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 54
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John D. also claims Lehigh county as the place of his nativity. He was about ten years old when his parents moved to Summit county, Ohio. There he was raised and secured a good education, and also learned the harness-making trade. He entered the army in 1862, and fought in the Union ranks till the close of the war, and was in the battles of the Wilderness, Gettysburg and other serious engagements of the eastern campaigns. He was seriously wounded at Gettysburg, and came very near being a sacrifice on
the altar of the country for his devotion to the Union. He won a reputation while in the service, of a brave soldier and a true patriot. After the close of hostilities he returned to Ohio, and worked at his trade till 1871, when he came to Blue Mound and embarked in the grocery trade, in which business he represents the oldest house of the kind in the town. He has a large and growing business, and has proved himself a valuable acquisition as a good merchant and an active promoter of general enterprise. He is democratic in politics, and does not consider that in any respect his record as a Union soldier is compromised thereby. He fought in the army alone for the integrity of the Union and not for any systemn of prin- ciples purely political, and now votes the democratic ticket as em- borlying the best doctrines for the government of the nation.
'He was married in Ohio, October 22d, 1868. His wife was formerly Miss Jennie Foster, of Summit county. They have one child, a son, Erl.
ELEAZER HOUSE.
IN giving historical sketches of the more prominent gentlemen of the county, it would not be right to omit the popular supervisor of Pleasant View township. He is a Buckeye by nativity, and was born July 27th, 1822. His father, John House, a native of the Keystone State, moved to Ohio in 1814. He was married in Penn- sylvania to Miss Sarah Nicely, a short time after his return from the war of 1812. On settling in Ohio, a location was selected in Jefferson county, in which he improved a neat farm, on which he died in 1833, leaving his widow with six children. This property was afterwards sold for $16,000, and the family moved to Medina county, where their mother died in 1853. Mr. House was married in Jefferson county in 1851, the object of matrimonial alliance be- ing Miss Nancy E. Frazer. After a brief wedded life, death sull- dered the relation, and he buried this excellent companion in Medina county in 1855. She left two children, one of whom, (Samuel, now residing in Arkansas,) still survives. In the same county he married his second wife, Miss Flora A. Martin, the daughter of James and Lucretia Martin. Within five years he was compelled to surrender this lady also to the stern mandate of Na- ture, which consigns all to the tomb. She died in 1860, and also left two children,-a son, now in business in Blue Mound, and an unmarried daughter at home. Mr. House bought his farm near Blue Mound in 1865, but did not move to it till the spring of 1866, and since that time the people have known him as a husbandman. Here he has made first-class improvements, and though not exten - sively engaged in agriculture, he manages to make every part of his quarter section of land pay good dividends. Taste and good management are everywhere manifest on his premises-unstinted hospitality makes his home not only one of refinement and elegance, but of social and intellectual enjoyment.
Hc has made himself generally useful in aiding measures looking to the public welfare, and has also borne a part in the discharge of official business. He is now serving as supervisor, for the eighth term, besides being in former years clerk and collector. He is not, however, an office-seeker, and feels more disposed to evade than to court positions of public trust. In politics he is a democrat of the old Jacksonian school ; and therefore, while he holds that the rela- tions between the General Government and States cannot be peace- ably severed, he maintains the theory of strict construction as a doctrine of the Federal Constitution, and that the States, thic great bulwarks of our freedom, have rights that the Congress of the Na- tion are bound to respect. He, with all good democrats, denounces
VINEYARD
FARM RESIDENCE OF A. MICHAUX, SEC. 16. PLEASANT VIEW TP. (14.) R.I.E. MACON CO. ILL.
POLAND CHINAS FEED MILL & WIND PUMP PLYMOUTH ROCK CHICKENS BLUE MOUND STOCK FARM & RES.OF E. HOUSE, SEC.31. PLEASANT VIEW. TP. (15) R.I.E. MACON CO.ILL. IMILE N. OF BLUE MOUND STATION.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
centralization in all its forms, and is in favor of strangling its inci- pient tendencies wherever found.
For the people of the county, without distinction of political creed, he expresses a high regard, and feels that since he came to the county he has been among a people that have acted toward him like brothers, and with whom he expects to fraternize, while contributing his share in the material, moral and social develop- ment of the adopted county of his home. In life he can say, in review of the past, that he has been successful, though he may not have reached to the summit seen in youthful ambition. While he has enjoyed much, he has also passed through the deep waters- proved the vanity of many fond allurements, and realized grief when pleasures seemed to predominate, as expressed in the beau- tiful lines of Burns, that-
" Pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, the bloom is shed ; Or, like snow-flakes on the river, One moment white, then lost forever."
