History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 38

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

USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois > Part 38

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JACOB L. PLAIN

WAS born in Muhlenburg county, Kentucky, on the 25th day of April, 1828. He comes from English ancestry on the paternal side, and French on the maternal. His father, David Plain, was a native of Maryland, and his mother, who was a Landis, was born in Virginia. David Plain emigra- ted to Morgan county, Illinois, in September, 1828, and remained there until 1831, when he removed to Macoupin county, and settled eight miles north-east of Carlinville, where he remained until his death in August, 1873. Mrs. Plain died in January, 1868. There were eight children born to Da- vid and Ann Plain, six of whom have survived their parents. The subject of our sketch spent his boyhood days at work upon the farm, and attended the country schools in the winter months. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, when he hired to a man in Sangamon county, to work upon a farm. In 1851 he commenced riding as deputy sheriff, under sheriff William M. Snow. He rode three years when he was elected sheriff. He served until 1856. In 1858 he was again elected, and contin- ued in office until the fall of 1860, and from that time until 1865, acted as deputy. In 1865 he was elected justice of the peace, and has held the office from that time to the present. In 1871 in connection with Horace Gwin, he compiled a set of indexes for Title Abstracts, and since that time has,

in addition to his other duties, been industriously engaged in making Ab- stract of Titles.

In April, 1878, he was elected Mayor of Carlinville, and discharged the duties of that office with credit to himself and to his friends. On the 13th of March, 1856, he was married to Miss Mary A. J. Dick, who is a native of Sangamon county, Illinois. In politics Mr. Plain is an unswerving demo- crat. He cast his first vote for Franklin Pierce in 1852, and has remained true and steadfast to the party of his first choice ever since.

In the pioneer days of Illinois, Mr. Plain had but few opportunities for receiving even a common school education, but being of an observing nature, and having a retentive mind, he, by hard work and persistent effort, has succeeded to the possession of knowledge that makes him the equal of those who make far greater pretensions. In the community where he has lived for a long number of years none are more respected for those qualities that make the man than Jacob L. Plain.

W. E. P. ANDERSON

Is a native of Macoupin county, Illinois. He was born May 31st, 1850. His father, Erasmus S. Anderson, was born in Christian county, Kentucky. He emigrated to Illinois in 1834, and settled in this county, where he en- gaged in farming and stock-raising. He married Mary E. Hogan, who was a native of Illinois. Both parents died from cholera in August, 1851. The subject of our sketch was the only child in the family. After the death of his parents he was taken into the family of his uncle, C. H. C. Anderson, with whom he remained until his twenty-third year. He attended the common schools until his seventeenth ycar, when he entered Wesleyan University at Bloomington, Illinois, where he remained two years, after which he spent one year in a private and select school in Philadelphia. After his return from Philadelphia he entered the law office of Judge Wil- liam R. Welch, of Carlinville, and read law. He had previously read law in the office of John Mayo Palmer, after his return from the university at Bloomington, but abandoned it for a time in order to receive a more thorough education. He was admitted to practice at the August term of the Circuit Court in 1871. He commenced the practice alone, and con- tinued until 1877, when he formed a law partnership with A. H. Bell, which still continues. On the 23d of October, 1873, he was united in marriage to Miss Nellie D. Hamilton. She is a native of McLean county, Illinois. This union has been blessed by the birth of two children, both boys. In politics Mr. Anderson is a Democrat. In 1874 and 1875 he was elected to the office of city attorney of Carlinville, and in 1877 was elected assistant supervisor of the township. In both offices he discharged his duties in a manner that gave entire satisfaction to his constituents. As an attorney he is safe and reliable. He is a close student, and consequently is well posted.

