History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 47

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

USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois > Part 47

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He has taken an active interest in public affairs, such as should engage the attention of every intelligent and enterprising citizen, but has had no active participation in politics. His time has been taken up in the manage- ment of his farm and his own business affairs; he has, nevertheless, always been a republican. He was a boy when the agitation first began in regard to the slavery question ; and when party lines came to be closely drawn on this subject, and the bitter fight ensued between slavery and free-soil principles, he had no hesitation in connecting himself with the republican party, whose principles he has supported from that day to the present. Personally Mr. Sanner belongs to that class of men who make a country rich and prospe- rous. He believes in carrying modern notions into the business of farming, and in taking advantage of every valuable improvement and invention. This progressive spirit, coupled with a wise economy and sound business judgment, produces men who become the most valuable citizens, who do the most toward the upbuilding and improving of a country, and who are fore- most in every enterprise intended to advance the material interests of the community. At the head of this sketch appear the portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Sanner. The reader will also observe a full-page illustration of their residence and farm, with the improvements which they expect to make within a short time.

GEORGE HARVEY.

MR. HARVEY's ancestors were residents of New England. Amos Har- vey, his grandfather, was captain of a vessel which was lost in a storm and never heard from. He left three daughters and three sons, the youngest of whom, Solomon Harvey, was the father of the subject of this biography. He was born near Boston, and in Connecticut married Mary Stearns. The family figures far back in the history of New England. Capt. John Stearns fought bravely in the revolutionary war. He purchased from the state of Connecticut fourteen hundred acres of land in the West- ern Reserve of Ohio, within the present limits of Medina county, and there settled his children. When Mr. Harvey's father and grandfather reached Cleveland in the year 1815, they found only three or four log houses. From Cleveland the pioneers cut their way through a dense forest twenty. one mile south. Mr. Harvey's mother, at that time, with one or two possible exceptions, was the only white woman from her home west to the Pacific ocean. Mr. Harvey was born in Medina county, March 23d, 1817, and was the first white male child born in the township where the family resided.

He was raised in Medina county ; attended the common schools, and the preparatory department connected with Hudson College in Cuyahoga coun- ty, Ohio. At twenty-one he entered on an active business career which gradually developed into unexpected proportions. He had secured a little capital, with which he opened a store in Loudonville, Richland county, Ohio, in 1837. A year afterwards, with a capital of a thousand dollars, he went to Cincinnati. He sold goods at various places in Indiana, and in 1841 established with Charles Woodruff in Cincinnati the auction house of Harvey & Woodruff. In 1842, at Indianapolis, he opened an auction and jobbing house in partnership with A. G. Morten, who afterward became his brother-in-law. March 15th, 1843, he married Tabitha A. Morten, daughter of Henry Morten. She was born in Cincinnati. Her maternal grandfather was Col. John Armstrong, a colonel in the revolutionary war, who settled at Columbia, near Cincinnati. He was a man of considerable wealth, and owned large amounts of land in Ohio and Kentucky. Her father, Henry Morten, died near Cincinnati in 1837.

In 1844 Mr. Harvey resumed at Cincinnati the old partnership of Har- vey & Woodruff. In 1848 he embarked in the jobbing business at St. Louis. In 1849, with Robert Stewart, he founded the auction and jobbing house of Harvey & Stewart. In 1851 this partnership was dissolved, and the firm of Harvey & Whedon, subsequently so well-known in St. Louis, was established. For sixteen years this firm transacted an auction and commission business amounting annually to eight hundred thousand or a million dollars. The war caused great activity in the auction and commis- sion business in St. Louis. The annual profits were from twelve to sixteen thousand dollars. Sales were held regularly three times a week, and each time the counters were cleared to start again with a fresh and complete stock. During the war Mr. Harvey and his partner embarked largely in outside operations. They bought cotton, and established a store at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, under government permission, paying five per cent. com-

mission for protection. Large quantities of goods were sold to the soldiers and residents between the lines. At the capture of Fort Pillow by Gen. Forrest, a complete stock of goods and a steamboat fell into the hands of the rebels, and at one stroke they lost 841,600.

