USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial, Volume II > Part 48
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JOHN HENRY STEAD.
John Henry Stead, who is numbered among the highly respected citizens of Macoupin county, was born in Nilwood township August 7, 1857, on the farm on which he now lives. He is a lifelong resident of the county, and by his in- dustry, application and clear judgment has gained the confidence of his asso- ciates and the respect of the entire community. He is a son of David and Mary A. (Boston) Stead, the former of whom was born in England and the later in Indiana. On the maternal side he is descended from Beverly Boston, a native of Virginia.
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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
In the district schools of Macoupin county John H. Stead acquired his early education which he has largely broadened by reading and an intelligent observa- tion of men and events. In 1878, he began farming for himself on the home place, which comprises one hundred and sixty acres, and has applied himself without interruption to his calling to the present time. Years ago he established a reputation as one of the competent and successful farmers of the county. He is a dealer in live stock and also feeds stock to good advantage for the market. In addition to his agricultural interests, he is a stockholder in the Farmers' Mutual Telephone Company, the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company, and was actively identified with the Grange store at Girard.
On the 15th of October, 1879, Mr. Stead was married in Nilwood township to Miss Alice V. McBride, a native of Girard. She is a daughter of Thomas W. and Marjorie A. (Wiggins) McBride, the former of whom was born in Tennessee and the latter in Kentucky. On the paternal side, she descends from one of the oldest families of Virginia. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stead: Minnie Dorles, who married J. D. Stutzman, of Girard, and has one son, John; and Esther Vivian, who is at home.
Fraternally, Mr. Stead is connected with Girard Lodge No. 171, A. F. & A. M., and has filled all the chairs in this organization. He is also identified with Lodge No. 132, R. A. M., of which he is master of the veil, and of Peach Tree Lodge, No. 633, M. W. A. He is interested in all efforts to promote the welfare of this section and holds membership in the Farmers' Protective League and the Anti-Horse Thief Association. He is a valued member of the Christian church, in which he has served for a number of years past as elder. He has many friends in Macoupin county who admire him not only for his energy and success in business but on account of his genial and friendly manner and his sterling characteristics of mind and heart.
JOSEPH DODSON.
Among the many influential and public-spirited citizens of Macoupin county must be numbered Joseph Dodson, who has been prominently and successfully identified with the development of many of the leading enterprises of Shipman. where he has long been a resident. His birth occurred in Booneville, Cooper county, Missouri, on the 17th of October, 1840, his parents being Eli and Mary Ann (Williams) Dodson.
The Dodsons were among the pioneer settlers of Ohio. The paternal grand- father, Major Dodson, emigrated from England to America during the latter years of the eighteenth century. Upon his arrival in this country he acquired a large tract of land in Ohio, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death and reared his family, which contained five sons and four daughters. Two of his sons, Elijah and Ezekiel, entered the ministry of the Baptist church. They moved from Ohio to Illinois, first locating in Greene county, where for many years they preached among the pioneer settlements. Elijah Dodson sub- sequently came to Macoupin county, continuing to follow his calling wherever
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his services seemed to be needed most. He founded the first Baptist church of Carlinville, which was organized on the 10th of May, 1835, and long thereafter ministered to the spiritual needs of its congregation. Eli, the father of our subject, was a son of Major Dodson, his birth having occurred on the old home- stead in Ohio on the 19th of December, 1805. There he was educated and reared to manhood. When ready to set out for himself he came to Illinois, lo- cating in Greene county, as had his brothers. There he met and subsequently married Miss Mary Ann Williams, at that time a resident of Upper Alton, Illinois, but a daughter of Kentucky, her natal day having been the Ist of No- vember, 1809. She was left an orphan by the death of her father, who was killed in one of the Indian wars, and was reared by Mr. Stead Steadman of Shipman township, Macoupin county. After his marriage Mr. Dodson removed to Missouri with his family, locating in Booneville about 1837. Residing there for nine years he went to Harrisonville, Cass county, Missouri, where he es- tablished a general merchandise business, which he conducted until 1856. Dis- posing of his enterprise, he came to Woodburn, Macoupin county, where he en- gaged in the same business with most gratifying results. In 1860 he constructed a grist mill in Woodburn that he operated for a year and then sold. He also disposed of his mercantile interests about the same time. Mr. Dodson had al- ways been a studious, thoughtful man, and many years previously he had ap- plied himself to the mastery of the science of medicine, in the practice of which he engaged in connection with his various other activities until 1870. In 1867 he settled in Shipman, where he resided until the death of his wife in 1875, when he removed to Medora, making his home with his son until his death in 1876, at the age of seventy-one years. To Mr. and Mrs. Dodson were born ten chil- dren: William, who passed away in Chicago; Elijah, who died at the age of eight years; Emily, the deceased wife of James R. Ament, of Litchfield, Illinois ; John F., who died in infancy; Isaac, who is a resident of Litchfield, Illinois ; Mary, who died in infancy; Joseph, our subject; Silas, who died at the age of five years; James E., who is living in the vicinity of Norwood, Missouri; and Francis M., who lives at Grafton, Illinois.
