel, the oldest child, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the tenth of August, 1847. He was two years old when his father moved to this county. He attended the common schools in Hickory Point township, and went one term to the State Normal School. He learned the carpenter's trade, at which he has been engaged a portion of his time. For the last three years he has been living on the old homestead farm. Hc is a inember of the Church of God, with which he has been connected
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FORSYTHE RES.
PICNIC IN THE GROVE
SCENES ON THE FARM OF W. R. CROSSMAN, SEC. 22 HICKORY POINT TP. (17) R. 2. E. MACON CO. ILL.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
about fifteen years. He is a regularly licensed minister of that denomination ; during the last five years has preached frequently and is now pastor of the Fairview circuit.
RUFUS CROSSMAN.
THIS gentleman, one of the representative farmers of Hickory Point township, is a native of the state of New York. He was born in the town of Cato, Cayuga county, on the third of June, 1834. His grandfather had come from Massachusetts and made his home in cen- tral New York when it was almost an entire wilderness and gave little promise of developing.into the populous country it has since become. Asa Crossman, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Elbridge, Onondaga county, New York. He married Sarah Baker, a native of the state of Vermont. Mr. Crossman's maternal grandmother died at the advanced age of ninety nine years. When he was a child she was accustomed to relate to him many incidents of the olden times. She had lived in New England during the Revolutionary war and heard the first gun fired which ushered in that momentous struggle. She was a woman of great intelligence and force of character. Mr. Crossman's father was a farmer. He lived on a farm in Cayuga county till his death. He was a good citizen, a deacon in the Baptist church, and a man of benevolent and charitable disposition.
Rufus Crossman was raised in Cayuga county. The neighborhood in which he lived had good schools and afforded excellent educa- tional advantages. For two or three terms he attended an acade- my at Jordan, New York. He taught school one winter in the town of Conquest, Cayuga county. In the fall of 1859 he went to Michigan. During the winter of 1859-60 he taught school at Ann Arbor, and then purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, covered with heavy timber, and entirely unimproved, near Lansing.
In 1860 he came to Illinois to teach school, and thus obtained the money with which to meet the payments on this land. He arrived in Decatur on the first of December, 1860, spent the winter in the vicinity, and the next spring began teaching a select school at Decatur. He subsequently worked on a farm in Hickory Point township, and then secured the school in the Mound district, three miles north of Decatur. His administration as a teacher proved so satisfactory that he taught this school six winters in succession. He also had charge of the school at Forsythe two terms, of the Hickory Point school one term, and also taught another term at one of the districts in the township, so that altogether he has had an extended experience as a teacher. On the first of January, 1863, he married Miss Mary Ellen Muinch, daughter of Jacob Muinch and his wife Frances, whose maiden name was Brett. Her father was from Pennsylvania and her mother from Virginia. The same ycar he went to farming on his present farm. He afterward purchased forty acres of land north of Forsythe, and lived there several years. In 1878 he moved back to the farm on which he now lives. He has three children, Frances Annetta, McEthelbert, and Harriet Ann. The farm which Mr. Crossman occupies is one of the oldest settled in the township. It is composed of one hun- dred and twenty acres. The buildings occupy a beautiful situation. An illustration of the farm is shown on another page. Mr. Cross- man has carried on farming operations with great exactness and attention to dletals. Since he has had possession of the farm he has improved it greatly, and spent large sums of money in tileing and ditching. The farm is now in an excellent condition, and in a shape in which it ean be successfully and remuneratively handled. It is well adapted for a stock farm, being provided with fine springs and never-failing water running in close proximity to the buildings. In politics he has always been a republican. In 1860 he voted for Lincoln for President. He is a thorough believer in the doctrines of the republican party, considers that it has done much for the country, and that it deserves well of the people.
PLEASANT VIEW TOWNSHIP.
HEN the County Commissioners met and established township organization, the name Pleasant View was suggested and adopted for this township, for the reason that from the top of the High Mound near the east line of the township, there is a very beautiful view of farms and fertile fields of the surrounding country, which is indeed pleasing to the eye. This township is situated in the extreme south-west corner of the county, and comprises parts of the con- gressional townships, 14 N. R. 1 E., and 15 N. R., 1 E., and contains thirty square miles or 19,200 acres of choice prairie land. There is but little or no timber in the township. It is drained by Mosquito Creek and its tributaries in the northern and central parts, and Dry Branch and Willow Branch in the south-eastern portion. The Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific railway enters it on section 28 of T. 15 N. R. 1 E., and runs in a south-westerly direc- tion, passing out on section 6, of T. 14 N. R. 1 E.