CAPTAIN GEORGE J. CASTLE

WAS born in Watertown, Conn., on the 22d of March, 1839. His father, John Castle, was a native of the same state, and was a machinist by trade. He died in 1852. He married Clara Welton, who is still living in New Haven, Conn. The subject of our sketch is the only child of the family. He came to Illinois at the age of fourteen years, arriving here in 1853. He worked upon a farm until the breaking out of the war, when he went east on a visit, and while there enlisted in company "D," 2d New York cavalry. The company was attached to McDowell's Corps, in the Army of the Poto- mac. He entered the service in 1861, and remained with the company until after Pope's defeat at the second battle of Bull's Run, after which he was detached and sent to New York City to recruit up the regiment. After that was filled he raised another regiment, which was known as the 13th New York Cavalry, and he was appointed captain. The regiment reported at Washington for duty, and from there was sent to Virginia, and was for the most part scouting, until the advance of Sheridan in the Shenandoah Val- ley, when the regiment supported the left flank. In June, 1865, he resigned and came west. He engaged in mercantile pursuits and other business until 1873, when he entered the livery, feed, and sale stable business, in which he is still engaged.

On the 8th of September, 1868, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Fishback, who is a native of Alabama, but was a resident of Macoupin county at the time of her marriage. Her father, William H. Fishback, was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, June 11th, 1813, and lived there until

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

1822. He was a tailor by trade, and continued in that business until ill- health compelled him to abandon it. In 1822 he removed from Kentucky to Huntsville, Alabama, where he remained until 1847, when he removed with his family to Macoupin county, Illinois, where he had previously been, and bought a farm eight miles south of Carlinville, on the old Alton road. On the 1st of October, 1839, he was united in marriage with Margaret E. Black, who died in 1853. In 1870 Mr. Fishback was elected sheriff of Macoupin county, when he removed to Carlinville. He was for years prominently identified with the agricultural interests of the county, and was an active member of the Board of Agriculture. He was eminently a self- made man. In early life he had no opportunities of obtaining an education in the school-room. He followed his trade by day and at night pored over books, and in this way succeeded in getting a good and useful education. Whatever he did, he did well. In 1861, at the breaking out of the war, he was one of the first to urge the most vigorous measures, and he made sacri- fices for the good of his country. He sent forth his two sons in the first regiment that was raised in the county. When the 122d regiment Illinois volunteers was organized, he was chosen colonel, but ill-health forced him to decline the honor. He was an honest, upright and conscientious man, and faithful officer, in whom the people placed implicit trust. He sleeps quietly beneath the sod of the valley. Peace be to his ashes. Honor to his memory. There has been born to George J., and Emma B. Castle two children, a boy and girl. In politics Mr. Castle is a republican. Both he and his estimable wife are members of the Episcopal Church. He is an active business man. At present he is president of the Board of Agriculture of Macoupin county, and also Mayor of the city of Carlinville.

BAILEY PEYTON McDANIEL,

WAS born in Smith county, Tennessee, May 12th, 1839. His father, William T. McDaniel, was a native of North Carolina. The family is of Scotch ancestry. The family emigrated from Tennessee to Illinois in 1846, and ettled four miles west of Carlinville, in this county; where the father en- gaged in farming. He remained there until 1850, when he came to Car- linville, and afterward removed to Gillespie, where he died in 1863. He married Elizabeth Smith, who was a native of Tennessee; eight children were born to them, two of whom have survived the parents, viz. : William M., who is a merchant in the village of Gillespie, and the subject of this sketch, who is the youngest in the family. He attended the common schools of Macoupin county, and received a fair English education. The death of his mother, occurring as it did, when he was yet young, and his father not being in affluent circumstances, he was compelled at an early age to go out into the world and provide for his own support. During the late war he en- listed in August, 1862, in company " A." 97th regiment, Illinois Volunteers, Col. Rutherford commanding. The regiment was attached to the 16th army corps, under command of A. J. Smith. After the capture of Vicksburg he was on detached service in the office of the Provost Marshal, in the above named place, where he remained for thirteen months, or until August, 1864, when he was ordered back to his regiment. He remained with the regiment but a few days when he was ordered to report at Natchez, where he was de- tailed as Quartermaster, in which position he remained five months. He remained in the service until October, 1865, when he was honorably dis- charged. He returned to Gillespie, and engaged in the grain and stock business, in which he remained until 1876, when he removed to Carlinville and accepted the office of deputy, under Sheriff Heaton, and remained with him until December, 1878.