ABEL S. FERRE.
THIS gentleman came to this country from the dominion of Canada. He was born January 8, 1832, and is the son of Marshall Ferre and Nancy Stephens, residents at the time near the village of Beverly. When about three years old, his parents moved to Western Illinois, and located in Adams county, where a farm was purchased, on which the family resided till 1864, when another change made them residents of Shelby county, where his father died, November 12th, 1865.
Mr. Ferre had only such chances for an education as were com- mon to the pioneers of Illinois, and consequently he had few opportunities to satisfy a natural thirst for knowledge. Though he did not drink deep from the perennial springs, still a sufficient amount of education was acquired to make him a fair business calculator, and he has added from time to time by general reading to the original stock, till he has reached a plane entitling him to a position among our best-informed and most intelligent citizens. He attained his legal majority in Adams county, and was there united in the holy ties of wedlock with Miss Sarah J., daughter of Lemuel Chapman. Her mother was formerly Martha Kansler, and at the time of her removal from Adams county, Tenn., was a widow with five children.
Mr. Ferre bought his first farm in Adams county, but sold out and moved to Shelby county with his parents. He did not pur- chase property in that county on account of the rumors of "milk sickness,'" once the common terror in many sections of the state. He bought his second farm in this township in the fall of 1865-a quarter section, which has since grown to 250 acres, under judicious management. This is in every sense one of the premium farms of Pleasant View township, and has improvements which entitle it to rank with other first-class estates of the county. Its owner broke the virgin soil and has expended on its improvement and cultivation the best energies of his life. He has not only been doing a prosperous business in general agriculture, but also in the general stock trade, for which his premises are admirably fitted. He has not only prospered in worldly interests, but has been blessed in family relations. He has one married daughter, Nancy A. Price, of Piatt county, and three children at home, namely : Abel A., Marshall, and Charles M.
Though not an extreme partisan, he is a republican in politics, believing that the principles of his party are best adapted to the
general welfare of the nation at large, and best calculated to the growth and expansive interests of the nation, especially those newer features developed by our increased population and vast diversity of local needs. To the people of the county he feels, without dis- tinction of party lines, that he lives among a noble and energetic population, with whom he expects to labor for such a period as Providence may permit, for the growth, development and upbuild- ing of a still higher form of civilization, which will put Macon among the first counties of Illinois.
Mr. Ferre has performed a vast amount of work with his own hands, and has shirked no duty either toward his township or county. He has a clear record, and has so lived that there is not a stain to dishonor his name, and we can say of him in concluding this notice, that he has made life a success, and that the lines have fallen to him in pleasant places.
NATHAN A. CARR.
MR CARR represents one of the oldest families in this state. His great-grandfather, Joseph Carr, was a revolutionary soldier, a native Virginian, and settled in the vicinity of Kaskaskia about the year 1797, at which time Henry Carr, his grandfather, was about nine years old. When he grew to manhood he became connected with the ranger service, and was some time under Gene- ral Whitesides, and it would require a volume to properly relate his adventures and the various perils and battles with the " wily foe."
The family moved at a later period near the present site of Belle- ville, where George W., Mr. Carr's father was born, in the year 1814. He was married, in St. Clair county, to Miss Teresa Garner, when twenty-two years old, by whom he raised five sons-Matthew S., George W. L., James G., Henry A., and Nathan A., and one daughter, Mary B, the wife of Robert Woods, of Cass county, Missouri. James and Henry are now at Leadville, Colorado, and Matthew, an M. D., is still in St. Clair county, where our subject was born, March 29th, 1838.
He was raised to the life of a farmer and stock-trader, and was married in his native county to Melissa Rittenhouse in 1860. He came to this county with his father, in 1865, and bought an adjoin- ing farm, on which he still resides. His real estate possessions now include the old homestead of his parents, which makes a tract of four hundred acres, a property handsomely and suitably improved for the purpose of general agriculture and the stock trade, in which its owner has been more or less employed ever since he settled in the county.
