USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial, Volume I > Part 41
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The Rices lived at the old homestead just south of the "Point." Away back before the war the postoffice was kept by Judge Rice. There were five boys : John, Washington, Stephen, Charles and George. It was during the war period that the boys concluded to put in a milling outfit and of course, a water supply was the first thing to be considered. So they sunk a great square hole in the ground, in the ravine just north of the Westbrook home and on the east side of the road. From some cause, it was abandoned, after it was sunk some forty or fifty feet deep and at quite a cost of labor and money. Later on, toward the close of the war, the boys sunk another square hole in the ground just south of the old Baptist church in what is now the north end of Medora, and evidently got what they were looking for, as in time a nice building was erected on the site and an excellent mill plant installed. Many a bushel of grain I have hauled to that mill, for our big force of hired men used to eat not a few biscuits in' those days. At first the people were a little afraid that the flour would not be O. K., but it was not long till the Rice boys had Rockbridge and Fidelity "skinned to death" when it came to good flour. There were five girls as well as five boys in the Rice family: Susan, who married John Cleaver; Betty, who became the wife of Imri Vancil; Jennie, who married Harry Westbrook; Amanda, who married John Payne; and Emma, who married Ferd Vanhorbeke.
AARON ARTMAN.
Somewhere out west of Judge Rice's home, when I was a boy, lived the Artman family. I do not recall ever having seen any of them except the two boys, Aaron and Andrew. I remember when Andy Steed opened his harness
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shop about the year 1859 and when Aaron became an apprentice in the shop. Aaron went to the war and served with Colonel Palmer in Company C, Four- teenth Illinois Cavalry. He then returned home, completed his apprenticeship with Andy Steed and then opened a shop of his own. He married Henrietta Calverd and both are now sleeping the sleep of the just. In this connection it might be well to make some mention of Andrew Steed. He came to the "Point" before the war and I think he erected the first two-story building in the present business section of the place. I am sure it was the first painted building. It was somewhere just north of Loomis' drug store corner and was destroyed by fire a few years ago. After the railroad was completed Andy went into merchan- dising, which he continued until he retired from business. The name of the place was now changed to Medora, other business houses opened and things began to assume quite a metropolitan air. The postoffice was brought back from Summerville and Andy was appointed postmaster. During the war he served bravely in the Second Missouri Cavalry. After returning home, he married Celia Simpson.
SWEET SINGERS OF MEDORA.
"Though we may forget the singer, we will not forget the song," so sang the minstrel long years ago, and it is true. Back there when I was a wee bit of a lad just old enough to trust to send up to the postoffice at Judge Rice's long enough be- fore the war, there used to be a log cabin standing out in the woods just west of the road and south of the present Main street corner, that is across from Lax & Gruhn's store. I knew nothing of the family except that their name was Bell and that they were two "slashing, good looking" girls. I do not recall the name of either of them. I used to see a lot of them, for they came to our house, more or less, and I liked them the best in the world because they always made life brighter wherever they went with their gift of song. Of course they did not sing anything in the operatic line, but, like Peter of old, such as they had they gave, gave it so freely, willingly and sweetly, that it won its way into the pioneer hearts of those days much more readily than would have the Anvil Chorus, Lohengrin, Faust, or anything of the kind.
A couple of their songs have remained with me all these years. Here is one :
"O, it's every Sunday morning With my darling by my side Awaiting for the wagon And we'll all take a ride.
"O, wait for the wagon Wait for the wagon O, wait for the wagon And we'll all take a ride."
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The second song was not particularly poetic or elegant, but it was immensely popular in those days. Here is just a taste of it :
"Shanghai roosters grow so tall In a few days, a few days, That you scarce can hear them crow at all, In a few days, a few days."
THE PAYNE FAMILY.
If my memory serves me right, the Paynes were not among the original pioneers of Rhoads Point, though the family must have come there about the beginning of the war. I can remember when they did not live there, or at least, when there was no house where they afterward resided. I can remember when their building was erected and at the time it was thought to be a great acquisition to the village. It was the largest house in the place and was painted-a matter that always brought forth favorable comment in those days of log houses. Thomas Payne was the head of the family and met a tragic death. The children were : John : Elizabeth, who married David Hall; and Sarah, who married Joseph Hall. Both were residents of the Keller schoolhouse neighborhood over north of the Macoupin creek.