The greater part of the territory embraced within Pleasant View, remained uninhabited in its wild native state for a number of years after the county was organized ; only here and there could be seen the lone cabin of some hardy pioneer who had come to elear the way for the great army of emigrants. The first settlements in this township began in the northern part, and were made by that adventurous class of Kentuckians to whom is due the honor of having done more toward the early settlement and development of Illinois than the natives of any other state in the Union. Some of the men emigrated here prior to 1830. The individual to whom be- longs the credit of having first settled in Pleasant View township, was Valentine Claywell, a native of Kentucky, who located in the northern part of the township in 1828. John Reed was also a very early settler in the same locality. John G. Fletcher, at present living near W. W. Auburn in Christian county, settled in this township in the early part of its history. The earliest marriage which
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
occurred in this township was that of William Lewis to Miss Caroline Sprouse, by the Rev. William Ferguson. William Stevens was the first child born. Elder A. D. Northcutt, a prominent gentleman, now residing in the adjoining county, has the honor of having de- livered the first sermon, in this as well as in other townships of Macon county. It was not until the year 1867, that a regularly located preacher was secured for this township. This gentleman was the Rev. Mr. Hoye, who was located in the town of Blue Mound, and during the following year, the first church in Pleasant View was erected at that place. As most of the early settlements were made near the northern line of the township, the children attended the schools of Blue Mound township, and for this reason, it was not until the year 1862 that a school-house was erected in Pleasant View. During this year a frame school-house was built on section seven of T. 14 N. R. 1 E., and the same year William Sterett taught the same school. In 1865, Willian Brookshire opened a blacksmith shop on section eight, which was the earliest in the town- ship. There was no mill of any kind here until Mr. James Irwin, a farmer living a short distance south-east from Blue Mound, erected a wind-mill for the purpose of grinding corn. The first land entered in this township was by David Simons, March 15th, 1836, forty acres in section thirteen ; Samuel Widick entered one hundred and sixty acres also in the same section. Both tracts were in T. 14 N. R. 1 E. The following are the supervisors, who have represented Pleasant View, as taken from the record books :- D. D Rowles, elected in 1869, and re-elected in 1870, 1871 ; John Hatfield, elected in 1872; E. House, elected in 1873, and by re-election each year has held the office ever since. Prominent among some of the older settlers of the county, now living in the township are : James D. Smith, a native of this state, born in the county in 1845 ; is now re- siding in section thirteen. E. F. Delbridge, residing on section seventeen, is a native of Prussia, and came to this country in 1858 ; Wm M. Moss, his neighbor, and from the same country, also resides on section seventeen. Wm. F. Brookshire, a native of Kentucky, came here in 1857, having lived twenty-three years in this town- ship. O. T. Crow, living on section three, is an Ohioan, and set- tled in the county in 1857. During the decade of 1860 there was a large influx of population, and there has continued a steady growth ever since.
BLUE MOUND.
Like most of the towns along the line of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific railway, Blue Mound was laid out, soon after the com- pletion of the road, in the year 1870. The road was then known as the Decatur and East St. Louis R. R.
The first house in the town was a dwelling-house, built by Wil- liam Cummings in 1861, before the location of the town. It after- ward became the property of James Seiberling. In 1870, a store was moved here from about one mile north of the town, by O. Ul- rich and Bros., which was the first one established. During the same year the post-office was established, and William Clemens was appointed the first post-master. A school-house was erected in
1871, and Isaac Black was the first person to occupy it as a teacher. The first hotel was opened by A. H. Eicholtz in 1870. Albert Nicholls, was the first to establish a blacksmith shop.
The first church in the town was moved from about two miles south of here in 1871. The Rev. Mr. Corley was the first preacher.
THE PRESENT BUSINESS HOUSES
Of the town may be seen in the following list: The mill and elevator now owned and operated by J. Barrick, was built by Henry Kain and Edward Eicholtz, in the year 1870. In August, 1875, Mr. Barrick purchased an interest in the business, and in October, 1877, he became full proprietor. The elevator is con- structed for handling all kinds of grain, and has a capacity of 10,000 bushels. Can handle three to four thousand bushels of grain per day. The mill has but one run of burrs.
The elevator owned and operated by Hatfield, Ellis and Daly, is constructed for handling all kinds of grain, and has a capacity of 12,000 to 14,000 bushels.
The tile factory of E. E. Lemen, was built in 1878 by Scott and Lemen ; has a capacity of 175,000 feet of drain tileing per annum. C. E. Bosworth's tile factory was built in 1877, by Williard and Bosworth, and has a capacity of 150,000 feet of drain tileing per annum.
There are two hotels in the place ; Blue Mound Hotel, kept by H. Scott, and the Ward House, by R. D. Ward. The leading physicians are Robert Toby and G. F. Waldron. Dr. W. J. Sane, Dentist. Dry Goods and Groceries .- Dunbar & Nicholls, S. McKnight & Co. Groceries .- William Stringer, D. Seiberling & Bro., Geo. Elliott. Drugs .- Spooner & Sprague, D. E. Henshie. Clothier .- Joseph Miller. Boots and Shoes .- Raup & Chew. Jewelry .- Adam Becker. Barbers .- Marris & Bro. Millinery .- Mrs. R. J. Guthrie, Mrs. Schoolcraft, Mrs. J. Johnson, Mrs. Dick- inson, and C. A. Shirley. Hardware and Furniture .- Niles & Bradley. Hardware and Lumber .- W. B. Cross. Agricultural Implements .- O. Ulrich. Confectionery .- Landon Bro's. Confec- tionery and News Dealer .- D. O. Hatfield Lumber .- C. S. Lewis. Carpenters .- J. J. Wilson, J. Freeman, I. Reemsyder. Plasterer .- J. W. Hoffman. Painters .- Duconig & Clements, J. S. Reeves, J. C. Noe. Tinware and Stores .- A. Shieve, D. N. Mccluskey. Blacksmith and Wagon Makers .- J. K. Clure, Edwards & Purdy. Meat Market .- C. M. Spooner. Hay Press .- Milhorn Bro's. Liv- ery Stables .- J. D. Armstrong, R. D. Ward.