His farm residence north of Bunker Hill was purchased in 1862, and his family have since resided there. The firm of Harvey & Whedon was dis- solved in 1868. Mr. Harvey was engaged in no active business till 1870, when the firm of Harvey & Tyler was established, and fitted up the old Centenary Methodist Church, at the corner of Fifth and Pine streets, St. Louis, for the general auction and commission business at an expense of ten thousand dollars. July 4th, 1871, Mr. Harvey suffered a stroke of paraly- sis in St. Louis. He was removed to Bunker Hill. After his recovery he found his eyesight somewhat impaired, and decided to altogether relinquish active business. His interest in the firm of Harvey & Tyler was sold to his former partner, E. H. Whedon. His children are Kate, the wife of Basil H. Dorsey ; May C., wife of S. Pepper, cashier of the Surveyor of Cus- toms' Office, St. Louis; and two sons, Charles M. and Willard B. Harvey. He has handled millions of dollars in money and property belonging to others, and to his credit it may be said that never an imputation of dishon- esty rested on his character, nor ever has he failed to render to every man his exact due. Nature gave him a strong physical constitution, which enabled him to undergo hardship and exposure with immunity, and his energy and business qualities fitted him to undertake enterprises of more than ordinary magnitude. At Bunker Hill he has been engaged in farming and the raising of fine horses. His stables contain some excellent stock. He is the owner of Nino, at one time considered the most promising horse in America, but who unfortunately was injured while traveling by rail from St. Louis to the East.

ROSS HOUCK,-(DECEASED).

Ross Houck who died in 1867, was one of the substantial farmers of Bunker Hill township. He was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, March 1st, 1804. His grandfather emigrated from Germany to America at an early date, and settled in Pennsylvania. Mr. Houck was raised in Hunt- ingdon county, and received an ordinary common-school and business edu- cation. When eighteen or nineteen years old he started west. He crossed the Allegheny mountains, and when he reached Zanesville, Ohio, had only twenty-five cents in his pocket. At Zanesville he learned the carpenter's trade and worked a couple of years. He was a young man of steady habits, and persevering and industrious disposition, and these qualities struck the attention of a gentleman who was engaged in selling books, who hired him as an agent. Mr. Houck for four years was in the employment of this gen- tleman, and then struck out in the business on his own account. His head- quarters were at Cincinnati, where his books were published. He traveled through all the southern and western states settled at that time, looking after his agents and delivering the books. He accumulated considerable money in this business. He came to Madison county in this state in 1828, and lived mostly there for several years. On the 3d of May, 1832, he mar- ried Lucinda Ann Gonterman. Mrs. Houck was born in Christian county, Kentucky, November 27th, 1811. Her grandfather was one of the earliest settlers of Kentucky, in which state her father, Jacob Gonterman, was born. Her mother, whose maiden name was Haunah Stark, was from New Jersey. Jacob Gonterman emigrated from Kentucky to Illinois in 1816, and settled four miles east of Edwardsville.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Houck, spent one year in Pennsyl- vania, and in 1834 went to farming on Smooth prairie, in Madison county. They moved to Upper Alton in 1840, and lived there till 1846, and then moved on the farm in Bunker Hill township, where Mr. Houck died, and where Mrs. Houck and other members of the family still reside. He had built on this place in 1845, a two-story brick house, which occupies a beauti- ful and commanding situation. Mr. Houck had a farm of three hundred acres, and eighty acres of timber. He also improved a section of valuable land three miles from Raymond in Montgomery county. He was a man of great industry and energy, of good business qualifications, and of a character for honesty and integrity beyond question. He was a democrat in politics. He died on the 26th of December, 1867. The seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Houck are all living. William R. the oldest son, is living near Ray- mond. Maria Ann, is the wife of George L. Williams, who is in the photo- graphic business at Edwardsville. Julia M. is the wife of James Rider of Nilwood. Hannah P. married Daniel Richards, and is living near Ray- mond in Montgomery county. James Houck lives on the old homestead. Ellen is the wife of Edward Dorsey of Montgomery county. Mary E. married Blair McCambridge, and is living at Witt, Illinois.

