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 57
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which has been in later years improved by extensive reading and close observation of men and things.
When in his twenty-second year he went to De Witt county with his father, and worked two years in his mill on Salt Creek, and then got married and went on a farm, and remained so engaged for four years. In the winter of 1874 he came to Oakley township and bought his present mill property, and here he has remained actively engaged up to the present. On the 8th of September, 1868, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Stone. She is a native of Tennessee, but was a resident of De Witt county, Illinois, at the time of her marriage. This union has been blessed with three children living ; their names are-Lillie, Minnie, and Della Coulter.
Politically, Mr. Coulter is a member of the republican party. He cast his first presidential vote for U. S. Grant in 1872, and since that time has seen no reason to change his politieal principles. He is not a politician, nor does he take any more interest than to cast his vote as becomes the right and duty of every American citizen. Mr. Coulter is yet a young man just entering upon the threshold of business life as it were ; but from the progress made tlius far, and from the industry and activity displayed, it requires no pro- phetic mind to cast with unerring certainty and predict the future success of him who is the possessor of these traits of character.
In the neighborhood and among those with whom he has done business, he is regarded as a correct business man, honorable in all his dealings, a good neighbor and a kind friend.
JACOB SEITZ, ESQ.
THE ancestors of the Seitz family came to America from Germany before the Revolutionary war. They afterward removed to Canada, but before the war of 1812 returned to Pennsylvania. John Seitz, the father of Jacob, was born in Manheim, Laneaster county, Pennsylvania. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. He removed to Cumberland county, in the same state, where he remained until his death in 1856. He was a tailor by trade, and worked at the business the greater part of his life. He was three times married. The last wife was named Elizabeth Kline. She was born in Cum- berland county, Pennsylvania. She came west and died in this county, in 1873. There were twelve children, seven by the last wife, five sons and two daughters. Jacob is the oldest of the latter family. He was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 15th, 1814. He worked on the farm and attended the subscrip- tion school in the winter season. When he was nineteen years of age he learned the tailor trade in Dover, York county, Pennsylva- nia. He worked at the business sixteen years, then quit it and engaged in farming, and still continues in that occupation.
Mr. Seitz remained in the land of his birth until May, 1857, when he came west and settled in Oakley township, Macon county, Illinois. Here he purchased eighty acres of land in seetion 26, T. 17, R. 3, of the Illinois Central Railroad company. It was new land, and all the improvements have been made by him. A .fine view of his farm and residence can be seen on another page of this work.
On the 21st of June, 1836, he was united in marriage to Miss Barbara Nickey. She was born in Cumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1815. She died September 4th, 1874. By this union · there were ten children, seven sons and three daughters. Two of the daughters dicd. Their names are Mary Ann, wife of William Hiser ; Elizabeth Jane, the wife of Conrad Enterlinc; David Wes- lcy, farmer in Piatt county, Illinois ; Jeremiah L., now a resident
LOOKING WEST FROM BARN LOT
JUPITER
STOCK AND GRAIN FARM OF M.L.DECK, SEC. 33 (OAKLEY TP.) 17. R.4. E. MACON CO. ILL. 200 ACRES.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
of McPherson county, Kansas ; Danicl Alexander, a farmer and resident of this county ; James Thompson, also of Macon county ; William Wilson, living at Lightner Station ; and Jacob Anderson, a resident of McPherson county, Kansas.
On the 15th of August, 1878, Mr. Seitz married Mrs. Mary Ann Baker, nee Kiser. She had by her first husband seven children, five boys and two girls. Mrs. Seitz was born in Clark county, Ohio. In politics Mr. Seitz was originally a democrat. He cast his first presidential vote for Martin Van Buren in 1836. In 1852 he joined the whig party and voted for Winfield Scott. In 1860 he voted for Lincoln, and since that time has been a member of the republican party. In 1878 he was elected justice of the peace for his township, an office he still holds and fills to the satisfaction of those who placed the scales of justice in his hands. In the neighborhood where Mr. Seitz has long lived, he is regarded as the best of neigh- bors and an honest man. This is the verdict of those who have known him the longest and best; socially he is of pleasant and agreeable manners, kind and considerate for the wants of others, and always trying to do unto others as lie wonld have others do uuto him.