Joseph Dodson was reared in Missouri, acquiring his education in the sub- scription schools conducted in the rural districts. The sessions were held in log cabins, built for the purpose, which were furnished with an eye to durability and practical requirements rather than with any sense of comfort or adornment. Their interiors with the crude slab benches and puncheon floors, rough unadorned walls, and poor and inadequate heating and ventilating facilities, were in strik- ing contrast to the comfortable and attractive quarters provided for the pupils of the country schools of today. At the age of fifteen years Joseph Dodson terminated his studies and began preparations for his future business career as a clerk in his father's store. He continued in his service until he had attained his majority, the six years behind the counter of a country store having him well qualified to begin an independent career. In 1861 he became associated with his brother William in the purchase and operation of their father's mill at Wood- burn. Three years thereafter they removed the mill to Shipman, continuing its operation in 1876 under the firm name of Green & Dodson. In 1878, Mr. Dod- son erected an elevator in Shipman and engaged in the grain business until the
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Ist of April, 1904, when he disposed of his interest in this enterprise to F. S. Shultz. In 1895 he helped organize and establish the Shipman Banking Company with which he was connected in the official capacity of director and president. The following year he withdrew from this office and has ever since been devot- ing his energies to the supervision of his various interests and real-estate invest- ments. He first began buying land in 1900, at which time he purchased one hundred and eleven acres on section 23. Subsequently he bought an adjoining tract of fifty-eight acres and later one of eighty-seven acres. He now owns two hundred and fifty-six acres of fine land, all of which is underlaid with a three foot vein of coal, of excellent quality. In 1885 he was a stockholder of a com- pany which sunk a shaft on this land. Upon the tract first purchased Mr. Dod- son has erected a good house and barn and other out-buildings and now has the land under cultivation. In addition to his country real estate he owns some valuable town property, his own residence being one of the most attractive places in the community. It embraces three acres of land, on which was built a large, comfortable house, that is surrounded by attractively arranged and well kept grounds. The house is set well back from the street and with its beautiful lawns and large trees presents a most pleasing appearance to the passerby.