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

153

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E. W. HAYES, who has been practicing law at Bunker Hill since 1867, is a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and was born January 30th, 1837. His ancestors were Scotch-Irish. His great-grandfather, David Hayes, emigrated from the north of Ireland and settled in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, and from there, about the year 1790, removed to Franklin county. He had been a soldier in the war of the Revolution. He had six sons and two daughters, and of these Wilson Hayes was the grandfather of the subject of this biography. Wilson Hayes was the father of three sons and three daughters, the oldest of whom, David Hayes (Mr. Hayes' father) was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1811 ; in 1836 he married Nancy Colwell, who was a native of the adjoining county of Cumberland, and belonged to the same Scotch-Irish stock, which settled in Pennsylvania at an early period, and has contributed not a little to the development and growth of that great commonwealth. By this marriage there were eight children, six sons and two daughters; all grew to manhood and wo- manhood, and four are now residents of Macoupin and Madison counties, in this state. Edgar W. Hayes was the oldest of these children. His birth- place was the old house in Franklin county, to which his great-grandfather removed in 1790, and which has now been the home of the family for four generations.

After attending the ordinary common schools, he prepared for college at an academy at Shippensburg, and in the fall of 1855 entered the Sophomore class at Lafayette college, Easton, Pennsylvania. He graduated from this institution in the class of 1858. After his graduation he taught school in Franklin and Cumberland counties, Pennsylvania, and was so engaged at the time of the commencement of the war of the rebellion. In May, 1861, a few weeks after the first call for troops, he enlisted in company A, seventh

regiment, Pennsylvania volunteer reserves. He subsequently received his discharge from the service by reason of disability. His health was seriously impaired for many months. He afterward served for a short time in the state militia on the invasion of Pennsylvania by Lee. He had begun read- ing law soon after leaving college, and in 1863 he resumed his studies, which had been interrupted by his enlistment in the army and his subsequent ill health in the office of R. P. McClure, a leading lawyer of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. He was admitted as a member of the Cumberland county bar in August, 1865.

He had visited Ralls county, Missouri, in 1859 and 1860, and directly after his admission to the bar, he went to that part of Missouri where he opened a law office the latter part of the year 1865. A visit to a brother in Madison county, of this state, in April, 1867, was the occasion of his learn- ing of the advantages of Bunker Hill, at that time without a lawyer, as a place for the practice of the legal profession. He settled at once in Bunker Hill, where his promptness and fidelity to the interests of his clients and the ability and energy which he has displayed in the management of his profession- al business, have acquired for him a large and profitable practice. In politics he is a republican, and in religion a Presbyterian. In 1869 he varied the monotony of practice in the Macoupin county courts, by a visit to California on professional business, during which he met with an exciting adventure in the way of shipwreck. He was a passenger on the steamship "Golden City," which was wrecked on the Pacific coast, nine hundred miles south of San Fran- cisco. On his return from California he was, on the 13th of April, 1870, mar- ried to Margaret F. Heck, of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, with whom he has since lived and by whom he has three children, one son and two daughters.

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154

HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

THE MATTOON FAMILY

Is of Scotch origin, and was one of the earliest to settle at Amherst, Massa- chusetts. The name of Eleazer Mattoon appears among the founders of the Congregational Church at Amherst in 1739. His grandson, GENERAL EBENEZER MATTOON was a man of conspicuous ability. He was born at Amherst, August 19th, 1755. At the breaking out of the Revolu- tionary war, he was a student at Dartmouth College, and in another year would have graduated. The patriotic president gave the members of the junior class their diplomas, and Ebenezer Mattoon, then twenty years of age, entered the army. He was a lieutenant in Col. Wade's regiment, and afterward was promoted to major. He served with distinction under Gen. Gates at Saratoga, and in other battles. He was a delegate to the state con- vention held at Concord in 1776, though then, but twenty-one years old ; and to the Constitutional Conventions of 1779 and 1820. He was elected representative in the legislature in 1781 and 1794. He served in the State senate 1795-6; he was presidential elector in 1796, 1821 and 1833, and was representative in Congress 1801-3. For several years he was sheriff of the county of Hampshire, and for a long period Major General of the Massa- chusetts militia, and Adjutant General of the State, holding the latter posi- tions at the time of Shay's Rebellion. His name was prominently men- tioned in connection with the position of Governor of Massachusetts, when at the age of fifty-eight he became blind, a circumstance which terminated his distinguished public career. His other faculties, however, remained un- impaired till his death on the 11th of September, 1843, at the age of eighty- eight years. His portrait painted by the celebrated artist Trumbull, with whom he was on terms of intimate friendship, is now in possession of mem- bers of the family at Bunker Hill.

