History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 33

Author: Brink, McDonough & Co.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 440

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ALEXANDER M'KIM DUBOIS

WAS born in Baltimore, Maryland, January 11th, 1812. At about the age of twelve years was placed at school in an academy at Ellicott's Mills, a vil- lage near Baltimore, now Ellicott city, where he completed his scholastic course; he was pretty thoroughly drilled in the English branches ; he also acquired some knowledge of Latin and Greek.

Before he had completed his sixteenth year was taken from school and placed with one of the most prominent commercial houses of the day in the city of Baltimore, in which his mercantile education was carefully looked after, and with which he remained until he attained his majority, having in the interim passed through all the gradations of clerkship, from boy to prin- cipal accountant. In the fall of the year 1833, seeing nothing in his future in Baltimore beyond a salaried clerkship, he determined, in the hope of bet- tering his situation, to cast his fortune in the " great west." On consultation with his employer, his plan met their approval, and they gave him encour- agement to make the venture. After five days' journeying by stage from Baltimore to Wheeling, and thence by steamboat, he reached Cincinnati early in November of that year, where he soon obtained employment as an accountant in an extensive wholesale grocery establishment, with which he re- mained until the summer of 1834, when the house retired from business. In furtherance of his plan to locate in the west, the 4th of July, 1834, found him in Carlinville, on which day he rented for business purposes the house on the east side of the public square, now occupied as a drug store by Milton McClure, or, more properly stated, he occupied so much as remained of the original building, there being now left of it only the side walls.

On reaching Carlinville, shortly after (July 4th, 1834) he commenced busi- ness with another in a " general store; " it not proving profitable, sold out in 1836. He was elected justice of the peace in 1837, and held the office till August, 1839, when his term expired. Was a candidate for recorder at the August election of that year, but was unsuccessful. Was, in May, 1841, by Hon. Samuel D. Lockwood, presiding judge of the circuit, appointed clerk of the circuit court, and under this appointment held the office until 1848, when it was made elective. At the first election under the new law, in August of that year, he was the successful candidate. Re-elected in 1852, without opposition. Re-elected in 1856, and retired in 1860, at the expira- tion of his term of office.

In July, 1845, he was appointed master in chancery by Judge D. Lock- wood, and held the office under successive appointments until 1857. At the close of the litigation concerning the lands given for the founding of Blackburn seminary, now Blackburn university, was in 1855, by Judge David Davis, appointed one of the trustees of said seminary, and at the first meeting of the board thereafter was appointed its treasurer. Held both positions till February, 1878, when he resigned them ; at the request of the board, however, continuing to act as treasurer until their annual meeting, in June, 1878, when his successor was appointed.

At March term, 1866, was by the county court appointed one of the com- missioners for building the Macoupin county court-house, and the banking house of which he was a partner ; was made the financial agent of the county for the sale of its bonds ; this agency they discharged, and as the pro- ceeds of the sale accounted to the county authorities, after the payment of all charges, for a sum of money very considerable in excess of the face value of the bonds intrusted to them, they having been sold for their par value with accrued interest, which after the deduction of all charges for commissions, etc., resulted to the county as above stated.

On retiring from the circuit court clerkship in December, 1860, he took the active management of the banking house of Chesnut & Dubois, which had then been doing business for some three years, and continued in its con- trol until January, 1878, when the firm ceased to do business. These seve- ral positions and vocations have brought him somewhat prominently before the people of Macoupin county. Having spoken somewhat of his public career, we now turn to the more private events of his life. He was married on the 17th of October, 1837, to Miss Elvira G., the daughter of Rev. Jno. T. Hamilton. She was also the grand-daughter of Rev. Gideon Blackburn. She died in May, 1839, and on the 31st of October, 1844, Mr. Dubois was married to Miss Amelia McClure, the daughter of James A. McClure, Sen. By this union three children were born to them. One died in infancy. Their son, Nicholas Dubois, is now a resident of Springfield, Ills. Catharine M., is the wife of E. A. Snively, now supreme court clerk, and a leading journalist of central Illinois. Death again entered the household of Mr. Dubois, and carried away his wife, July 19th, 1851, and on the 27th of Oc- tober, 1853, Mr. Dubois was married to Sarah T. Fishback, the daughter of Charles Fishback, an old resident of this county. By this marriage seven children were born, of whom only three are now living, two daughters and one son In politics Mr. Dubois was formerly a whig, and since 1860 has acted with the republican party. He is also a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

