History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 49

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

USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois > Part 49

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BARR TOWNSHIP.

HIS township is located in the north-west part of the county, and is bounded on the north by Scottville, on the west by Greene county, on the south by Western Mound, and on the east by South Palmyra township. It has a very rich, clay soil, and in the western portion, along Taylor creek, is covered with a heavy growth of timber. The eastern and south-eastern part was at one time covered with oak and cotton-wood timber, much of which land has been changed into fine productive farms. In the northern portion it is mostly prairie land, except- ing the extreme north-west corner, which is rough and broken.

The entire township is well drained by Solomon's, Joe's, Taylor's and Watts' creeks and their tributaries. Joe's creek received its name from a circumstance concerning a bear killing, many years ago, by Joseph Elliott and Joseph Hodges.

First Settlements .- Mr. Joseph Elliott, a squatter, was the first white in- habitant of Barr township. He settled on section 21, in the year 1828. or '29, and built a log cabin and cultivated some land, which improvements he sold in 1830 to William Handlin.

. John Markham settled here in 1830; a Mr. Kennedy, Silas Drum, and the Wiggins in 1835. Benj. Barr and Hugh Barr-in honor of whom the township is named-James B. Steidley, Hampton Bates, John Barnett, John Parks, Adam James, William ,Taggert, Thomas Coddle, and Michael Bu- chanan were among the first settlers.

The First Marriage in the township was John Rummons to Mrs. Fanny Markham. The ceremony was performed by John Barnett, justice of the peace.

First Birth was Martha Ann Steidley, daughter of James B. and Rachel Steidley, February 9th, 1835.

First Death .- The first death occurring in the township was that of John Markham, in January, 1835.

The First Preacher was Jos. J. Gray, a Presbyterian, who held service in an old school-house on section 20.

Churches .- The first congregation was organized by Rev. James Corring- ton, a Methodist circuit preacher, of Carlinville.

The first church was built by the Methodist denomination on section 20, and was called the " Asbury Chapel." Charles Maxfield and wife, and Nathan Henderson and wife, were the first members, and were from the " Hermitage Society," in Greene county.

The following were the first who joined on probation :- Samuel Rees and wife, J. B. Steidley and wife, John Henderson and wife, David Henderson and wife, and William Taggert and wife.

There is also a Methodist church at Barr's Store, on section 9.

Schools .- The first school was taught in the summer of 1835 by Miss Elizabeth Ann Steidley, in a room of a private residence.

The first school-house was built of logs, on section 20, in 1836, and Mr. J. B. Steidley was the first who taught school in it.

Mills .- A steam flouring mill was erected in 1863 by Shane and Hender- son, and is at present operated by Moser and Tyler.

Mr. J. B. Handlin built a horse-power saw-mill at Barr's Store, which was the first in the township.

Barr's Store is a small hamlet, situated on section nine, and received its

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

name from the Barr family. It was laid out by James B. Steidley in 1865. Benjamin R. Barr kept a store at this point, and was also post-master at an early day. This was the first store in the township.

There are at present two general stores ; one kept by J. G. Young, and the other by J. H. Hinkle, who is also post-master.

There is a blacksmith shop owned by Fred. Ershig, and a shoe shop by George Webber. There are two physicians, Dr. J. W. Mason and Dr. J. G. Reed, which comprise the business men of the place.

The oldest settlers now living in the township are R. J. and J. L. Metcalf, who came from Kentucky to the county in 1835; J. W. Henderson, who settled here in 1833, and George O. Solomon, who came in 1834.

The first land entries are as follows :- John W. Stubbs, November 1st, 1827, 40 acres in section 26; Wm. Arnold, May 13th, 1829, 80 acres in section 5; Eli J. Butcher, May 13th, 1829, 84 acres in section 11.

The following statistics from the assessor's book, taken in 1879, will show the present assessed value of property :- Acres of improved lands 15,644, value $94,024 ; acres unimproved lands 7,794, value $18,128 ; total value of lands $112,152. Horses 680, value $11,079 ; cattle 1,470, value $10,317; mules 63, value $1,168; sheep 1,371, value $1,105; hogs 2,609, value $1,969 ; carriages and wagons 204, value $1,699 ; 138 watches and clocks, 71 sewing machines, 4 pianos, 10 organs. Total value of personal property, $37,772.

Below is a list of the township officers :

Supervisors .- John M. Bates, elected in 1871 ; Richard J. Metcalf, elected in 1872; Edward Henderson, elected in 1873 ; Richard J. Metcalf, elected in 1874; J. W. Henderson, elected in 1875; J. W. Dalby, elected in 1876 ; J. W. Dalby, elected in 1877, re-elected in 1878; Edwin Henderson, elected in 1879.

Town Clerks .- Hiram Drum, elected in 1871, and re-elected in 1872 and 1873; J. W. Dalby, elected in 1874, and re-elected in 1875 ; B. B. Olbert, elected in 1876; T. S. Fausler, elected in 1877; J. W. Olbert, elected in 1878 ; W. A. Fausler, elected in 1879.

Assessors .- Jesse H. Daily, elected in 1871; P. Robinson, elected in 1872, and re-elected in 1873; A. M. Solomon, elected in 1874; J. Gallo- way, elected in 1875; F. W. Crouch, elected in 1876, and re-elected in 1877 ; J. S. McCollom, elected in 1878, and re-elected in 1879.

