USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial, Volume I > Part 40
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Then came the "Cross Roads," a very prominent land mark in those days, and half a mile west, on the load leading to Hawkins prairie, was the home of Elder Hezekiah Chilton. To the north of him and across the road lived Elder Albert Farrow. Coming back to the cross roads and proceeding northward, on the west side of the road, was the home of John Chism, Sr. Across the road, and away back in the field east, long before my day, "Grandpa" Eastham had a home. It was probably one of the oldest settled places in that whole section. Still farther north and on the east side of the road stood a little cabin in which Daniel Palmer had his first home, and where Solomon Palmer lived in 1859. Half a mile west of that and way back in the field stood the one time home of "Ed" Rhoads. Coming back to the main road and going on across the "big" bridge, up on the hill to the east of the road, was the home of Luther B. Palmer, the house in which the writer was born.
REMEMBRANCES OF "FIRST COMERS."
In those early days came people from sunny southland,-the Easthams, the Rices, the Loves, Chiltons, and others. Also people from the rock-ribbed New England coast, the Haywards, Hartwells, Palmers, and others. Among those who arrived in the neighborhood were the Hartwells, Davids and James. As far back as I can remember, David Hartwell lived on the south side of the street in Summerville, just east of Keele's place. As I recall, David Hartwell was a sturdy Puritan, a man with ways and ideas of his own, and with a strong determination to live out his life in his own way. I do not recall Mrs. Hart- well at all. The eldest daughter, Harriet, married "Alf" Ketchum, way back in the early '50s. There was a boy, a splendid fellow, Samuel, and a younger girl, Maria.
James 'Hartwell and family settled on the tract of land northeast of Har- mony schoolhouse. He died before the war. I recall that he was held in the very highest esteem by his neighbors and considered as the very soul of honor. About this time also died Anson Hayward. The widow of James Hartwell married Lewis Loomis, father of Medora's druggist, Thad A. Loomis. Her eldest boy was Arthur, who enlisted with many other young men of the neigh- borhood, in Company F, Twelfth Illinois Cavalry and served throughout the Civil war. After the war he married Mary Challacombe and settled down on the old homestead. He had a brother, Justin, and three sisters, Mary, Corinna and Rosa.
Joseph and John Haynes, brothers, emigrated to this locality from Pennsyl- vania, and about the breaking out of the war, Joseph moved into Summerville from his farm, which was afterward occupied by Elias Haynes, and was just north of Summerville. Joseph bought the John Farrow place, on the site of the present Haynes homestead. His wife, Elizabeth Haynes, died in March, 1868. Elias, the eldest son, married a sister of Peter Muntz, a man who was well known in the community after the war. After the war, Elias and Jake Shoe- make conducted a blacksmith shop on the north side of the street between the Corey house and where Martin Haynes now lives.
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About 1870 the family moved to Minnesota and that was the last I ever saw of any of them. There were five other sons of Joseph Haynes: Lewis; Martin, who married Phoebe Loper; Moses, who was a member of the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, Company F; Aaron and John. There were two girls, Sarah and Bar- bara. Sarah married Haines Rhoads, from over Waggoner's Prairie way Barbara became the wife of Albert Young and took up her home in Medora.
John Haynes and family always lived about a half mile east of Elias' place, on the road from Summerville to Blackburn bridge. John was a typical pion- eer, a giant in stature. Abner, one of the boys, enlisted in Company F, Twelfth Illinois Cavalry. Some time after the war, he married Louisa Coonrod, who lost her life in a cyclone that visited the neighborhood some time afterward. The other boy's name was Michael. Mary and Nancy were the daughters of the household. Mary married William Chism.
I stated in a recent article that I was under the impression that John Farrow was interested with John Rhoads in the store which was in the old Sons of Tem- perance hall building in Summerville. I am not sure of my ground in that statement but I do know that later on he erected a building on the corner diag- onally across from the Sons of Temperance building and that he conducted a store in it for some time. I do not know in what year he and his family left Summerville but it was some time before the war. When I was a bit of a lad there was a Dr. Bunn who had his office in the Farrow residence, which, by the way, was located on the present site of the Haynes property.
LIVED IN A BEAUTIFUL HICKORY GROVE.