. 6, Publis

THE subject of the following sketch was to the "manor born." He first saw the light of day in Chesterfield township, Macoupin county, July 13th, 1836. His father, Jesse Peebles, was a native of Camden, South Carolina. The Peebles were of English ancestry. Jesse Peebles emigrated to Illinois, and settled in Chesterfield township in 1834, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1864. He was a farmer and a local minister in the Methodist organization. He was married to Margaret Reeder. She was a native of Tennessee. She died in 1840. There are six children who have survived the parents, five boys and one girl. The subject of our sketch worked upon the farm and attended the country schools, and received there- in such an education as the school system of those days afforded. He re- mained at home until 1861, when he spent the following winter in the office of William A. Grimshaw, of Pittsfield, Illinois, reading law with a view of adopting that profession as the business of his life. He remained there until the summer of 1862, when he returned home. The war being in pro- gress, and being imbued with a love of country, he, with commendable zeal, raised a company of soldiers in Chesterfield and Brighton townships, and tendered them to the government. They were accepted, and were mus- tered in as company "D" 122d regiment, Ills. vols. Mr. Peebles was elected captain of the company. The regiment rendezvoused at camp Palmer for a short time, when they were ordered to Trenton, in west Tennessee, where they reported for duty, and were attached to and became a part of the six- teenth army corps, General Dodge commanding. The regiment received its first baptism of fire at Parker's cross roads, which occurred Dec. 31st, 1862. After skirmishing with Forrest, the command to which the 122d regiment was attached, were driven back to Trenton. In the latter part of February, 1863, they were ordered to Corinth, Miss. From Corinth the command was ordered out on Town creek to keep the rebels employed and make a diver- sion in favor of Gen. Straight, who was raiding in the enemy's country, and who was subsequently captured with all his forces. The command returned to Corinth, and in April went out to Saulsbury, and during the summer guarded the Memphis and Charleston railroad. In the fall they went to Eastport, Miss., where the regiment guarded the depot and supplies. A short time afterwards the regiment came up to Paducah, Ky., and from

there a part of the regiment came to Cairo, where they did police duty until the next summer. In the summer of 1864 the regiment was reunited and went to Memphis, where they again became a part of the sixteenth army corps, under the command of General A. J. Smith. The command en- gaged in raids, and had several severe skirmishes, and were actively em- ployed all that summer. In the fall of 1864 they came up the river and stopped at Jefferson barracks, and from there the command went in pursuit of Gen. Price. That campaign lasted forty days. The command came to St. Louis, and from there was ordered to Nashville, where they joined the army under Gen. George H. Thomas, and with them participated in the battle with Hood's army, and, after three days of hard fighting, routed his forces. The command went then to Eastport, Tenn., and from there to New Orleans, then to Mobile, and assisted in the siege and capture of that place. The regiment and portion of the command went up to Montgomery, Ala., and from there came back to Mobile, where the regiment was mustered out. They came up to Springfield, Illinois, where they were discharged in August of 1865. After his return home, Captain Peebles entered Judge Welch's law office and resumed his reading of law, and in December of 1867 was admit- ted to practice. After his admission he returned to the farm, and there re- mained until 1868, when he was appointed deputy sheriff under S. B. Wil- cox. He served through Mr. Wilcox's administration, when he formed a law partnership with R. C. Smalley and continued the practice until 1872, when the death of sheriff Fishback took place, and he took charge of the sheriff's office and remained in it until the end of the term. He also acted as office deputy for sheriff Pennington until the fall of 1873, when he was elected county judge. He served four years, when he was again nominated and elected without opposition. On the 18th of March, 1869, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Odell. She is a native of Macoupin county. Two children, a boy and a girl, are the fruits of the union. In politics Judge Peebles is a democrat, and cast his first vote for Stephen A. Douglass in 1860. In manners Judge Peebles is a pleasant, affable gentleman, quiet and unobtru- sive, but one who gives you genuine pleasure to meet. His popularity and worth as a man in the county and home of his birth is best attested by his election without opposition to the office he now holds.