THE BLACKBURNS.
In those far away days there were two families of Blackburns living in the community : Dr. Blackburn, who resided near the bridge spanning the Macoupin, and which still bears his name; and two cousins, George and James, who were from the south and lived at the "Point." It is of this family.that I am now writ- ing. I have no personal remembrance of Dr. Blackburn.
There is a little stream running northwesterly through Medora out near where Allan Eastham used to live. In the old days there was a clearing and a small field extending from that brooklet in a wedge shape northerly to "Old Tobe's" store. South of the stream the timber spread out in a fringe from the road ยท westward to the Mississippi river so far as I ever knew and right in the shadow of that fringe, about one hundred yards west of the main road, was a log cabin, which was occupied by the Blackburn people. George was married and had a daughter named Alice, who used to attend the Keller school in the old Baptist church. Jim Blackburn was a bachelor and a genial sort of fellow in a way. Both the boys were ardent southern sympathizers and common report during the war was that they were linked up in very close relationship with the bands of bushwhackers which infested Jersey and Macoupin counties. At least the whole family disappeared during those times and have never been seen about Medora since.
Another character of those days was Coonrod, the wagon maker. After part of the Perry family had gone away there came a man to the "Point" who did wagon making and the wood working end of the Perry shops. His name was Conrad Wickenhauser Coonrod, and a right good workman he was. He built for himself a tiny bit of a house just north of the building occupied by Andy Steed
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and it was a painted house. He was a sturdy, quiet citizen, and like most Ger- mans, was very thrifty.
"OLD TOBE."
Just south of the old Baptist church stood a little store conducted in those early days by Tobias Barklow, commonly known far and wide as "Old Tobe." His store was surely not more than twelve feet square but it was packed with things such as the people of that day had need of. As I remarked, the store was only about a dozen feet square, and yet Tobe "lived and moved and had his being" in that store. He had a little stove back in the corner on which he did his cooking. There was a' small hole in the ceiling, which led to a little chamber under the rafters. He had a ladder which he used as a means of reach- ing this room. He would draw it up after him and so slept securely from danger from burglars or other intruders. After a while Tobe disposed of his store and goods in some fashion and purchased a small farm north of the old Chism place and near Hodges' creek.
BILL DAVIS' OX TEAM RUNS AWAY.
On the farm "Old Tobe" had as a neighbor a man by the name of Davis. In the days about the close of the war there was a big bridge across the Elm branch just south of the Luther Palmer place. One hazy, dreamy, sultry autumn day just in the midst of all the glory and beauty 'of Indian summer, I heard the rumble of a wagon coming down the hill. I look up and there I saw a sight never to be forgotten. Down that hill Bill Davis' ox team was coming, "lickety- split" with heads down and tails high in air, their speed accelerating at every revolution of the big hind wheels. I looked in vain for Bill and concluded that the oxen had gotten away from him, somewhere along the road from Alton, where I knew he had been with a load of wheat, as I had seen him go down a day or so before. But the fact was that the "sultry summer sun" had been too drowsy for him and he had gone to sleep in the bottom of the wagon and was letting the oxen do their own driving. They were doing it now with a vengeance.
Just before the outfit reached the bridge Davis drew his drowsy length up, getting as far along in the process as his knees just when the forward wheel struck the incline to the bridge. The reader can guess what happened. The front end of the wagon seemed to spring ten feet into the air and Bill shot up like a "jack in the box" so far that when he struck the bottom of the wagon again he was near the rear end of it. In the back of the wagon was a brand new cook- stove and when the hind wheel struck the incline, up went the wagon again, and up, up, went the stove, and on went the oxen, and with them the wagon, of course. When the stove came down out of the clouds (of dust) there was no wagon in sight and the stove was spread all over the bridge in pieces about a foot in size. Davis never came back after it at all.
THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH.