THOMAS CHAMBERS
WAS born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, May 15th, 1827. James Chambers, his father, was also a native of the same state. He was a soldier in the war nnder the command of General Wil- liam H. Harrison. In 1835 he moved to Indiana, where he lived eighteen months; then came to Illinois and settled in Vermilion county, and remained there six years, then came to Macon county, and settled permanently in Oakley township. He here entered for- ty acres of land, and purchased forty acres of school land in section
26, T. 17, R. 4 E. He remained in Oakley township nntil his death, which took place, Angust 25th, 1877, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. He married Nancy Buoy. She was also a native of Kentucky. She died about the year 1855. By this marriage there were five children, three sons and two daughters ; all living except Mary, who was married to Daniel Dickey. Laban is the eldest son. He was a soldier in the war with Mexico, and was
wonnded at the battle of Cerro Gordo, aud suffered the ampn- tation of his right arm. Thomas is the youngest son and fonrth in the family. He received but an indifferent education in his youth. Confinement in school-honses was irksome to his naturally bouyant disposition. He never could bear confinement. ! He wanted to roam around and enjoy the fine free air. This is his disposition yet. After the family removed to Macon county, Thomas purchased land in section 21, Town 17, Range 4. It was nnimproved. Here he has resided up to the present time, and now has one of the best farms in the township. He married Miss Mary, daughter of Robert and Jennie Gates. Mr. Gates was a native of Kentucky, and his wife of Tennessee. He died while on a trip to California in 1849, and Mrs. Gates died in Missouri.
There have been born to Thomas and Mary Chambers six chil- dren, five of whom are living. Their names are Margaret Ellen, wife of James K. Peck, Effie, Jane, Elizabeth Emma, and William R. Chambers. Politically Mr. Chambers is a republican. Before the formation of the Republican party he was an old-line whig, and cast his first presidential vote for General Taylor in 1848.
Mr. Chambers has always followed the occupation of farming and stock raising and stock trading, in all of which he has been very successful. He started in life poor ; and what he has, has been the accumulation of patient toil, the practice of economical habits. In his manners he is pleasant and agreeable, and in his home a hos- pitable gentleman.
T. O. HOLCOMB.
THE subject of the following biographical sketch is a native of Illinois. He was born in St. Clair county. May 19th, 1842. His grandfather, William Holcomb, was a native of North Carolina. He emigrated at an early age and settled in Tennessee, and from there came to St. Clair county, Illinois, in the year 1811. He was one of the rangers in the Indian wars and drew a pension from the government for services rendered as a soldier. Hc died at the advanced age of ninety-three years. He married Polly Ruther- ford ; John T. his son, and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in St. Clair county. He remained there nntil his death, the date of which was August 25th, 1855. He married Livina Potter, Sbe was also born in St. Clair county, Illinois, where she still re- sides. By this marriage there were six children, three of whom are living. T. O. is eldest of the family. He remained at home until the breaking out of the late war. On the 8th of August, 1862, he enlisted for three years as a private in Company "H," 117th regiment, Illinois volunteers. The regiment was organized at camp Butler, Illinois. On the organization of the company Mr. Holcomb was elected sergeant. The regiment was brigaded at Memphis, Tennessee, and was attached, and known as the 2d brigade, 2d division, 16th army corps. Sergeant Holcomb par- ticipated with his regiment in all the battles in which it was engaged, and was mustered out and honorably discharged August 5th, 1865, at the close of the war. He returned home, worked on a farm in the summer months, and taught school in the winter. He engaged in general merchandizing in Freeburg, Illinois, and on the 1st of June, 1879, came to Oakley, Macon county, where he engaged in general merchandizing and grain business, in which he still continues. On the 14th of September, 1869, he was married to Miss Clarinda J. Smith, of St. Clair county. By this union there have been five children ; three living, two boys and one girl. Their names are, Cassius, Bessie and T. O. Holcomb. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church. He is a member of the A. F. and A. M. Lodge, and also a member of Belleville Chapter R. A. M. No. 106. Politically he is a republican.
JAMES BURLEY.