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

7. H Chapman

WAS born in Staunton township, Macoupin county, Illinois. April 15th, 1828. Richard Chapman, his father, was one of the pioneers and early settlers of this part of the state. He was a native of North Carolina : the family of Chapmans were, however, originally from Virginia. He emigrated to Illinois, arriving in the state in 1818, and settled in St. Clair county, where he remained until December, 1819, when he removed to what is now known as Dorchester, in this county. At that time his own and two other families were the only settlers in this section of the state. In 1821 he re- moved to what is now known as Staunton township, where he remained until 1857. He died in 1872, in the ninetieth year of his age. He married Celia Davenport, who was also a native of North Carolina. She died in 1852. Twelve children were born to them, nine of whom have survived the parents.

The subject of our sketch is among the younger members. His boyhood days were spent upon the farm, and in acquiring the rudiments of an educa- tion, which, in the pioneer days of Illinois, was somewhat difficult to obtain, owing to the lack of educational facilities, and the crude and imperfect sys- tem of common schools as compared with the present day. At the age of nineteen years he went to school and taught school until he arrived at the age of twenty-four. He also during that time read law in his leisure hours, intending later in life to adopt the profession of law as the busines of his life. In the fall of 1852 he commenced land surveying, and in the following year was elected county surveyor, and again elected, and held the office until 1859, at the end of which time he again took up the study of law prepara- tory to entering into the practice, and continued so engaged until the break- ing out of the war, when he put aside his scholastic duties and entered as a private in the 14th Regiment Illinois Volunteers, Col. John M. Palmer commanding.

He remained in the service until July 14, 1865, when he was honorably discharged and mustered out. While in the service he remained with his regiment until February, 1862, when he was detached, and took command

of company " L," artillery company, as captain. In April his company was consolidated with company " B," of the 2d Illinois Light Artillery, and he took rank as senior first lieutenant. In March, 1863, he was promoted to the captaincy of the company, and remained in command until the close of the war. In 1865 he was breveted to the rank of major for meritorious service during the war.

After his return home from the service in 1865, he was a candidate for the office of county judge, but at the ensuing election was defeated by a small majority. He was then elected police magistrate, and in 1869 was elected county superintendent of schools, which position he filled acceptably to the people until 1873. In 1869 he was admitted to the practice of law, and at the expiration of his term of office as superintendent of schools he entered upon the practice of his profession, at which he has been industri- ously engaged up to the present. In November of 1878 he formed a law partnership with ex-Governor John M. Palmer, which still continues.

In the practice of his profession, Major Chapman has no specialties, but prefers the probate practice, which by nature and mental training he is specially adapted for. As a lawyer, although comparatively young in the practice, he has already won his way to the front of the profession, and is regarded as a clear, logical thinker, a good pleader, and a man who gives all his energies and best endeavors to the cause of his clients.

In 1854 he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah McCreary, who was a native of Orange county, New York. She died in 1857. Two children, both girls, were the fruits of this union. In 1862 he married Miss Cecelia C. Burns, who is a native of Dublin, Ireland. One child, a daughter, has been born to them.

In politics Major Chapman was formerly a democrat, and cast his first vote for Franklin Pierce for President in 1852. He remained a democrat until the breaking out of the war, when he arrayed himself on the side of the Union and joined the republican party, and has been ever since a staunch member of that political organization.