Out in the open, a little to the northeast of "Old Tobe's" store, stood the first Mt. Pleasant Baptist church building. It. was really nothing more than a cheap
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wooden structure and I am sure that no paint ever adorned a single square foot of its weather-boarding. And just around the corner to the east and north of the church stood the residence of James Perry. He was the "village blacksmith," and one of his sons conducted a wagon making shop in connection therewith. In a little addition built on to the north end of his residence two more of the boys had a harness shop. Those were the days when the wagon maker "got out" most of his own material. They used to have a big "frame saw," with which they sawed out felloes, hounds and all other curved stuff. They used in those days steam seasoned oak and hickory for wagon material and of a real hot day it was a "man killer" to get out a set of felloes for a wheel. The names of the two Perry boys who conducted the harness shop were John and Andy. The whole family, about the breaking out of the Civil war, went over to Carrollton. The younger boy was named "Bun." The next thing I heard of him after the family went to Carollton was that he had enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry to do guard duty at Alton. That was the same regiment of which Rotheus Hayward was a member, and like him, "Bun" died of measles shortly after he was mustered in.
Not far away from Perry's shop was a house occupied by "Doc" Simpson and family. In the early days before the postoffice passed into the hands of Judge Rice, it was kept by Mr. Simpson. One time I went to Medora and as I missed his familiar figure on the street, I made inquiries and they told me he had joined that innumerable host over on the other shore. There were three daughters: Celia, Hattie and Nellie; and one son, Dick. Celia married Andy Steed.
MEDORA'S BONIFACE.
After the railroad was completed through Medora in 1869, there was a field for a hotel, and William Simpson opened one in a large building, which he erected on the south side of the street leading to the depot and about op- posite the present Loper store. Mrs. Simpson was one of the famous Parker sisters, of whom I have mentioned. Becoming a widow, she is now the wife of Rev. John W. Rice. The children of William Simpson consisted of three boys, Gideon, James and William, by his first wife. The children by the second marriage were Reuben, Stella and Lucella.
John Simpson, in the early days, lived in a little cabin that was on the corner just north and west of the present residence of Francis Metcalf. Later on he moved over to Summerville and lived in a little house next to the residence of the "parish pedagogue," Stroud Keller. The family then consisted of the parents and two boys, William and Chester. Near the close of the war John got the contract for carrying the mail from Brighton to Greenfield. Of course that was before the days of the railroad. Mrs. Simpson was Lottie Sherman, daughter of Barney Sherman, and sister of Lem Sherman, so well known in Summerville some forty years ago. She was a dear good woman, and a model mother.
To the east of "Doc" Simpson's and out in the field a short distance, was the house in which lived "Jack" Calverd and family, consisting of the father, mother, "Billie" and Henrietta. Mrs. Calverd was another member of the
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Parker family. She reared a large family. There were William; Henrietta, who married Aaron Artman; and others I cannot now recall.
THE CHISM FAMILY.
I do not recall when John Chism and family did not live at the present homestead north of Medora, for, without doubt, they were there before I was born. John Chism was the son of William Chism and the family originally came from Kentucky to Illinois in 1829 and settled on the "old place" in 1848. In 1844 John and Ellen Skeen were united in marriage and settled on a farm west of Chesterfield, now known as the John Dews farm, where they remained four years and then on the Chisin homestead north of Medora in 1848. He was a sturdy, heavy built man, with muscles of iron and was always in the best of health. It was never too early for him to be out in the field at work and never too late if the busy season was on. In those early days there was great competition between three men as to who should be first in the field at work in the morning. They were John Chism, Lawrence Johnson and Luther Palmer, my father. Of the children, I remember William and James and the two older girls, Adelaide and Celia.
OVERTON'S "BLIND PIG."
South of Summerville about half way to Piasa, there stood a little cabin, or "shack," and in it resided Tom Overton. The place was known far and wide because of the fact that the thirsty wayfarer could always get a "wee dhrap fer to wet 'is wissel," on the sly; that is what people used to allege and I always thought they knew, some of them, from personal experience. Tom was always in the meshes of the law and his oft repeated slogan "there's law till Cairlinveele," either in jest or greater seriousness, men who had a griev- ance of any kind, real or fancied, would console themselves with Tom's slogan, "there's law till Cairlinveele." I think that eventually the Overton "blind pig" was fenced out. At least, the family moved away in early war days.