He was married January 14th, 1869, to Miss Mary K. Bartlett, who is a native of New Hampshire, but was a resident of Macoupin county at the time of her marriage. Five children have been born to them ; two of whom are living. In politics he is a democrat, and cast his first vote for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. In 1878 he was a candidate before the democratic nominating convention for the office of sheriff, but was defeated by one vote. He is a member of the order of Free Masonry and Knights of Honor. He is in every way worthy of all confidence.

PETER HIENZ,

WAS born in the Province of Bavaria, Germany, on the 27th of December, 1826. He is the youngest in s family of five children, three of whom were boys and two girls. In his youth, he obtained a good education in the

schools of his native country. He was at an early age apprenticed to the cabinet-making trade, at which he remained until the fall of 1852. In 1848 he became involved with Schurz, Hecker and other German patriots, in the insurrection and revolution, which had for its object the overthrow of the then existing tyrannical form of government, and the establishment of a re- public. The attempt, as is well-known, was unsuccessful. He was arrested and placed in prison, where he remained fourteen days. As soon as he received his liberty he determined to quit the country. He made all the necessary arrangements, and took his departure for America, and landed in New Orleans in December of 1852. He left New Orleans and came up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, and from there, came direct to Chesterfield, in this county. While there, he worked upon a farm and saw mill, and in 1853 came to Carlinville, and commenced the carpenter trade, and worked at the bench for one year, at the end of which time he became a contractor and builder. He continued in the latter business until 1861, when he went back to his original trade of cabinet-making, at which he has continued up to the present time. He was united in marriage to Miss Johana Knab- ner, who is also a native of Germany, but was a resident of Carlinville at the time of her marriage. There have been seven children born to them, five of whom are living. One daughter is married, and resides in Carlin- ville ; the rest are yet beneath the parental roof.

In politics he is a democrat, and cast his first vote for James Buchanan for president, in 1856, and has continued his allegiance to that political or- ganization ever since.

Both he and his estimable wife are members of the German Lutheran Church. It may here be said, that to Mr. H., is due, perhaps more than any other citizen of Carlinville, the credit of organizing and sustaining that Christian denomination and building the first church edifice for that organization in the city. The German Lutheran Church is indebted to him for wise counsel and substantial aid, given freely upon all occasions when required.

The subject of our sketch is a representative German citizen, thoroughly Americanized, and full of push and enterprise. As a man and citizen he is much respected, and has been frequently called by the people to occupy positions of trust and honor both in the city and county. He has repre- sented his ward in the City Council five or six times, and has been city col- lector, coroner of the county, and in 1876 was elected to the honorable po- sition of Mayor of the City of Carlinville. All of these positions he has filled with credit to himself, that justitied the wisdom of those who elected him.

ALFRED S. MAYFIELD (DECEASED),

BORN the 2d of July, 1829, in Jackson county, Alabama, was the eldest of a family of seven children of Manning and Martha (Smith) Mayfield, his wife. At a very early date Manning Mayfield with his family emigrated to Illinois, and settled in Morgan county. It was here that our subject received his early education, and continued to live with his parents until grown to manhood.

Mr. Mayfield came to Macoupin county quite early in its settlement, and located at Girard, where he erected the first store-house, and was the first merchant doing business in that village. As a business man he was always successful, honest, energetic, and popular, and won many friends and admirers.

He was married August 3d, 1854, to Miss Louan Davis, the daughter of Elijah and Catherine Davis. Here it is proper to mention that Mr. Elijah Davis (deceased) was one of the old settlers of this county. He was a native of Virginia, and lived for a time in Kentucky, from where he came to this state. Mr. Davis was a man of ability, energy, and integrity, and during his lifetime was one of the prominent and substantial men of the locality in which he lived. He died on his farm, in Shaw's Point township.

Mr. and Mrs. Mayfield have had born to them six children, three boys and three girls, one son deceased. All the children reside in Carlinville at home, excepting Roy, who is an accomplished young man, now practicing law in Topeka, Kansas.

In 1860 Alfred S. Mayfield received the nomination and was elected to the office of circuit clerk of Macoupin county. His courteous manner and official capacity were such as to re-elect him in 1864 by an increased majority. Mr. Mayfield was a member of the Masonic and Odd-Fellows Lodges. Politically he was an ardent and uncompromising democrat.