Across the road to the north of Eldred Chilton's, west of the cross roads and back in the heart of a most beautiful hickory grove, lived Elder Albert Farrow. I remember him very distinctly. He was spare built and active, and as a preacher he had but few equals in that section of the country. There was one peculiarity about him that I never met with in any other man. He would be- gin his talk in measured tones and deliberate enunciation, but as he got into his subject his tongue would fly faster and faster and the pitch of his voice would keep the ascendent until in rapid and evermore rapid spirals he would reach the climax, when, just as one would expect a triumphant shout of exultation and victory won, he would, in a word, drop his voice to "double bass G" and enun- ciate the climax. The effect of this sort of vocal gymnastics was startling at times, for this was done over and over in the course of a long sermon. But he was both a good man and a good preacher and so he left a lasting impress upon the community.
CALLOWAY AND ANDREW FARROW.
Calloway Farrow lived farther west, possibly in Hawkins prairie. I do not know where Andrew Farrow lived most of the time but at one time the family lived at the old Eastham place, just north of Summerville. I cannot remember much back of the time that "Dutch" (Leonard) and "Dutch" (Fred) Trabue did not work for my father on the farm. Fred was a big, jovial, typical Ger-
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man, whom we all liked the best in the world. Leonard remained with us for several years, off and on, and finally married a Miss Swafford. They were living where Martin Haynes now lives during the war, and at the time the Crowder store was robbed. West of the Love place and on the south side of the road lived Runion Willet. ,
THE DERRS.
Among the earliest pioneer families to settle on the east side of the prairie and on the road north from Summerville, was that of Thomas Derr. He had settled on the place across the road west from the Cyrus Hayward farm, while his son John was yet a young man. When I knew the' family they were resid- ing at the old Eastham farm north of Summerville. Mrs. Derr was a very kindly woman and the mother of a large family of children. The oldest son was John, to whom I became greatly attached as a teacher. He married Susan, daughter of Albert Eastham, and lived in the field east of George Palmer's old home when I knew them. There were two other boys, William and Horace. The five daughters answered to the names of Jane, Irene, Nellie, Alice and Dora. Jane married Wilson Silsby.
THE HAYWARDS.
I do not know that it is so but I have always been under the impression that the Hartwell and Hayward families came from the same section of the east and were probably friends and neighbors there. At any rate, the Haywards were of the same sturdy, thrifty, New England stock. The family, as I recall far back into the '50s, comprised "Grandpa" Hayward and his four sons, Cyrus, Ansel, Daniel and William. The next place north of George Palmer's old home farm and down a little lane to the east, was the home of Cyrus Hayward, from the days of my earliest recollection. He was one of the men whom my father held in highest esteem, for he was something of a radical himself, hence, it was, that in early life I came to hold the man in high regard also. In those early days the Jacksonian movement at Danville, New York, then simply called the "water cure," but later on classified among the remedial methods of the age as hydro- pathy, was just coming into prominence. Cyrus Hayward was perhaps the first one in the community to fall in with the teaching and began to practice its methods. Some people laughed at him, but that did not deter him one moment, nor shake his faith in it. "Packs" for colds and "packs" for fevers, and "com- presses" for ills and ailments without number and no pork eating, and "graham flour" and "brown bread" and all the other "fads" as the neighbors called them, which were in vogue in the "home on the hillside" at Danville were indulged in. But nothing moved the iron will of this convert and time has proved that he was right and the things that were then called "fads" have long since become the fashion. There is now scarcely a home in the land where graham bread is not a favorite diet and eaten because of its health giving qualities. And so this pioneer Jacksonian has been vindicated. His first wife died before the war, and later he married Mrs. Johnson, who lived near Carrollton, related to the Perry family, living at Rhoads' Point before the war. She had a boy named Charlie. Cyrus Hayward had six children by his first marriage-Cyrus, Jr., William, Caroline,
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GERMAN BAPTIST BRETHREN HOME, GIRARD
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Jane, Lucinda and Josephine. Lucinda became the wife of Leonard Ketchum and Josephine married Emmons Loper. Cyrus served through the Civil war in Company F, Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, and after his return home married Mary Odell. William married Almeda Waggoner. On an eighty acre tract north of Cyrus Hayward's place, lived his brother Ansel. His wife was a sister of Frank Silsby. They both died early in life. Their four children were Rotheus, Morillus, Orville and Frank. Rotheus enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth Infantry at Alton and soon thereafter died from measles. Morillus married a Miss Robinson near Carlinville.
ONE OF NATURE'S NOBLEMEN.