On the 18th of December, 1867, Mr. Dodson was married to Miss Mary M. Harris, who was born in Morgan county, Illinois, in September, 1842. Mrs. Dodson is a daughter of Richard P. and Catherine (Roberts) Harris, both na- tives of Tennessee, the father's birth having occurred on the 8th of April, 1821, and that of the mother on the 10th of December, of the same year. Richard P. Harris in his boyhood removed to Illinois with his parents, Benjamin and Mary (Ragan) Harris, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Virginia. His father was a veteran of the war of 1812, while his paternal grandfather, Jeremiah Ragan, participated in the Revolution, thus the children of Joseph Dodson are entitled to membership in the various societies founded by the de- scendants of the veterans of this war. Benjamin Harris was a hatter and even- tually located in Alton, Illinois, where for many years he followed his trade. After his marriage in 1841, Richard P. Harris settled on some land which he purchased in Morgan county and there engaged in farming until his death on the 10th of December, 1866. Mrs. Harris, although of southern birth was of Pennsylvania Dutch extraction, being a descendant of Peter Rubel, who emi- grated from Germany, probably Bavaria, about 1760. He located near Lewiston, Mifflin county, that state, where he resided until 1788 when he removed with his family to Washington county, Tennessee, and there he died about 1834. His family numbered eleven. The youngest member, Eve, whose birth occurred on the 15th of March, 1796, in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, was married in 1811 to William Roberts, a Methodist minister. Soon thereafter they settled in Mor- gan county, Illinois, and there were born their thirteen children, one of whom, Samuel P. Roberts, was a soldier in the Union army. He served in an Illinois volunteer regiment and was killed in action at Atlanta in 1863. Catharine Roberts, the sixth child of this union, was born on the 10th of December, 1821, and twenty years later became the wife of Richard P. Harris and subsequently the mother of Mrs. Dodson. To Mr. and Mrs. Harris were born ten children, of whom Mrs. Dodson is the eldest, the others in order of birth are: Melinda,
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who has never married, living at Pawnee, Oklahoma; Emily P., the wife of A. T. Cunningham, also a resident of Pawnee; Sarah J., who died at the age of twenty-two; Maria C., who was twenty at the time of her demise; and Sophia A. and Jophronia A., twins, the former the wife of J. C. Bennett, of Pawnee, and the latter deceased, having died in infancy ; Newton D., who is a resident of Morrison, Oklahoma; Flora D., who died in infancy ; and Minnie L., who passed away at the age of nineteen years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Dodson were born six children: Edwin Arthur, who was born on the IIth of November, 1868, a graduate of the Springfield Business Col- lege, married Carrie Christopher and has three children : Leo A., Christine and Kathaleen. He is district manager of the Merchants Life Insurance Co., of Des Moines, Iowa, and makes his headquarters at Alton, Illinois. Fannie Catharine, the eldest daughter, is the widow of Cyrus Preston, of Shipman and has one son, Herbert D. Abigail Eunice and Eva Adaline, the two next in order of birth, are both unmarried and living at home with their parents. Rosa May married Walter E. Matlack, a farmer of Shipman township, and has three chil- dren: Robert Dodson, Charles Osler and Mary Josephine. Bertha Viola, the youngest member of the family, has never married and is living at home.
The family all affiliate with the Christian church, and fraternally Mr. Dod- son is identified with the Masonic order, being a member of Shipman Lodge, No. 212, A. F. & A. M. His political support is given to the democratic party, but owing to his views on the liquor question he favors the policy of the prohibi- tion party regarding that traffic. Although he takes an earnest and helpful in- terest in all community affairs, Mr. Dodson has never participated in political ac- tivities to any marked extent, save to do his utmost to see that the local offices are filled by men well qualified to serve the highest interest of the citizens. For fifteen years he was a member of the local school board and he has also served on the town board, his public duties having been limited to these two offices. He has ever been regarded as one of the substantial residents of Shipman, whose extensive interests, in the development of which he ever had a regard for the public welfare as well as personal benefit, has made of him a most desirable citizen in every sense of the word.
JOB PRICE.
A pleasant homestead of fifteen acres on section 29, North Otter township, occupies the attention of Job Price, who engages in general farming. He was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, on the 22d of March, 1849, and is a son of Joseph and Maria (Clayton) Price, both natives of New Jersey. The father all his life engaged in farming and at the time of his demise owned four hundred acres of land. The mother has also passed away. Three of the eight children born of their union are surviving: Andrew J., who is a resident of Oregon; Job, our subject; and Catharine. Those deceased are as follows: Anna; John B .; Firman; James, who was killed in the war; and Caroline.
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In common with the majority of lads whose youth is spent on a farm, Job Price early became familiar with the practical methods of agriculture, and at the age of thirteen years began his career as a wage earner. For some years thereafter he worked as a farm hand, but having acquired sufficient capital to begin farming for himself when he was about nineteen years of age, he rented land to the cultivation of which he directed his energies for some time. His first investment in property was a ten acre tract which he held for about three years; he sold this land and purchased another fifteen acres, on which he has erected a nice residence and made other improvements, now owning one of the attractive farms in that section of the township.
Mr. Price chose for his wife and helpmate Miss Elizabeth Swift, a daughter of John M. and Susanna (Williams) Swift, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Price is the eldest in a family of four, the others being : Annie, the wife of George Richards, of Macoupin county ; James W., also a resident of this county; and John, who is deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Price affiliate with the Baptist church and he votes with the democratic party, but he has never actively participated in township affairs, al- ways having given his undivided attention to his personal interests.