THE Burley family is an old one in the history of Pennsylvania. They came over with William Penn, and like him were Quakers. They settled in Bucks connty, Pa., where John Burley, the father of James, was born. David Bnrley, the grandfather, was also a native of the same county. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and was connected during that memorable struggle with the quartermaster's department. His brother was also a captain in that war. David Burley married Sarah Shoemaker, a native of Pennsylvania, and removed with his family to Ohio in 1800, set- ling in what is now known as Adams county, near Marysville; he died in 1834. John Burley, his son, was born in 1788, and married Nancy Anderson, who was born in 1791. Her father was a native of Ireland. He indentured himself on board a vessel to pay pas- sage to America; settled and married in New Jersey, where Mrs. Bnrley was born. John Burley remained in Ohio until 1834, when he came to Illinois and settled in Greene connty, and remained where he first settled nntil his death, which occurred in 1846. His wife and mother of James died in the same place March 31st 1875.
James Burley, the subject of this sketch, was born in Adams county, Ohio, October 17th, 1812, and remained in his native state
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
until 1830, when he came west with a family that were moving to Illinois. He stopped first in Marshall county, where he lived one year, and then went to the lead mines at Galena, Ill. The same year he enlisted as a soldier for service in the Black Hawk war under Captain De Long, in Colonel Dodge's regiment, and remained in the service until the war closed, when he went back to the mines and stayed there five years, when he returned to Greene county and engaged in farming. He farmed in Greene county until 1852, when he moved to Madison, and remained there until 1865, when he came to Macon county. In 1871 he purchased land in section 31, T. 17, R. 4 E., and there he has remained and continued culti- vating the soil to the present.
On the 22d of October, 1843, he married Miss Mary Crull, who was born in Scioto county, Ohio. Her parents, Charles and Eliza- beth Crull, emigrated to Illinois in 1840, and settled in Jersey county. By this marriage there have been six children, three of whom are living. The names of the children living and dead, are : Elizabeth, who died in her thirtieth year; Geo. N., photographic artist, now a resident of Taylorville; William C., a farmer and resident of Oakley township; Sarah died in infancy ; James
died in his sixteenth year ; and D. J. Burley is still beneath the parental roof. Politically, Mr. Burley was originally an old-line whig, and cast his first vote for Hugh L. White. In 1852 he voted for John P. Hale, abolition candidate. He was one of the original free soilers, and was opposed to the extension of slavery in the territories. In 1856 he voted for John C. Fremont. He continued to vote for republican candidates for national and state offices until 1876, when he voted for the prohibition candidate for presi- dent. He has been an advocate of temperance for over forty years. Farming has been Mr. Burley's occupation through life. It is not necessary to say that in this industry, he has been very successful. He started in life poor, and under adverse circum- stances, but he is a man of firm will-power, and great industry. Being possessed of these necessary requisites, success was assured at the very outset of life. He is now the proud possessor of a good farm, finely improved, and under the best cultivation. He is one of the pioneers of the state. Fifty years have fled by since he be- came a citizen of Illinois, and during that time he has lived to see and help make the state the foremost in the great valley of the Mississippi.
AUSTIN TOWNSHIP.
IES in the extreme north-west corner of the county, and is bounded on the north by De Witt county, on the east by Maroa township, on the south by Illini township, on the west by Logan county. It is drained by the lake fork of Salt creek and Jones' fork and their tributaries.
The surface is level prairie, and the soil is rich and productive ; it comprises an area of 36 square miles, or 23,040 acres.
This township is one of the youngest in the county-notwithstand- ing this fact, it is as flourishing and almost as far advanced in im- provement as many of those older settled.
The first settlement began in the year 1845, and Amos Wright, who came from Pennsylvania and located on what is now section one, in that year, was the first settler. Here Mr. Wright built the first house in the township, immediately on his arrival.
John Story was another early settler, locating on the same section in 1850.
Samuel Lowe, who came from Ross county, Ohio, settled on sec- tion 14 in the year 1854.
James S. Parker came from Butler county, Ohio, in 1855, and settled where his son, Wm. H. Parker, now resides.
The first school was taught by a Mr. Burns, at the residence of Samuel Brayden, in section one in the year 1856 The following year the first school-house was built on section eleven. It was a frame building.
The first sermon preached in the township was by the Rev. John Moore, in 1857. C. R. Robinson began preaching in 1857, and con- tinued regular preaching for several years.
In 1877 a school-house, which was built in 1868, was converted into a church, which was the first one in the township.
Richard Ross was the first justice of the peace. The first resident physician was Dr. John Demsey.
Mr. Maguire erected a blacksmith shop in section fourteen in 18 57, and did the first blacksmithing.