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WAS born in Jessamine county, Kentucky, January 22d, 1828. The family were originally from Virginia. His grandfather was a citizen of Kentucky when it was admitted into the union. John Welch, the father, married Eliza- beth Rice. She was a native of the same state. William R. is the youngest in a family of five sons and one daughter. Four of the family have survived the parents. The father died in 1840, and the mother in 1872. The subject of our sketch received a good education in the common schools and academies of the state, and in 1845 entered the literary department of the Transylvania University at Lexington, and graduated from that institution with the degree of A. B. In 1849 he entered the law department in the same university, and in 1851 graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He immediately thereafter entered upon the practice of his profession in Nicholasville in Jessa- mine county, where he remained until 1864, when he left his native state, and came to Carlinville, where he has since resided. While in Kentucky he was elected State's Attor- ney, and served in that capacity from 1854 to 1858. After his arrival in Carlinville, he continued the practice of his profession here until 1877, when he was elected judge of

the fifth judicial district. At the expiration of his term of office in 1879, he was again nominated and elected without opposition.

Judge Welch is emphatically a lawyer in all that goes to make up a legal mind. He is a clear, forcible and convin- cing speaker, incisive in style, and inexorable in logic. His greatest drawback is the lack of physical strength to sup- port and sustain the mental force and the wear and tear incident to official life. Had his bodily powers corres- ponded to his mental endowments, he would to-day rank with the best jurists in the land.

In politics he has always acted with the democratic party, but has not been a partisan in the accepted sense of that term.

He was married on the 6th of April, 1854, to Miss Ann Mary Corn, who is also a native of Kentucky. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

Judge Welch is of a most genial, sociable disposition, of quiet, gentle and unassuming manners, and pleasant ad- dress. He is a firm friend. His honesty and integrity are never doubted.

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

DR. WILLIAM A. ROBERTSON.

THE subject of the following sketch was born in Liberty, Bedford county, Virginia, on the 27th of October, 1803. He was the eldest child in the family, and removed with his parents when about four years of age to Knoxville, Tennessee, and after remaining there but a short time, removed to Lexington, Kentucky. His father here commenced the practice of medi- cine, for which he had been educated and trained in Virginia. He soon after removed to Harrodsburg in Kentucky, where he remained until his death. William A., attained his elementary education at the New London Academy in Virginia. After studying medicine with his father, he entered the medical college at Lexington, Kentucky, and took a course of lectures. In 1829 he was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Clark, who was a native of Kentucky. Both he and his wife disapproved of the system of slavery, and determined to leave the state. They emigrated to Illinois in 1830, and settled in Edwardsville, Madison county. He afterwards removed to Alton, where he remained a short time. There he practised his profession, but sub- sequently abandoned it, and engaged in farming. In 1835 he removed to Carlinville, where in 1845 he engaged in general merchandizing, in which he continued for some years. He also soon after his arrival here began to invest in real estate. He foresaw what few others did, that in a few years the great body of land and open prairie that was then lying in an unculti- vated and unoccupied state would be valuable by reason of the tide of emi- gration pouring in from the east, all of whom were seeking homes in the great west. He entered large tracts, and in a few years he and others saw

the wisdom of his investments. As soon as his lands came into market, he would sell at an advance, and re-invest in cheap lands again. He is a man of rare good sense, and of more than ordinary financial ability, as his wealth and large landed possessions would indicate. He is a great reader, and is possessed of considerable literary and intellectual ability. He is exceedingly liberal with his wealth, and his private charities are numerous. He has made liberal donations to several institutions of learning and religious organizations.

In religion Dr. Robertson is a firm believer in the teachings of Chris- tianity, although not now a member of any particular church organization. In politics he was formerly a member of the old line whig party ; but since the disorganization of that political organization, he has voted for measures that in his judgment were for the best interests of the country. Mr. Robert- son's wife, Ellen, died a short time after his arrival in Carlinville. She died without issue. On the 18th of October, 1844, he married Nancy H., daugh- ter of Rev. Charles Holliday. She was born in Kentucky, November 14th, 1821. There have been five children born to Dr. W. A. and Nancy H. Robertson, that are living. Their names are Elizabeth, wife of A. W. Edwards (she has four children) ; Ellen C., wife of John Mayo Palmer (three children have been born to the latter, William, Charles and Anna Robertson) ; Charles and Anna are yet at home.

Dr. Robertson retired from active business life in 1851, since which time he has lived a quiet and retired life.