JAMES G. BALLINGER.
The late James G. Ballinger, who was born and reared on a farm, devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits until his death on the 26th of May, 1909. He was born in Kentucky on the 29th of October, 1852, a son of John Herondon and Elizabeth (Tuggle) Ballinger, also natives of the Blue Grass state. During the childhood of our subject the parents came to Illinois settling in Macoupin county. The father, who was a Christian minister, bought a farm in Nilwood township, that he improved and cultivated until 1879, at the same time continu- ing to preach the gospel. During the latter years of their lives both the father and mother made their home with their son James G., and there they passed away. Mr. Ballinger was eighty-three years, nine months and nine days at the time of his demise, which occurred on the 20th of November, 1895, while his wife was seventy-eight years, nine months and twenty-seven days old when she died on the 16th of January, 1894.
As James G. Ballinger was a very small lad when his parents brought him to Macoupin county he spent the greater part of his boyhood and youth on his father's farm, his educational advantages being confined to such as were afforded by the district schools of that period. He had a very good voice and for many years during his early manhood conducted singing schools in the country, al- though his main energies were devoted to the work of the farm. In 1883 with his wife and family he removed to Morgan county, Illinois, where he bought a farm that he improved and cultivated for twelve years. Disposing of it at the expiration of that period he returned to Macoupin county and for five years thereafter cultivated a rented farm in Nilwood township. In 1903 he bought ninety acres of land in Shaws Point township, whereto he removed his family,
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continuing to make that his home until he died. He subsequently extended his holdings by the addition of a ten-acre timber tract, making his realty aggregate one hundred acres. Mr. Ballinger was still in his prime at the time he passed away being but fifty-six years, six months and twenty-seven days old.
On the 6th of November, 1879, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Ballinger and Miss Eliza Sharp, a daughter of Benjamin and Emeline (Fite) Sharp, na- tives of Tennessee. The father came to Macoupin county at an early day with his parents, who entered some government land that they operated until their death. When old enough to begin to work for himself Mr. Sharp devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits for which he had been trained from his earliest boyhood. He remained with his parents until their death, following which he cultivated the old homestead for himself until his demise on the 14th of May, 1907, at the age of seventy years, six months and twenty-two days. Mrs. Sharp was fifty years three months and nine days when she passed away on the 3d of December, 1887. To Mr. and Mrs. Ballinger have been born five children : Oli- ver, aged thirty-one, who is operating a farm in Shaws Point township that be- longs to his mother ; Elbert Lester, who is twenty-nine, living at home; Lizzie E., now twenty-seven, the wife of Fred Arter, a farmer of Shaws Point township; Bessie Belle, who is twenty-five, the wife of Oren Crabtree, a rural mail carrier at Atwater ; and Josephine Justina, who is twenty-three and living at home, with her mother.
Mr. Ballinger attended the Christian church, with which his wife and family are affiliated, and he was also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He was a strong adherent of the principles of the democratic party, for whose candidates he cast his ballot. The political activities of the township always en- gaged his interest and he served as township commissioner and school director for many years. He belonged to that class of men who do not become so self- centered in the development of their personal matters as to exclude all interest in public affairs, but was always conscientious in the discharge of his duties as a citizen of the community.
HENRY C. HESSELDENZ.
Henry C. Hesseldenz, who has been successfully identified with the com- mercial interests of Carlinville for some years, has spent the greater part of his life in Macoupin county. He was born in the vicinity of Braunfeltz, Texas, on the 17th of February, 1858, and is a son of Michael and Elizabeth (Uth) Hessel- denz. The father's birth occurred in Pennsylvania, but he was reared to the age of twenty-one in Ohio, while the mother was a native of Germany. Upon at- taining his maturity Michael Hesseldenz went to Texas as a ranger, continuing to reside there until 1866, when he migrated with his family to Carlinville, engaging in blacksmithing. He withdrew from this vocation later and engaged in team- ing, following teaming and farming combined, continuing to reside in Carlinville until his death on the 26th of March, 1901. The mother died in August, 1899.
His first school days Henry C. Hesseldenz spent in Texas, but he completed his education from the age of eight years on in the public schools of Carlinville.