During the last year or two of his life, Mr. Mayfield was for the most.

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"THORNDALE" THE STOCK FARM OF JAMES B. WILSON, ONE MILE NORTH WEST OF CARLINVILLE, ILL.

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

part of his time unable to attend to the duties of his office, failing health rendering it impossible to do so, and the ravages of consumption ended his days the 25th of February, 1868, in the thirty-ninth year of his age.

Appropriate resolutions were passed at the time of his death by the mem- bers of the bar and circuit court.

ABIEL M. BARKER

WAS born in Monroe county, Illinois, May 3d, 1840. His father, Asa M. Barker, was a native of the state of Vermont, and came to Illinois in 1820. He married Cynthia De Val. She was of German and French ancestry, and was a native of Ohio. She came to Illinois while the state was yet under territorial government, and was married while a resident of Monroe county. The father died in Edwardsville, Madison county, May 11th, 1848. The mother died January 6th, 1874, at the residence of the subject of this sketch. He is the eighth child in a family of nine children, three of whom have survived the parents.

He attended the common schools until his thirteenth year. Not being of a robust constitution, he concluded to adopt the printer's trade as the business of his life, and at the age of thirteen years entered the office of the Monroe Adrocate, and served an apprenticeship of three years. He then worked in the Telegraph office in Alton, and in the winter of 1855- 56 came to Carlinville and worked in the office of the Spectator. He re- mained there one year, and then entered the office of the Carlinrille Free Democrat, where he continued until 1859, after which he tried farming, and continued so occupied until the breaking out of the war.

In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company "C," 32d Regiment Illinois Volunteers, commanded by Col. John Logan. He was elected sergeant of the company. The regiment rendezvoused at Camp Butler, and from there was ordered to Bird's Point, Mo., and from there to Pittsburg Landing, where the regiment was brigaded and attached to the Fourth Division, Gen. S. A. Hurlburt commanding. The regiment received its first baptism of fire at Pittsburg Landing, and afterwards participated in the battles of Shiloh, siege of Corinth, Metamora, Hatchie creek, siege of Vicksburg, second siege of Jackson, Kenesaw, and siege of Atlanta, and went with Sherman on his famous march to the sea. In the winter of 1864 he re-enlisted while de- tached from the regiment on recruiting service; he rejoined the regiment in 1864 at Huntsville, Ala., and was mustered out September 25th, 1865, having been in the service four years and one month. He was with the regiment the entire time, except when on detached service.

After his return home he entered the Democrat office, where he remained until he organized and started the Virden News, which publication he con- tinued for three years. He then returned to the Democrat again, and has remained there in the capacity of foreman ever since.

On the 12th of October, 1859, he married Miss Harriet C. Otwell, a native of Carlinville, Illinois. Her father, Rev. S. M. Otwell, was a native of Georgia. Six children have been born to them, three boys and three girls. All are yet beneath the parental roof.

In politics Mr. Barker is a strong adherent of the republican party. He cast his first vote for Lincoln. As will be seen by the foregoing brief sketch the greater part of Mr. Barker's life has been spent in the printing office. As a man and a citizen his life has been quiet and above reproach.

SAMUEL PITMAN

WAS born in the state of New Jersey, February 9th, 1829. The Pitman family are of English descent on the paternal side. Samuel Pitman, the father, was a weaver by trade, but he subsequently abandoned the trade, and took up farming. He came west and settled in Jersey county, Illinois, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1854. The subject of our sketch spent his boyhood days at work, cultivating the paternal acres and attending the country schools in the winter season. When he was about fifteen years of age he commenced the trade of blacksmithing, at which he continued until 1849, after which he clerked in a store until November, 1851, when he entered the law office of John M. Palmer, and read law, and in December of 1854 was admitted to the practice. After his admission he formed a law partnership with Palmer, which continued until 1864. In 1865 he quit the practice, and did not resume it again until 1870, when he formed a law-partnership with John Mayo Palmer, which continued until 1872, and since that time he has practiced alone. He has no specialities in the practice of his profession. He is regarded by his professional brethren as being well-read in the law, and untiring in the interest of his clients. In politics he is a republican, but cast his first vote as a democrat in 1852 for Franklin Pierce, for president, but at the formation of the republican party in 1856 he joined that political organization, and voted for John C. Fremont, and since that time has been an active and influential member of the party, who gave freedom to all mankind who came under, and acknow- ledged allegiance to the flag of our country. He is not a partisan in the strict sense of the word, only so far as to exercise his right of suffrage. As a man, he is a free, open-hearted gentleman.