THE RHOADS FAMILY.
The patriarch of the Rhoads family was Elder Jacob Rhoads, familiarly called "Uncle Jakey." Of the Swaffords I recall nothing, except that one of the women of the family married Leonard Trabue about war times.
Between Summerville and Piasa and southeast of the "Point" lived Ben- jamin Rhoads and family, as far back as I can remember. He kept quite a stock of patent medicines that were popular in those days, such as cologogue, chenoidon, I am not vouching for the right spelling, but I can vouch for its abominable odor and taste; Fahnestock's vermifuge, Landreth's pills, Perry Davis' pain killer, Whitfield's ague cure, etc., etc. adnauseum. That was be- fore the day of sugar-coated pills. All the medicine of those days was most horrid stuff to take. It seems to me now that the chief virtues of materia
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medica of fifty years ago was its distressing awfulness. The whole family. except William, moved to Minnesota about the close of the war.
To the south of Medora, and where John Wilton now lives, was the home of John L. Rhoads, as far back as I can remember.
South of Summerville about a mile lived William Rhoads. He was a hustling, busy man of affairs, and a good farmer. He was married four times, I think, and raised quite a large family.
A mile or more west of the Luther Palmer home, over on the Kemper road, lived John G. Rhoads. There were several other members of the Rhoads family. I only recall the names Doran, Worthum, Edward, Newton and Charles. Emily, daughter of William Rhoads, married William Brewer.
THE LOPER FAMILY.
The Loper family is certainly one of the old school. I presume the stock originated back among the Pennsylvania Germans. As far back as I can re- member, George and Sarah Loper, and a house full of children were living. at the old homestead in Summerville. Some nine or ten children grew to ma- turity. George Loper was energetic and prospered in material affairs, accord- ingly. His wheat stacks were the largest, his corn yield the greatest and his stock the fattest of anybody's in the community. He could neither read nor write but it used to be said that he could transact and keep track of more business in his head than most men could in a dozen day books. I remember to have seen him at Alton one time about the beginning of the war, delivering hogs to a slaughter house. They were killing the hogs and weighing them one at a time, just before they slaughtered them. The weights were called out and the oldest boy, John T., stood there entering the numbers in the book. When the weight of the last hog. was called out, Mr. Loper announced the total weight, but John T. had the long column to add up before he was able to give the total. The oldest girl, Lucinda, married William Brewer before the war. John T. died when a young man. The other boys were Melvin, Emmons and Thaddeus.
SUMMERVILLE'S FIRST SETTLER.
Without doubt, Lester Hoisington was the first settler within the precincts of Summerville. He was my mother's half brother, and was married to my father's sister Roxanna. After moving to Montgomery county, he prospered and reared a large family of children.
ANOTHER PIONEER SUMMERVILLIAN.
As far back as my memory carries me, the Kenworthy family lived at the southeast corner in Summerville. They were sturdy, English people. The head of the house was Edward Kenworthy, and there were three girls, Lizzie, Ellen and Etta. In time Lizzie became the wife of Martin Haynes. Ellen married John Richardson. Edward finally died and the widow became the wife
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of Christ. Morris. They moved to the Morris homestead out toward Black- burn bridge, and reared quite a family of girls.
THE VILLAGE DOMINIE.