He has done considerable tileing-in fact has his farm well tiled, and his experience is, that it is one of the best investments which he has ever made as an aid to the interests of production and the supply of stock water yielded. It is not only beneficial as a drain- age, but it is equally advantageous to the more elevated land as a fertilizer. By it the air is allowed to circulate and penetrate the soil, which both mellows and fertilizes.
He has a family of eight children-six sons and two daughters --- all promising, and enjoying the advantages which wealth brings in educating them as they grow up for honorable and responsible positions in life.
In politics, Mr. Carr is a democrat, as have been all his prede- cessors from his illustrious great-grandfather, who aided in estab- lishing the independence of the American people, his grandfather, who helped to lay the social foundation of Illinois, his father, a
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
venerable pioneer, in whose knowledge and history a wilderness was converted into fruitful fields, and a territory to a state ranking now the third in the Union.
With such antecedents and with such examples it is no marvel that Mr. Carr stands in the same line of political faith. His sen- timents, though not a simple inheritance, are the result of sober reflection, careful study, and a comparison of the effects of different
national administrations on the material and social well-being of the country at large, as well as an analysis of various platforms, and these tested by the principles embodicd in the federal. constitution itself.
Socially, Mr. C. is generous, frank, and always ready with his means to aid in every good work, and takes an active interest in all matters affecting his township and the county.
SOUTH MACON TOWNSHIP.
S in the center of the tier of townships Tying in the ex- treme southern part of the county. It is bounded on the north by South Wheatland, on the east by Mt. Zion and Milam, on the south by Shelby county, and on the west by Pleasant View and Blue Mound townships It is drained by Dry Branch, Willow Branch and Long Grove Branch. There is considerable timber to be found along the margins of these streams, particularly along Long Grove Branch. The soil is rich and pro- ductive, and in this township may be found many of the best im- proved farms in the county. The township compriscs half of each of the two congressional townships 14 and 15 N., Range 2 E., mak- ing a full township with thirty-six sections. The Illinois Central Railroad enters the township on the north of section 21, and runs in nearly a south-west direction through the township, passing out on the south-west corner of section 17 of T. 14 N. R. 2 E. The town of Macon, situated near the centre of the township is the second in population in the county, and where most of the trading of the farmers in the township is done.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
In 1835, William Morris, with his family, came from Indiana and built a cabin on section 12 of T. 14 N., R. 2 E., just north of what is now known as the Long Grove. This is a long strip of timber, probably three-fourths of a mile in width, running along the southern edge of the township. Mr. Morris was the first settler in the township, but he did not live long after he came. He died in 1836, one year after his arrival in the county. This was the first death. He was buried near the cast end of Long Grove, in what afterward became the neighborhood burying-ground, and was the first place of the kind established in South Macon township.
Isaac Vise came from Kentucky in 1837 or '38, and located fur- ther south in the township than where Mr. Morris had settled. In 1840 Thomas Atterberry, familiarly known as " Big Tom " Atter- berry, now living near the centre of the township, was traveling through the country and lost his way at night, and in the morning discovered he was only a short way from a house, which proved to be the one occupied by William Morris and his family.
Thomas Atterberry, commonly called "Black Tom," built a house on section 8, in T. 14 N., R. 2 E., and moved his family of cight persons from Breckinridge county, Kentucky, in the year 1845. About the same time Richard Atterberry moved from Grayson county, Kentucky, and settled on section 12, T. 14 N., R. 2 E. About 1837, two brothers, James and Hargus Stewart, also
from Kentucky, settled in the south-east part of the township, and in 1849 William Portwood, at present living just across the line in Shelby county, came and settled in South Macon, on section 12, T. 14 N., R. 2 E. Here it would, perhaps, not be out of place to men- tion that in early tincs there prevailed a strange superstition among the settlers of this locality. Some time between 1840 and '45, a Mrs. Stewart, residing east of Long Grove, died and was buried in the south-eastern part of the grove. The people living in that neighborhood, or a great many of them at least, for a num- ber of years, believed and insisted that Mrs. Stewart's ghost haunted that locality, and for a long time they could not be induced to pass that portion of the grove after nightfall for any consideration.
Isaac Davis, one of the representative men who now resides in the north part of the township came here and settled near where he lives in 1853. There was quite a settlement at an early date in the south-west corner of the township, composed chiefly of the Armstrongs and their relatives and the McHenrys, many of whom afterwards removed and still live in various parts of Shelby county. About the year 1838, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, who are pre- viously mentioned as having come from Kentucky about 1837, had a child born to them, which was the first birth in the township.