The present farm home of James Chism was called the "Caleb" Handlin place in the old days, but as far back as I can remember Daniel Hayward and family occupied it. He was one of nature's noblemen, and his wife, a sister of Caleb Handlin, was one of the finest women that ever graced that section of the country.
Ella Handlin married Professor Thomas Moore, of Blackburn College. At or about the close of the Civil war, Daniel Hayward sold his place and moved to a farm some distance east of Chesterfield, now the home of Ira Ketchum. Later, in the early '70s, Daniel Hayward went out to Sioux Falls and amassed quite a fortune.
IDEAL YOUNG MAN OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
The old Hayward homestead was situated way back in the field to the north- west of where Daniel lived. William was the youngest son and remaining with the old folks, finally came into possession of the homestead. He married Lo- dusta Loper, a daughter of "Ad" Loper. William was considered the one ideal young man of the whole neighborhood, his only competitor in the estimation of the neighbors being Frank Silsby. William finally disposed of his farm and went to Minneapolis.
Near the Harmony schoolhouse lived a family by the name of Thurston. If I am right in my recollection, Mrs. Thurston was a sister of the Haywards. There were three girls of the Thurston family-Amanda, Irene and Ella, and one boy, William. Amanda became the wife of Samuel Garrett. Irene married Daniel Ketchum.
AN ENGLISHMAN OF A STURDY TYPE.
Robert Carter lived east of the Harmony schoolhouse, half a mile. He was an Englishman of that sturdy type, with which almost the whole of the Chesterfield neighborhood was filled in those pioneer days. They made the best of farmers, were most honorable and industrious citizens and most oblig- ing and accommodating neighbors. Mrs. Carter well deserved the cognomen she bore for many years-"Aunty." Their oldest boy was John. He died but recently. John married Miss Rhoda Kelsey, whose family lived near Miles Station. There were three other boys,-Joe, Robert, Jr., and William.
Vol. 1-22
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THE SHATTUCK BOYS.
When I used to go to school at Harmony, there were two brothers living across the road just west of Cyrus Hayward's place by the name of Shattuck. They were carpenters. And back there before the war there lived where Horace Warner now has his home, a man by the name of George Jenks. He married a Mrs. Davidson, who had a son, George, who, like his mother, was large of frame and a fellow of iron nerve. He enlisted in Company F, Twelfth Illinois Cav- alry. He chanced to be home on furlough at the time that Henderson, the bushwhacker, was captured. Henderson lay wounded upstairs and it was a se- rious question as to who would take his life in his hands and ascend those stairs and face the wounded desperado. But the delay was only for a moment, when John stepped to the front and said, "I will go first."
CHARLES GOODSELL.
The next place to the north of George Jenks on the west side of the road and where John Carter made his home for several years, lived Charles Good- sell, as far back as I can remember. He had two sons, George and Wallace. Before the war the family moved to Minnesota.
THE CHALLACOMBES.
Nicholas Challacombe and Nancy G. Carson, eldest daughter of Harvey Car- son, were married before I was born, and they have lived on the "Mound" time out of mind so far as I am concerned. He was a sturdy Englishman and came into the neighborhood some time in the '40s. The oldest daughter was Belle. There was a little coterie of we youngsters who formed a social club, as it were. There were in it Belle Challacombe, Maggie Carson, Sena Carson, Etta Cross, the teacher at Summerville who boarded at Harvey Carson's, Dora Challacombe, Addie Carr, Allen Eastham, John Carson, John Butler, myself and others whose names I cannot recall. Belle married Horace Warner. Another daughter, Mary, married Arthur Hartwell. Dora married John Butler. The other children were William, Fannie and Nicholas ("Nickie.") The latter mar- ried my kinswoman, Annie Dannells.
THE EASTHAM FAMILY.