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After laying aside his text books he entered one of the mercantile houses here, remaining for two and a half years. At the expiration of that period he found employment in a grist mill and learned the trade, which he followed for twelve years in the southern part of the state. Returning to Carlinville he established a grocery store and has ever since been identified with that business. Mr. Hessel- denz has met with success in his undertaking and now owns the building in which his store is located and carries a very choice and complete line of fancy and staple groceries.
It was on the 15th of May, 1883, that Mr. Hesseldenz and Miss Julia Merrick were united in marriage. Mrs. Hesseldenz is a daughter of Joseph and Lucy (Ahrsan) Merrick, the father being a native of France and the mother of Swit- zerland. Mr. Merrick emigrated to the United States, locating in Dyer, Indiana, in the early days, where he taught for a short time, subsequently taking a posi- tion in the public schools of Carlinville. Here he passed away on the 9th of July, 1903, having survived his wife for over twenty years, her demise occurring on the 20th of September, 1882. To Mr. and Mrs. Hesseldenz have been born twelve children, namely: Frank, Mary, William, Lucy, Paul, Albert, Maggie, Emma, Annie, Anton and Carl. John, the second member of the family, died on the 4th of March, 1890.
Mr. and Mrs. Hesseldenz are both communicants of the Roman Catholic church, in the faith of which denomination they have reared their family. Mr. Hesseldenz loyally supports the democratic party, but his time has always been so largely taken up with his business interests that he has never participated to any extent in political affairs, although he served as collector of Carlinville township in 1893. From an humble beginning Mr. Hesseldenz has come to be one of the foremost grocery dealers in Carlinville, his progress being entirely attrib- utable to his fine business principles and recognition of the needs of his patrons.
CAPTAIN ABRAHAM C. HULSE.
The Civil war passed into history as one of the most important struggles mankind has known and the men who participated for the Union will ever be regarded with reverence and honor by lovers of liberty. One of the anomalies of the war was the division of families occasioned by difference of opinion as to the cause and object of the great conflict, brothers being in many instances arrayed against brothers and father against sons. Captain Abraham C. Hulse belonged to a family of this kind, his father and brothers fighting for the south, while he donned the uniform of the blue and upheld the stars and stripes. Each was thoroughly conscientious at the time and performed his duty as he saw it. The crucible of years has shown that Captain Hulse was right.
He was born in Washington county, East Tennessee, September 23, 1835, a son of William K. and Hannah (Cox) Hulse, both of whom were natives of Tennessee. They were the parents of eleven children, one of whom died in in- fancy, the others being: Sarah, who married Jessie Baines and is now deceased ;
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CAPT. A. C. HULSE
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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
John W., who was a Confederate soldier and is also deceased; Dr. William A., who is deceased ; Caroline, who became the wife of James Wheelock and is de- ceased; Abraham C .; Thomas, who was also a Confederate soldier and is now deceased; Polly, the wife of Franklin Hulse, of Jonesboro, Tennessee; Eliza- beth, who married Joseph F. Galloway, of Palmyra, Illinois; Louisa, now Mrs. William J. Solomon, also of Palmyra; and Elvira, the wife of Nelson Chase, of Palmyra.
The father of our subject was reared in Tennessee and learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, becoming a flatboat builder and also a pilot on the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. At the time of the Civil war he was colonel of a Con- federate regiment. He was captured at Black River Bridge and imprisoned at Sandusky, Ohio, dying in prison when he was about sixty years of age. His wife died shortly after the close of the war, being then about fifty-five years of age. They were both members of the Methodist church. Mr. Hulse served as colonel of the State Militia of Tennessee previous to the war. The paternal grandfather of our subject was William Hulse, who was of Scotch-Irish and Dutch descent. He lived in Sullivan county, East Tennessee, and was a millwright by trade. He built a mill on his own account and owned a considerable body of land in Sullivan county. He was married to a Miss Keen and lost his property at the time of the Civil war. His father was Wilhelm Hultz (as the name was origi- nally spelled), who came from Holland and died in Tennessee. The grandfather on the maternal side was John Cox. He was of Irish descent and his wife was a Miss Job, who traced her ancestry to France. They both died in Tennessee.
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