MAJOR EBENEZER MATTOON, son of General Mattoon, came to Illinois in 1846, and died at Bunker Hill in 1868. He was born at Amherst, Massa- chusetts, September 29th, 1781. He was raised in his native town, and on reaching manhood went to farming. He married Lucena Mayo, who was born in Orange, Franklin county, Massachusetts, May 16th, 1787. In 1846 he sold his farm in Massachusetts and emigrated to Illinois. He resided one year in Sangamon county, and in 1847 purchased a farm north of Bunker Hill, where he resided till his death on the 28th of July, 1868. He had held the rank of major on his father's staff, in the Massachusetts militia, and by this title he was always known. He held the office of sheriff of Hampshire county, Massachusetts, and several terms represented the town of Amherst, in the Massachusetts legislature. His health after coming to Illinois was not good, and he lived in quiet and retirement. His widow, Lucena Mayo Mattoon, died at Bunker Hill, February 23d, 1879, nearly ninety-two years of age.

Of the ten children of Major Mattoon, five reside in this state. Their names are as follows : Mrs. Fannie Parsons, now living in Smith county, Kansas ; Mrs. Maria Hutchinson, widow of Dr. Levi Hutchinson, of Bunker Hill ; Mrs. Emeline Sandford, widow of Ira Sandford, whose sons, S. N. and William M. Sandford, reside at Bunker Hill ; Ebenezer Mattoon and John Brooks Mattoon, of Bunker Hill; Mrs. Lucena Cowles, of Union- ville, Lake county, Ohio; Benjamin M. Mattoon, of Collinsville, Connecti- cut ; Mrs. Dorothea Vannevar, of Malden, Massachusetts ; Mrs. Eliza A. Orme, of Bond county, Illinois and Eleazer Mattoon, of Topeka, Kansas. A remarkable longevity has characterized the family, the representatives of each generation reaching an age considerably in excess of four-score years. Each generation has also been identified with the Congregational church. During the time of the old whig party, the members of the family were among its strong adherents, and since its dissolution the surviving descend- ants have been republicans. The family was honorably identified with the history of Massachusetts, from which state its members have emigrated to the west. From one branch of the family, the town of Mattoon, in this state, received its name.

JOHN A. PETTINGILL.

MR. PETTINGILL was born at Salisbury, New Hampshire, May 14, 1817. His great-grandfather, Andrew Pettingill, was born at Plaistow, New Hampshire, in 1742. He was in the Revolutionary war, and a lieutenant in the same company of which Israel Webster, the father of Daniel Webster, was captain. He was in the battle of Bennington, and about a week after that engagement returned home and died. His sword, which he carried at Bennington, is now in Mr. Pettingill's possession. Benjamin Pettingill, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Salisbury in April, 1770;

he married Hannah Greeley, a second cousin to Horace Greeley ; he was a man of superior natural business qualifications, and had gone to school in his boyhood days with Daniel Webster, who was also a native of Salisbury, He had sound judgment, and gave his children good opportunities for acqui- ring an education.

John A. Pettingill was the youngest of thirteen children, of whom only one beside himself is now living; a brother, Moses Pettingill, resides at Peoria. He was raised at Salisbury. He had good educational advantages. The district schools of his native town were thorough, and there was besides at Salisbury a large and flourishing academy, which he attended. He was also for two terms a student in a seminary at New Hampton, New Hamp- shire. He came to Illinois in the fall of 1837, when twenty years old. After visiting Bunker Hill, he went to Peoria, and was a clerk in the store of his brother till April, 1839, when he returned to Bunker Hill. In 1839 he began improving a farm one mile north of Bunker Hill-the first farm ever opened on the prairie north of the town. He was first married to Abby A. Johnson, a native of Medford, Massachusetts, who died October 11th, 1854. His second marriage was in October, 1855, to Miss Kate Small, who was born at Wyndham, Maine. In 1847 he quit farming, and opened a store at Bunker Hill, which he carried on till the spring of 1849. That was the spring succeeding the remarkable discoveries of gold in California, and in March he started for the new El Dorado, in one of the earliest com- panies, to cross the plains. He reached California October 1st, 1849, but only remained till July, 1850, when he returned by the way of the Isthmus and New York. During 1850 and 1851 he built his present residence in Bunker Hill, and started a nursery and green-house. He was among the first to embark in this business in the county, and to him is due much of the improvement and beauty of Bunker Hill and the surrounding country. Nearly nine-tenths of the trees now of mature growth in the town and vicinity were raised from the seed by Mr. Pettingill. He was first a whig in politics, and became a republican on the formation of that party. He has been a member of the Congregational church at Bunker Hill since its organization, and in many ways has been closely identified with the town Few have such accurate information concerning the early history of Bunker Hill, or have been at more pains to preserve the incidents of the early set- tling of this part of the county.