Away back yonder long before I was born, the Eastham family moved into the neighborhood, and Lawson Eastham built a house a half mile east of the Chism home and planted two poplar trees, which later became landmarks. "Grandpa" Eastham was a man of slight stature and always wore an old fashioned "stovepipe" hat of the style of that day. He died, I think, about the breaking out of the war. In those early days there drifted into the community from Virginia a number of families who were destined to form a very essential element in its future history. These families were the Easthams, Loves, Chiltons, Rices, Farrows and others not now remembered. Albert Eastham was a son of Law-
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son, and was as true a man as ever lived. He was called " 'Squire." His first home, now owned by the Goodwin family, was north of Summerville, 'Squire Eastham was considered a model man by all. So far as I know, he was the pioneer threshing machine man of the community. A way back yonder when there were only two kinds of machines in the country, the "Alton" and the "Whitehall," he was the operator and owner of a little Whitehall. They used to set it flat on the ground and really it would look more like a toy than a real machine, in these days of steamers. They used to place a horse power lever through the cross sills in front and all the men on the job would climb on to it and "kick up" the rear end, and thus enable them to run out the back wheel, after which it was allowed to settle to the ground with more or less abruptness according to the spirit and mood of those on the lever. Down at the old Eastham place there was a shingle mill up in the loft of the barn. Many a walnut "bolt" I have seen them saw into the finest shingles that were ever nailed on to a building. Albert Eastham established a syrup plant just across the road from the old Baptist church. Mrs. Eastham was Miss Mary Love, sister of Deacon Lewis Love. She spent the declining years of her life at Medora and there died. Of the children there were Susan, Eliza, Nancy, Jane, Isaac, Lewis and Allan. As has been mentioned elsewhere, Susan married John Derr; Eliza became the wife of Andrew Farrow; and Nancy married Dr. Joseph Hunter. Jane died early in life. Isaac married Miss Minnie Chapin and Allan married Emeline Loper. In the Eastham family resided the Prosser girls. Louisa mar- ried Mr. Ward, who resided near Brighton; Susan married John Hart, also a resident of Brighton. Just north of the "Point" stood the home of George Eastham, whose daughter Emily married Thomas Wheat, a nephew of the Sum- merville blacksmith.
Lewis L. Love was a deacon in the Summerville Baptist church. He was a true southern gentleman and was imbued with the fine instincts of chivalry which mark a true gentleman from the south. His wife was Emily Eastham and the family consisted of Virginia, who married James R. Glenn. The next daughter was Betty, the first woman I ever heard play an organ and sing to her own accompaniment. The next daughter was Minnie, and the youngest, Emma. There were four boys: John, Julius, Bailey and Bird.
ELDER CHILTON AN EXHORTER.
In those old days before the war there were three men who stand out most vividly in my mind because of the fact that they were so prominently in the public eye at that time. In those days the man of God was revered for his office, and, if he had the right qualities, and most of them did, he was beloved for himself. The three men alluded to above were Elder Jacob Rhoads, the nestor of them all, Elder Albert Farrow and Elder Hezekiah Chilton. Elder Chilton and family lived just west of the cross roads north of Rhoads' Point. I am not quite sure about it, but I think he was the first minister I ever heard preach a sermon. It was at the time of the Morton revival in 1865 that he comes to my mind most vividly in his work in the church. While Rev. Morton did the
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preaching, mostly, the whole matter of exhortation and the after service was thrown on to the shoulders of Elder Chilton.
A FLAG EPISODE.
Elder Chilton had come from the south many years before the war and was linked up with southern families both by marriage and kinship, hence it was the most natural thing in the world that his sympathies should have gone out to the south when the war came on. Yet, as pastor of a mixed flock, he endeavored to steer clear of all difficulties growing out of differences in politics and to preach just as earnestly among the northern sympathizers as among his own people. He had an appointment at the Delaware schoolhouse, which he was in the habit of meeting once a month. Politics was running high and the feeling was growing stronger and stronger all the time against those who were sympathizing with the south.
One Sunday afternoon my father and I started to walk down through the Coventry brush to the meeting. Somewhere along the Elm branch we met Orin Palmer in the little open prairie on the bank of the stream. He was in a re- markable state of excitement and from him we learned that a Union flag had been placed over the schoolhouse and if the Elder filled his appointment he would have to preach under the folds of the stars and stripes. We all three hastened back to the schoolhouse to see what would happen. We did not have long to wait. The day was bright and "old glory" was certainly deserving of the name as it floated in the afternoon breeze. Presently we espied the Elder coming along the road on horseback, up beyond Gaston Twitchell's place. Some thought he would face about as soon as he discovered the flag and saw the num- ber of men who were there watching to see what he would do, but not he. He knew there was nothing to fear in the way of physical violence and had there been I am sure he was not the kind of a man who would have "turned tail and run." On he came till we could see his face. It was as white as a cloth, but we could not know whether it was anger or sorrow. He dismounted, tied his horse, and came boldly up to the crowd of men. If they expected him to fly into a passion of rage, they were doomed to disappointment. He extended his hand to them as usual, and not one refused it. Thus, they were disarmed at the start.