I do not remember the time when Stroud V. Keller did not live in the little cottage just across the road east of. George Loper's, and "the memory of man runneth not to the contrary," as he used to be so fond of quoting, when he was not the teacher in the Summerville school. Mrs. Keller was the daughter of Elder Jacob V. Rhoads. I remember Stroud Keller as a schoolteacher, a shorthand teacher, a writing teacher, a lawyer, a preacher, a justice of the peace, a political speaker, a candidate for county clerk, a newspaper corres- pondent, in fact, a general, all-around good fellow, worthy citizen, active partisan, able debater and an earnest exhorter to righteousness. As it was, I am sure there was never a district schoolteacher in Macoupin county, no, nor in the whole state of Illinois, who could touch the hem of his blue jeans coat. He was unique and effective in his methods ; he was sui generis-he trotted in a class all by himself -in his summary dealings with the lazy and refractory. Under these circum- stances, he would rather whip a boy than eat his dinner. I have seen him remain at noon to lick a boy, while his dinner was getting cold at home. One of the "old boys" wrote that Stroud never whipped a boy while he was angry ; no, I am sure he' did not, for there was such supreme happiness in his soul the moment he grabbed the hazel rod in his hand that all his anger was instantly transmitted into ecstacies of delight. When I first started to school, there was a quarter of an acre of splendid hazel brush growing wild just back of the schoolhouse. What wonderful astute acumen that old time board of trustees displayed in locating the schoolhouse on that particular site ; especially with Stroud Keller as prospective teacher. I can remember even now just how it felt when Stroud would send a fellow out to get a rod for his own castigation. That was not what Stroud called it, but it was a case where a licking hurt just as badly by any other name. Long years before I was through the grammar grade Stroud had exhausted the supply of hazel brush in that patch.
With the boys of Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-third Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, Stroud Keller marched away to Rock Island and served his country for one hundred days, guarding prisoners. He was a good teacher and the uniformly high grade of men and women who grew up in that neighborhood and have gone out to all points of the compass was made possible only through the early training of this same man, Stroud V. Keller.
THE VILLAGE PLOW MAKER.
Who that lived within forty miles of Summerville in those old days did not know "Boss" Wheat. If he had any "front" name I do not remember ever to have heard it. Wheat lived in a modest little cottage just across the road and a little north of George Loper's house, and north of his house was the blacksmith shop. He was master of his trade and was well named, for he certainly was a "boss workman." He was a man who knew how to do things. He was not only
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a natural mechanic, but a real genius as well. He made a specialty of a two- horse plow, with a high wooden stock, nearly straight beam, long pointed shire and long curling mold board. His only competitor in those days was the Moline plow, which had a low mold board, with the "dish" in it turned the wrong way, and it would not "scour" if it were paid for it. But the Wheat plow would lie awake of nights, so to speak, to scour. The Wheat plow was a general favorite with most farmers, though of course, some preferred the Moline. I am sure, however, that "Boss" Wheat's best product was the "double plows" he used to make way back fifty years ago. They were used for the cultivation of corn and were great labor savers, as one man could easily do two men's work with them. They were so adjusted by a double set of cross bars that the plows would throw the dirt from the younger corn, then by reversing the plows, throw the dirt up to the hill at "laying-by" time. And then there were harrows, coulters and a host of other things he could make. I have seen him temper steel till it was as hard as glass and as tough as the best Bessemer of today. He finally passed to the beyond and his widow married John Wilson, and moved' up near Carlinville, just west of Hurricane creek. Of the children there were Charles, Wesley, George, Samuel and Hannah.
JOHN ROACH.
Just north of "Boss" Wheat's smithy, on the east side of the street stood a cottage occupied by John Roach. If my memory serves me rightly, John Roach conducted the Summerville store with John Farrow. Mrs. Roach was a sister of Joseph and David Hall and she was the mother of a large family of children. The boys were David, Thomas, Henry and John; and the girls, Adelaide, Lucy, Alma, Jennie and Betty. Adelaide married young Mr. Beebe, south of Medora.
EDWARD COREY.
Across the street and north from the Roach store was the home of Edward F. Corey. He was a brother of Mrs. Hartwell-Loomis and Mrs. Corey was a Miss Deacon. One winter her two brothers, Henry and Ira, lived with the Coreys and went to school. Edward Corey one winter taught in the old school- house.
ENOCH KEELE.
East of the store in Summerville, and back from the road to the south in the heart of a great orchard, lived Enoch Keele and family as early as I can remember. Mrs. Keele was Miss Margaret Loper. Her daughter Lucetta married Stephen Rice, and Mary became the wife of John Barnstable, now of Medora. The only boy was Alonzo. The family subsequently moved over east of Chesterfield, while I was still in the district school.
ELFRETH JOHNSON.
As noted heretofore there were people from almost every section of the east and south among the pioneer settlers of this section of the county. El-
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