The introduction of improved stock was first made by Edward and James Jones in 1859, by the purchasing of thoroughbred short horns. The first blooded hogs were Poland Magee stock, and were brought from Butler county, Ohio, in 1856.
The first land entries are as follows :- Charles G. Draper entered March 4th, 1850, 40 acres in section No. 1, 40 acres in section No. 5, and 80 acres in section No. 6. On the same day Jacob Miller entered 155.43 acres in section No. 1-all in township No. 18, north of range 1, east of the third P. M.
The following is a list of the supervisors since township organiza- tion.
SUPERVISORS.
James Parker, elected in 1860; re-elected in 1861. A. Emery, elected in 1862; J. S. Parker, elected in 1863; re-elected in 1864 and 1865. C. F. Emery, elected in 1866, and re-elected in 1867. T. B. Campbell, elected in 1868. Robert T. Morris, clected in 1869. Peter Bennett, elected in 1870. C. F. Emery, elected in 1871. D. Patterson, elected in 1872, and re-elected in 1873. Robert Morris, elected in 1874, and re-elected in 1875. Andrew Hawk- yard, elected in 1876, re-elected each succeeding year, and is the present incumbent.
Austin township has no railroads, but there are railroads on three sides of it, which make the shipping facilities excellent.
In 1855 there was not more than three hundred acres of soil in
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
225
cultivation in the township, while at present almost every foot is cultivated or used for pasturage.
The school system is in a most prosperous condition. This is one of the few counties in the state that still holds its " school section," and from which it derives a revenue of thirteen or fourteen hundred dollars annually, making the school-tax less than any other town-
ship in the county. There are at present seven first-class schools, all well attended, and each district free from debt. The township was named in honor of Benj. R. Austin, who was a prominent man in the carly history of the county.
Among the well-improved farms may be mentioned those of Win. H. Parker and Mrs. L. A. Toland.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
James & Parker
AMONG the early settlers of Austin township was the Parker family, who came here in the fall of the year 1855. According to family tradition the Parkers came from Ireland, and settled in Monmouth county, New Jersey, at a period early in the history of that state. The great-great-grandfather of W. H. Parker, was the first to emigrate to America. The lady whom he married was stolen from her home when a girl, and nothing was known of her origin, though she is supposed to have been of Scotch descent. She was of large frame and light complexion, and for several generations afterward the family partook of those characteristics. William Parker, grandfather of W. H. Parker, married a woman of English descent, named Shepherd, of low stature and heavy build, and the Parkers have since mostly been of smaller size. Intermarriages with other families of low-statured and dark-complexioned people have contributed to vary the original type. The great-grandfather of W. H. Parker lived and died in New Jersey. From his first mar- riage this branch of the family is descended, and by his second
wife came the Parker family, of which Joel Parker, ex-governor of New Jersey, is a member. William Parker, grandfather of W. H. Parker, was born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, in 1769, and died of paralysis in the year 1820. Sarah Shepherd, his wife, was born in 1780, and died in 1859.
James Shepherd Parker, father of W. H. Parker, was born near Freehold, in Monmouth county, New Jersey, on the 12th of May, 1815. He was the eighth of a family of ten children. The school which he attended was a subscription school, two or three miles distant from his home. He was naturally quick at figures, and ob- tained a good business education. In the year 1835, when he was twenty years old, the family moved to Ohio, settling in Butler county. For four years he worked by the month in Butler and Warren counties, most of the time on a farm, though he was also employed on the Big Miami Canal. On the 11th of March, 1840, he was married near Franklin, in Warren county, to Rachel Han- kinson, who was born in Warren county, Ohio, on the 24th of
29
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
September, 1820. The Hankinson family came from Monmouth county, New Jersey, to Franklin township, in Warren county, Ohio, in the year 1818, when the Indians were yet plentiful in that part of the state. They traveled through Pennsylvania over the moun- tains to Pittsburg, and thence came on a raft down the Ohio to Cincinnati, and from there to Butler county. James Hankinson, father of Rachel Hankinson, was born in New Jersey, in 1787, and died in Ohio, at the age of ninety-one. His wife, Sarah Checseman, was born in 1796, and died at the age of seventy-onc; she was the daughter of William and Lydia Cheeseman. Rachel Hankinson Parker was the fourth of seven children. When James Hankinson came to Ohio he worked for a bushel of corn a day, worth twenty- five cents, and for the same wages cut wood by the cord or split rails by the hundred. He accumulated considerable money, and died well-off.