The list of business houses above speaks well for a town that has only been in existence ten years. For its business men, Blue Mound has had gentlemen of energy and enterprise, who have used - their efforts to build up the town, to the flourishing and prosperous condition it can now boast of. The place has very creditable church buildings, and a good school-house. The town was laid out, princi- pally through the influence of Doctor Goltra, who at that time owned the land upon which the town now stands. Her history is not yet made ; the first ten years of her existence was laying the foundation, from which history may hereafter be gathered.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Joshua Barrich
MR. BARRICK was born in Frederick county, Maryland, Septem- ber 8th, 1833. His parents, Cornelius Barrick and Mary Snook, were natives of the same county, where he followed the calling of carpenter. Mr. Barrick was brought up in the same trade, and laid the foundation of his fortune by the use of the saw and plane. When about seventeen, in company with his oldest brother, William, he directed his course to Illinois, in order to find a larger field of operation, and to have an opportunity to grow up with the country. He made a location in the old village of Middletown, Logan county, and there completed an apprenticeship under the superintendence of his brother, who was a finished and experienced workman. He followed the business two years in Lincoln, after which he directed his steps to Christian county. There, in 1855, he purchased his first farm, a tract of 133 acres, which he reduced to cultivation. He afterwards sold and bought till he owned three farms in that county. He has also owned as many in this county at different dates, and has been known for several years as one of the active
business men of this county. About three years ago he located in Blue Mound, and bought the homestead of John Armstrong. His object in coming to this town was to look after the interests of an elevator, in which he had purchased an interest in 1875. In 1877, he bought out the other partners, and has since conducted the business alone. He has added needed improvements suitable to a large and increasing trade, and now does a business equal in magni- tude to any of the kind in the county, handling this season 200,000 bushels of grain.
Mr. Barrick has proven a valuable acquisition to the trade and commerce of his town and community, and has gained for himself a reputation in business capability and commercial honor second to none. His private life is also without reproach, and he stands before the people without a blemish on the family escutcheon.
He was married while in Logan county, to Miss Barbara A., the daughter of Samuel Gaver, formerly also of Frederick county, Maryland. This lady died in the spring of 1863, leaving four
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
children, three daughters still surviving, two of whom are married, viz: Melinda, the consort of Charles Wilcox, a resident of Christian county, and Carrie, the wife of Wm. Henshie, of this county. His second and present wife was formerly Mrs. Jane R. Leister, relict of Jno. Leister, formerly of Bureau county, and native of the Chesapeake States. Five heirs constitute the fruits of this union, a son and four daughters.
Mr. Barrick in the multiplicity of business has not neglected the greater concerns of the Christian religion, but for a number of years has tried in a humble manner to serve the " King of Kings." He has maintained a consistent and creditable standing in the Methodist church for a quarter of a century, where his family have also found a spiritual home.
He is a republican in his political creed, and therefore a Union man in the full sense of the term. He was not in the late war him- self, but his family furnished to the Union columns six brothers and one brother-in-law, who fought through the war, which eventuated in the integrity of the Republic.
Mr. Barrick is a firm believer in the great future of the American nation, is an advocate of the equal rights of all before the bar of civil law, and that in social standing men should be taken breast high -that is, valued for their moral and religious worth alone, in- dependent of monetary considerations.
He came to this state poor and with only a limited education, but by industry and good judgment he has amassed at least an indepen- dence in property, and by a long course of general reading and business calculations he has supplied what he failed to acquire in his early school days. He has treated all with fairness in trade, has never taken the advantage in cases when others have been de- pendent on him, and to his perpetual credit it can be said that in no instance has he oppressed the poor, and that in all business trans- actions, however needy second parties were, he has always treated them as if no disparagement in circumstances existed.
JOHN D. SEIBERLING.
THOUGH still a young man, Mr. Seiberling deserves a passing notice, both on account of the services he has rendered his country and the business relations he sustains to his town, as well as to pre- serve a record of a well-known family.
His grandfather, Jno. D. Seiberling was a native of Lehigh eounty, Pennsylvania, where he served as post-master fifty-four years, and was the oldest P. M. of the Keystone state. He married a Miss Bear, and lived to the age of ninety-two years, and died while on a visit to Ohio. James Seiberling, now a well-known citizen of this township, father of our subject, is also a native of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, was raised there and also therc married to Miss Sarah Moser. He afterwards settled in Summit County, Ohio, where he lived till he moved here in 1864. Hc has had a family of fourteen children, all now dead, save six, viz .: Catharine App, J. D., O. R., P. M., Sarah Wise and Miss Mary- all of the town of Blue Mound.
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