The settlement in the south-west part of the township is credited with having had the first school-house. This was built on section 12, of T. 14 N. R. 2 E., in the year 1854. The first teacher was Bradford Stuart who came from Kentucky to Illinois at an early date. He was a native of Indiana. B. K. Durfee, now of Decatur, taught school at quite an early day in a school-house on section 8, T. 14 N., R. 2 E., about two miles south of Macon.
The first entries of Government land: On Nov. 5th, 1835, James Stewart entercd 40 acres on section 13; William Norris entered 80 acres in same section Nov. 5th, 1835, and same day he entered 40 acres, also 80 acres in same section, all in T. 14 N., R. 2 East of the 3d P. M.
The following are the supervisors from this township: W. D. Hamilton, elected in 1860; L. M. Clement, elected in 1861 ; A. H. Martin, elected in 1862; W. W. Dean, elected in 1863; Frank Babcock, elected in 1864, and re-elected in 1865; N. Failing, elcc- ted 1866, re-elected 1867; Joel T. Walker, elected 1867, and re-elected each succeeding year up to 1872; N. Fail- ing, elected 1873; W. S. Gage, elected 1874, re-elected 1875; R. H. Woodcock, elected 1876, re-elected each succeeding year, and is the present incumbent.
STONER BOY
TRAINING TRACK
TENANT HOUSE
STOCK FARM OF D.W.BRENNEMAN & ELI BRENNEMAN SEC.30.T.15, R.2, (MACON TP.) MACON CO, I LL .
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
THE TOWN OF MACON.
This thriving little place is situated on section thirty-two of Tp. 15 N. R. 2 E., and on the line of the Illinois Central railroad, about ten miles from the city of Decatur. It is in the heart of a thickly populated country, and commands the trade for many miles around. It was laid out by the Illinois Railroad Company, immediately after the completion of the road in 1854. The first building ercc- ted, was by the railroad company. It was used as a freight and passenger depot. C. H. Ruby was the first person to settle in the town. He lived in this depot from 1854 to 1860. In 1857 the company appointed J. S. Ruby, their agent at Macon, who was the first regular agent of the company at this place. Here for a number ofyears, the company had their land office for the sale of lands in this portion of the county. A. G. Harris built the first residence in this town. This was in the year 1858.
Jas. Searneus, who came from Ohio, in the year 1858, was the first person to open a store in the town, for the purpose of general mercantile business. James Wells taught the first school in the town. The first school-house was erected in 1858, and was used for years for that purpose, but is now used as a dwelling. The Rev. Mr. Wallace preached the first sermon, that was delivered by any min- ister in the town of Macon. This was in the freight depot of the Illinois Central Railroad, in the year 1860. It was the custom for the preacher going through on the railroad to stop at Macon, and deliver a sermon in the freight house. This practice was continued until the erection of a church. The Methodist being the prevail- ing creed in this locality, in the early days of Macon city, grew in members and wealth until in 1865, they became able, and built a church, which was the first church of any denomination in Macon. The Rev. Mr. Wallace was the first preacher regularly located in the town.
The year 1860 was marked by the opening of a hotel, by C. H. Ruby, who is still engaged in the hotel business. In 1857 a post- office was established, and the present name given it. J. S. Ruby was the first person appointed to the office of post-master. The first death was that of James Gahretty, who was employed in the con- struction of the freight depot, and while at work on that building, fell from the roof and received fatal injuries, from which he died. This sad event occurred in the year 1855.
The wedding of Joseph and Mrs. Louisa De Vere, was the earliest in the history of Macon. The ceremony was performed by a Rev- erend Father of the Catholic church, who happened to stop over at this station. The event took place in the year 1857, at the home of Mr. C. H. Ruby, who was then living in the passenger depot.