A few days after his marriage, James S. Parker moved on a farm in Preble county, Ohio. His capital at that time consisted of about nine hundred dollars. After living on a rented farm two years he purchased land, and became the owner of a farm of three hundred and twenty acres. In February, 1853, having sold his farm in Preble county for twelve thousand dollars, he moved to Franklin, Warren county, Ohio. In the fall of 1854, he emigrated to Illinois. Hc first settled in De Witt county, near the present town of Kenney, where he resided till September, 1855, when he moved to Macon county, settling on section 1, of Austin township. Here he pur- chased two hundred and forty acres of land, of which eighty were improved. Seven or eight years afterward he built a new house on the same section, in which he resided as long as he lived in Austin township. He increased the amount of his land, and owned, bought, and paid for altogether nearly two thousand acres, eight hundred in Austin township and the balance in Maroa township. Part of this land he set apart in his lifetime to his children. He was a man of great industry and energy, worked hard, possessed good business capacity, prompt habits, and each year increased his wealth. He finally concluded to quit farming and retire from active business life, and in February, 1877, he moved to Maroa, where he lived till his death on the 8th of May, 1880. He had five children, all of whom are living. Their names are as follows : William H. Parker, born May the 1st, 1841 ; Sarah Jane, now Mrs. Anthony Sloutenborough, born November 10th, 1843; James Hankinson Parker, born November 12th, 1846, farming on the old homestead in Austin township; John P. Parker, born March 14th, 1853, farming in Maroa township; Lydia Eleanor, born May 25th, 1858, now the wife of Abraham H. Bates, of Maroa.
The portrait of James S. Parker appears at the head of this sketch. He was about five feet five and'a half inches in height, dark complexion, black hair and light blue eyes. His weight was about one hundred and sixty pounds. He was a man well thought of in Macon county. He filled several public positions in Austin township ; from 1860 to 1872 he was treasurer of the township, and for eight successive years represented it on the board of supervisors, being the first to fill that office after the adoption of township organization, as he was also the first treasurer. He was also assessor. He was, however, a man who paid close attention to his own business affairs, and cared little about holding public posi- tion. He was honest and honorable in all his transactions, and though he was ambitious to acquire wealth, it never came to his hands by any other means than that which was strictly honest and creditable. He possessed a high moral character. About twelve years before his death he joined the Methodist Protestant Church. He was charitable to any one whom he thought deserving, and con- tributed frequently to the necessities of the unfortunate. He had
been blessed with a strong constitution, which during his life witlı- stood an immense amount of hard labor. His energy, perseverance and careful attention to business, were the secrets of his success. His disposition was cheerful and lively. His first vote for president was cast for Van Buren, the democratic candidate in 1836, but in 1840, he supported Geu. Harrison, the whig candidate, and was afterward connected with the whig party till its dissolution. He then became a republican, voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and during the rebellion was an earnest republican and a strong Union man. His death was lamented by a large circle of friends, and his remains now repose in the grave-yard belonging to Wright's Grove church, adjoining the farm on which he spent so many years of his busy life.
WILLIAM H. PARKER,
the oldest son, was born in Preble county, Ohio, on the 1st of May, 1841. He was thirteen years old when he came to Illinois. The most of his cducation he received before leaving Ohio. He only went to school sixty days after coming to Macon county, on account of the inconvenience of attending school. No schools had been es- tablished when the family first came to Austin township. He lived at home till his marriage, which occurred on the 28th of December, 1864, to Eliza C. Shaw, daughter of William G. Shaw, who resided near Clinton, De Witt county. She was born near Loveland, Claremont county, Ohio, on the 8th of April, 1844. Her father emigrated to Illinois in 1853. In March, 1865, Mr. Parker moved on his present farm, in section 11 of Austin township. His first wife died on the 12th of August, 1869. On the 28th of June, 1871, he was married to Frances M. Cornwell, who was born near Darby- ville, Pickaway county, Ohio, on the 27th of January, 1847, and came to this state in 1855. He owns a fine farm of four hundred and eighty acres of land, a double page illustration of which appears elsewhere. He has four children living, one by his first, and three by his second marriage: Florence, born October 25th, 1865; James Elliott, born October 4th, 1872; Rachel Eleanor, born April 30th, 1875 ; Thomas William, born March 1st, 1878.
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