He went inside and the crowd followed him. The pallor did not leave his face and when he announced the hymn there was a palpable tremor in his voice. Then he prayed and such a prayer as it was! I only wish that I had it verba- tim to reproduce at this time. As he prayed, the men who had been his life-long neighbors and friends felt their love and sympathies go out to the man who stood by them, alone. Then came the sermon, which was simply a talk, in which he called them friends and in which he made very clear why his sympa- thies were with the south in the great struggle that was then in its fury. But he was so moderate in his language and so earnest in his statements that there was sorrow instead of anger in the hearts of all his listeners. He never referred
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in a single word to what might have been deemed an insult in the matter of placing the flag where he would have to preach under it. Then came the ben- ediction, which was delivered amidst sobs that almost precluded the speech. He then said, "This will be my last appearance here to hold divine service, but I want to part with you as personal friends, no matter what may be our political differences." And then he shook hands with them all, myself included, mounted his horse and rode away.
Mrs. Chilton was Mary Eastham, a daughter of Lawson Eastham. Their eldest son was Robert. There were other children, as follows: Albert, Ste- phen, Warren, Betty, Susan, Fannie, Lanta and Maria.
THE PARKER FAMILY.
About three miles southeast of Medora is the old Parker homestead. Like all the pioneers of those early days, who settled in and around Rhoads' Point, the Parkers were southerners. Joel Parker was born and reared in the old Dominion but while yet a young man emigrated to Kentucky, where he met and married Miriam Haycraft. To this union, previous to 1835, four daughters were born: Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah and Frances. In that year the family came to Illinois and settled at this place. Shortly thereafter, the fifth daughter Palmyra, was born, and tradition has it that she was the first child born in Shipman township. Later on, a son, D. E., and a daughter, Luvenia, were born. About this time the father died. And after ten years of widowhood Mrs. Parker was united in marriage with Henry Jolly, and to this union one daughter, Emma, was born. Mr. Jolly only lived a couple of years. Elizabeth married John L. Rhoads and for many years resided on the present John Wilton farm south of Medora, where she reared a large family of children. She is now residing in Medora, at the age of eighty-two. Mary married F. B. Simpson ; Sarah, W. J. Calverd; Frances, William Simpson ; and Palmyra, J. L. Sherman. Luvenia became the wife of Thomas B. Forwood, and Emma Jolly married Oliver C. Forwood. As a widow, she later married H. W. Denny and now re- sidcs at Piasa. B. E. (Doc) Parker married Margaret Cain and resided on the old homestead for sixty years, where he reared a family of children. His home is now in Medora. It is remarkable that all of the Parker children are still alive and ranging in age from sixty-seven to eighty-two years.
CHARLES WALES AND FAMILY.
The Wales family came into the county in an early day and settled two miles south of the "Point," where they had a highly cultivated farm. They purchased some of their land from the Blackburn Seminary, as it was then known, and through some transfer of interest, it is said they were compelled to pay for the land a second time. This was always deemed very unjust by the
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friends of the family, as I used to hear it discussed when I was a lad. Charles Wales was the head of the house. He had two sons, William and Edward, and three daughters, Abigail, who married Benjamin Roodhouse; Elizabeth, the wife of Marcus North; and Harriet, who became the wife of William Hays.
THE SALT OF THE EARTH.
As I have frequently mentioned, the pioneers of Rhoads' Point, Summer- ville and Delaware sections of the county, were the very salt of the earth, and as I pass from one to another of them and the pages of their lives unfold before my gaze, recalling the incidents with which as a boy I was familiar, I am more and more convinced that but few sections of the county really had a finer, grander lot of pioneers, both men and women, than did this part of Macoupin. In many ways, Judge Thomas Rice stands preeminently in the fore front of the brave and noble men whom I knew in my boyhood days. He was a true southern gentleman. He was rather large, well built, with a full beard, which gave him, to me, a very patriarchial appearance. He was a man in whom the neighbors had unbounded confidences and even when the stress of the war was upon us we all felt that Judge Rice stood true and faithful to his old time friends and neighbors and that he was the real bulwark between us and northern sentiments and those bands of guerilla marauders which infested the country during the latter days of the war.
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