EDWARD H. DAVIS.

THE ancestors of Mr. Edward H. Davis came from Northumberland county, England, from which place three brothers of that name emi- grated to America. Ephraim Davis, his great-great-grandfather, was born in 1697, and in 1720 settled at Concord (then called Pencook), New Hamp- shire, of which he was one of the original proprietors. His grand- father, David Davis, was a fifer in the American army during the Revolu- tionary war. His father, Robert Davis, was quartermaster-general of New Hampshire in 1834, and was post-master at Concord from 1839 to 1845. Mr. Davis was born at Concord, New Hampshire, February 25th, 1821. His mother's name before marriage was Eliza Hall. In 1836, when sixteen years old, he went to Savannah, Ga., and learned the trade of a watchmaker in that city. In 1839 he returned to New Hampshire, and soon afterward came to St. Louis, where he had an uncle living. He found some difficulty in getting employment at his trade, and his acquaintance with Jolin Caven- der, in whose company he had come West, and who had laid out the town of Bunker Hill, induced him to come to that part of Macoupin county and go to farming. He arrived at Bunker Hill in November, 1839. October 5th, 1840, at the house of John Cavender, in St. Louis, he married Jane H. Cavender, daughter of Charles Cavender, who became a resident of Bunker Hill township in the spring of 1838.

In 1840 he bought land on Dry Fork, in the present Gillespie township, and after living there one year removed to Bunker Hill, in which part of the county he has since resided. Since 1852 he has lived on a tract of land adjoining the corporate limits of Bunker Hill. He is widely known through- out the county, and has filled a number of public positions. For seven years he acted as deputy-sheriff-two years under Sheriff Henry Tappan, one under Seymour B. Wilcox, and four under James T. Pennington. He was appointed post-master at Bunker Hill by James K. Polk in 1845, and re- signed after managing the office one year. Andrew Johnson appointed him post-master again in 1868, and he held the office until Grant's administra- tion. From 1862 to 1867 he was deputy county assessor.

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FARMERS CUSTOM MILLE!

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a second cousin to Horace Greeley; he vars tess qualifications, and had gone to school i 1 Webster, who was also a native of Salisbury, gave his children good opportunities for soyti-

youngest of thirteen children, of whom cair ving; a brother, Moses Pettingill, resides st lisbury. He had good educational sdrantags. ive town were thorough, and there was besides i-hing academy, which he attended. Hens n a seminary at New Hampton, New Hang in the fall of 1837, when twenty years old e went to Peoria, and was a clerk in the sar: , when he returned to Bunker Hill. In 183 ne mile north of Bunker Hill-the first fara rth of the town. He was first married to Abby ford, Massachusetts, who died October 11ch, was in October, 1855, to Miss Kate Small, who . In 1847 he quit farming, and opened : e carried on till the spring of 1849. Ths: remarkable discoveries of gold in California, ie new El Dorado, in one of the earliest cum- Ie reached California October 1st, 1849, but when he returned by the way of the Isthmus and 1851 he built his present residence in rsery and green-house. He was among the in the county, and to him is due much of f Bunker Hill and the surrounding country. es now of mature growth in the town and red by Mr. Pettingill. He was first a whig livan on the formation of that party. He gregational church at Bunker Hill since its 's has been closely identified with the tom nation concerning the early history of Bunker us to preserve the incidents of the early set- .

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History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 47

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

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