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

CHARLES HOLLIDAY,-(DECEASED),

WAS the son of James and Mary Holliday. The Holliday family are of Scotch ancestry, and came originally from Avondale, Scotland. On the maternal side they were Irish. Charles McAlister, the grandfather, came from Ireland and settled in that part of (then York) now Adams county, Pennsylvania, known as Carrol's tract. His wife was Rosanna Pennaw, born in Ireland, but of a French Huguenot family, which took refuge in Ireland in the reign of Louis XIV. They had three sons, John, James and Alex- ander, and two daughters, Mary and Margaret. Alexander McAlister, the son of Charles and Rosanna, married Mary Fleming, who was a native of Pennsylvania. They had eight children. Mary, their daughter, married Charles Holliday, the father of Rev. Charles Holliday, the subject of this sketch. There were two children born to them, both sons; Charles and William. Charles was born in the City of Baltimore, Maryland, November 23d, 1771. His parents were devout Presbyterians (Covenanters). Charles was carefully trained under Christian influences, and educated with a view of entering the ministry when he reached the years of manhood. The loss of his parents took place, however, before he reached his majority, which unfortunate circumstance compelled him to abandon the idea of entering upon the profession for which he was educated and trained. In the month of May, 1793, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Watkins, a lady of good understanding, and sound and discreet judgment, who afterwards became a devoted, pious and faithful Christian woman. The day after the marriage they in company united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and commenced family devotion the same evening.

Mr. Holliday received license to preach in the year 1797 as a local preacher, in which relation he faithfully served the church until 1809, when at the session of the Western Conference he became an itinerant. His first appointment was the Danville Circuit, in Kentucky. The next year he was placed in charge of the Lexington Circuit with Eli Truitt and Caleb W. Cloud for his colleagues, where he remained until 1812.

During his occupancy of this charge, the cares and responsibilities of it rested almost entirely upon him ; as declining health compelled the retire- ment of Rev. Truitt, and Mr. Cloud was also unable to preach constantly. At this period the Lexington circuit embraced a large area of country. Its length extended from the Kentucky river on the south, to the Licking river on the north, embracing the counties of Woodford, Jassamine, Fayette, Scott and Bourbon, and all the southern and eastern parts of Harrison county in its boundaries. The number of its appointments were equally large ; there being twenty-eight in four weeks. These were filled in twenty-two days by preaching twice a day. Some idea may be gathered of the extent of the work, and the amount of labor performed when it is recollected that in the pioneer days of Methodism of this country, there were no railroads or modern conveniences for traveling. In fact, common roads were hardly known, and journeys of any length were made upon horseback. It will be readily seen that Mr. Holliday, to fill his appointments in the different parts of his large circuit, was compelled to spend the greater portion of his time in the saddle, while the nights were given to preaching to the people, and impressing upon them their first duty to their Maker and their Redeemer. It was in these solitary journeys through almost trackless forests, over hills, and through vales, that the pious and hardy circuit rider of the pioneer area of this country, held sweet and silent communion with nature, and nature's God.

In 1812 he was appointed to the Shelby circuit, and in 1813 to the Salt River district, where he remained for three years. In July, 1816, being bereaved of his pious and faithful wife, who left him with nine children, he was compelled to locate. In 1817 he was united in marriage the second time. He married Miss Elizabeth Spears, daughter of Jacob Spears, who was one of the first settlers in Lincoln county, Kentucky. She was born August 21st, 1787. Her father's mother was Christine Froman Spears, who was of French and German descent, and was a grand-daughter of Gen- eral Fry, who was an officer in the old French war, and distinguished him- self at the battle of Fort Duquesne, where Braddock was defeated.

The same year that he was married, he was readmitted into the Confer- ence, and appointed to the Cumberland district, in the Tennessee Conference, and in 1821 he was placed in charge of the Green River district, Kentucky Conference, on each of which, he remained for four years. The labors of Mr. Holliday in Kentucky, whether in charge of circuits or districts, were greatly blessed to the church. This was equally true of his labors on the

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History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 33

Author: Brink, McDonough & Co. Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages: 440

Author: Brink, McDonough & Co.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 440