MARTIN L. KEPLINGER,

WAS born in Morgan county, Illinois, January 25th, 1847. Samuel Keplin- ger his father, was a native of East Tennessee. The family is of German ancestry, and first settled in Maryland. Mr. Keplinger was a blacksmith, but subsequently abandoned the trade and engaged in farming. He with his father's family emigrated to Illinois in 1828, and settled in Morgan county, where he has remained up to the present. He married Permelia Green, daughter of Rev. John Green, one of the earliest settlers of Morgan county. The subject of our sketch is the seventh in a family of four girls and three boys. He remained at home until 1865, when he entered the Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, and graduated from that in- stitution in 1869. After his graduation he taught school and worked upon the farm until 1872, when he entered the law office of General John I. Rinaker, of Carlinville and read law, and at the January term 1872 of the Supreme Court for the Central Grand Division, was admitted to the practice. He then formed a law partnership with Gen. Rinaker, which con- tinued until January 1st, 1879. He then formed a partnership with W. H. Steward, which continued to the present. He in connection with Mr. Steward, became proprietors in December, 1878, of the Macoupin county Abstract Titles. He is republican in politics, and cast his first vote for U. S. Grant, in 1868. He is a member of the M. E. Church and superin- tendent of the Sabbath-school. He is also Librarian of the public library. In the practice of law, Mr. Keplinger has no specialities but prefers, and is better adapted by years of study, for the probate practice and the examina- tion of title in real estate. He is a careful, painstaking lawyer.

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STAUNTON TOWNSHIP.

HIS township is situated in the extreme south-east corner of the county, and is bounded on the north by Cahokia township, on the west by Dorchester, on the south by Madison county and on the east by Montgomery county.

The township of Staunton is for the most part rolling prairie, and is well adapted for all kinds of agriculture. There are embraced within its borders a large number of finely cultivated and well improved farms. It is well drained by several creeks, the principal one being the Cahokia and its tribu- taries, which enter the township in the north part of section five and flows south-westerly-passing out on the west of section nineteen.

There are belts of fine timber bordering on all the streams embracing among the varieties the different kinds of oaks, ash, sugar maple, walnut and hickory.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

In the year 1817, John Wood, a blacksmith and mill-wright, came from Virginia and settled on the south-east half of Section 36, Town 7 North, Range 6 West, who was beyond a doubt the first settler in Staunton town- ship. The same year (1817) Richard Wilhelm and Cennith Seymore, na- tives of Pennsylvania, came from Alabama and settled on section 24. Tal- amachus Camp, a native of Georgia, came from Alabama and located on Sec. 19, in the spring of 1819, and in November of the same year John D. and Richard Chapman, natives of North Carolina, migrated from Tennessee ; the former settling on Sec. 18, and the latter on Sec. 24. The following year came Jesse Chapman, from North Carolina, settling on Sec. 17, James B. Cowell, from Tennessee, settling on Sec. 30, and Lewis Cormack, and William Cormack, both settling in the same neighborhood. In 1821, Rod- ger Snell, a native of North Carolina, came from Tennessee, and settled on Sec. 31, and from this date immigration began to steadily increase, and during the next seven years quite au addition was made to the settlement by emigrants from North and South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and a few from Pennsylvania.

The first minister who preached in the township, was Parham Randle, of the Methodist denomination, at the residence of Richard Chapman, in the autumn of 1820. James Lemon, a Baptist, preached in the fall of 1821, at the residence of Talamachus Camp. The first church was built and dedica- ted in 1828. This was to be used by all denominations, and for school pur- poses and also as a public hall. It stood on the ground now used as a cem- etery in the town of Staunton.

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History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 38

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

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