Charles Crow was the first person to establish a general black- smithing business in the town, in the year 1857. Dr. Geo. S. Gray, a physician still practising in this place, was the first physician, who came to locate permanently in Macon. He came in 1860. The town does a prosperous business, and is the third city in the county in point of population. The present business houses are :
Dry Goods and Groceries .- Roscow & Hemphill, J. Frick, N. Cazalett, S. G. Washburn, W. R. Whittaker. Boots and Shoes .- B. F. Weeks, J. J. Swatz. Drugs and Groceries .- J. Allinson, T. C. Drinkall. Banks .- Hight Bros., 1878, N. Failing, 1880. Hotel. -Ruby House, by C. H. Ruby. Restaurants .- Roush & Young. J. A. Cook. Elevators .- Failing and Nebinger, L. F. Webb. Livery Stables .- Thos. Whittaker, J. L. Gray. Wagons .- D. Ka- lips, H. S. Cook. Blacksmiths .- Joseph Amock, Anton Beschel, G. W. Cook. Undertaker .- J. C. Baldridge. Furniture .- George Glenn. Barber Shop .- Jean Young. Clothing .- Samuel Johnson. Meat Markets .- E. E. Pennypacker, Hudson & Co. Carpenter .-- Eli Stoffer.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
JAMES HOPSON, ESQ.
MR. HOPSON properly falls into that class of husbandmen whose services as a citizen and an agriculturist, render necessary honor- able notice. He was born in Herkimer county, N. Y. Oct. 11th, 1819. He received a liberal education while in his native state. Hard study and the confinement to the school-room impaired his health, and he determined to spend a short time in recuperation on the sea, and he consequently spent the winter of'40 and the ensuing summer on the ocean. Mr. H. then devoted about a year in teach- ing and reading law. He next moved to the West and located in Macoupin county, this state, of which he remained an honored ci- tizen till 1857, when he removed to this county, on the farm where he now lives, and which he purchased in 1855. While in that county he was employed principally in farming, though he at first taught several terms and gained considerable credit as an educator. He also paid some attention to the legal profession, but finding his physical organization utterly incompatible with the sedentary requirements of either the law office. or the school-room, he abandoned all idcas of professional life in favor of the healthier
exercise of farm duties. He owned two farms in Macoupin county. The first purchase was made in 1843, nearChesterfield, and the second nearer the county seat. He made money, and proved by his success that he had adopted a calling for which he was well qualified.
On locating in this county, he began the work of improvement on a raw quarter section. Within two years he had it all fenced and broken, performing all the required labor with his own hands, hauling his rails about cight miles. There was not at the time a dwelling-house in the town of Macon, and only a few small farm-houses in sight of his premises. The country soon however began to settle up, and in the summer of 57 Mr. Hopson counted as many as thirty two-prairie [ox] teams engaged in turning over the sod, most of which were in sight of his house. Under careful management and skillful cultivation the original " one hundred and sixty" has grown into the dimensions of a three hundred and sixty acre tract, all in a fine state of tillage ; and is now one of the first class homesteads of Macon County, where old-fashioned hospi- tality is still extended to all, such as was common in the earlier and pioneer days of the county.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
He has been twiee married. His first wife was Miss Martha Richmond, daughter of Elkanah Richmond. This marriage oeenr- red in 1848, while Mr. H. was enjoying a visit in his native state. She died in 1855, leaving a son, Chas. R. now engaged in the prac- tice of law at Elgin. He was married the second time in 1859, his wife, being formerly Miss Sarah A. Fish, danghter of Wm. L. Fish, still living, at the advanced age of ninety years. The nuptials were celebrated, June 23d, in the passenger depot, at Macon, which was likely the first marriage celebrated within the limits of the township. The issue of this union has been eight children, four survivors, viz , Edward F., Otho R and Misses Ethel and Luey.
The remote aneestry were residents of Northumberland eounty, England. Five brothers came to this conntry together, three of whom died in the continental army. From one of the three survivors, Mr H. counts his descent. The given name of his grandfather was Alvarus. He was a native of Conn., where also James, Mr. Hopson's father, was born, who was only seven years old when the family settled in Herkimer connty, N. Y. Miss Lucy Tnttle, whom he afterwards married, was also a native of the same state, and her parents settled in the same county at abont the same date. They raised seven children, four of whom are still surviving the subject of this sketeh, Mrs. Cramp and Mrs. Osborn of this township, and S. T. Hopson, a well known farmer of Macoupin connty. Mr. Hopson was originally an old-line Whig, and east his first vote for Genl. Harrison. He supported Donglas in 1860. He supported Lincoln in his second and Grant in his first term, and has since acted with what has been known as the Greenbaek party, in which his name is well known. He has been appointed several times, but has attended only one state and two national conventions. He is not an office-seeker, and sinee settling in this county has only officia- ted in township positions and the office of Justice of the Peace.
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