Collector» .- Joseph L. King, elected in 1871; W. Fausler, elected in 1872; A. M. Solomon, elected in 1873; F. E. Wiggins, elected in 1874; A. M. Solomon, elected in 1875 ; J. H. Hinckle, elected in 1876, and re-elected in 1877, 1878, and 1879.

The following are the justices of the peace since township organization :- John W. Hettick and E. Fausler, elected in 1871; J. S. McCollom, elected 1872; A. M. Solomon, elected in 1873; G. W. Olbert, elected in 1874; J. S. McCollom, elected in 1876; H. Drum, and T. J. Teaney, elected in 1877; J. S. McCollom, elected in 1878.

Constables since township organization :- Wm. J. Dorman and Robert P. Patterson, elected in 1871 ; H. Drum, elected in 1872 ; J. S. Stotler and F. E. Wiggins, elected in 1873; J. Gartrell, elected in 1874 ; A. D. Hinch, elected in 1875 ; J. G. Young and J. Beard, elected in 1876 ; G. W. Cline and J. G. Young, elected in 1877.

Commissioners of Highways .- 1871, Jonas Ribble, A. J. Drum, Geo. A. Ballon ; 1872, Jonas Ribble ; 1873, J. M. Linder, George Solomon, George W. Barr ; 1874, Joseph Crum, Orin Gifford, George H. Dennis; 1875, J. W. Hettick ; 1876, G. Pitchford; 1877, R. P. Paterson ; 1878, John Holly ; 1879, Thomas J. Ladley.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

NATHANIEL A. NIGHBERT.

Mr. NIGHBERT is & Virginian by birth. He is of German and English descent. His grandfather emigrated from Germany to America before the Revolutionary war, and settled in Virginia, where he married a lady who was born in England. His father was born in Virginia, October 27th, 1789; in the year 1810 he married Nancy Albright, who was born in Virginia in May, 1795. Nathaniel A. Nighbert was the youngest of nine children by this marriage, and was born in Bottetourt county, Virginia, September 29th, 1827. The family moved from Virginia in 1834 to Claiborne county, East Tennessee, where they lived six years, and in the fall of 1840 came on to Illinois, settling in Scottville township. His mother had died on the 9th of June, 1831, when he was less than four years old. His father in Feb- ruary, 1832, married as his second wife Sarah Dorothy, but had no children by this second marriage. His father died in the fall of 1865.

His birth-place was a rough and rocky part of Virginia, and his boyhood days in East Tennessee were spent in Powell's Valley near the Cumberland mountains, a rough and broken country interspersed, however, with fertile and productive valleys. During the six years the family lived in Tennessee he acquired the greater part of his education attending a subscription school held in an old log school-house. The teacher was as old-fashioned as the building, and a hickory rod about four feet long seemed to be an indispen- sable adjunct to the successful running of the school, and was brought in frequent requisition. He was thirteen years old when he came to Macoupin county, and from that time on he went to school but little, but worked out by the month, and gave his wages to his father. In the spring of 1850 he went to California, paying the firm of Ballenger & Mitchell fifty dollars for the privilege of going along and assisting with a drove of cattle. He left

home on the 23d of March, drove the cattle across the plains, standing guard nights, and reached California August 10th. After a stay of five months in the mining regions, he started for home again, reaching Macoupin county in exactly a year from the time he set out. Though his experience at mining was short, he was more than ordinarily successful, and brought home about one thousand dollars, nearly all of which he made the last two months of his stay. September 11th, 1851, he married Margaret A. Crum, a native of Morgan county, and daughter of Gordon Crum, an old settler of Barr township.

The money he brought from California he invested in land, purchasing 110 acres in section 4, Barr township, at eleven dollars an acre. After farming on that section five years, he sold his land, and bought another farm in section 35, Scottville township, where he resided till 1874, when he moved to his present farm in Barr township. He owns 648 acres of land, eighty of which lies in Scottville township. He has had seven children : George Gordon, James David, Joseph W., Louie S., Ada B., and Erasmus M .; Ella, the fifth child, died when an infant.

In his politics Mr. Nighbert was a member of the old whig party, and cast his first vote for president for General Taylor in 1848. When the whig party went into a state of dissolution, he became a republican, and has since supported that party, though he has not been a strict party man, and has felt himself free in local elections to vote for the best man for the office. He has never followed anything but farming, and has been content to lead the quiet life of a private citizen. He has commanded the respect of every one who has known him for his personal honesty and integrity, and has been a liberal, enterprising and progressive citizen.

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STOCK FARM & RESIDENCE OF N. A. NIGHBERT, SEC. 10 Z 1

HARR IR.

MACDUPIN GO, TIL ( CONTAINING

6 648 ACRES

LINOIS.

, elected in 1871, and re-elected in 1872 sal 1854, and re-elected in 1875; B. B. Ofber, er, elected in 1877; J. W. Olbert, elected in 1 in 1879.

, elected in 1871; P. Robinson, elected in ; A. M. Solomon, elected in 1874; J. Gal Crouch, elected in 1876, and re-elected in 1 in 1878, and re-elected in 1879.

g, elected in 1871; W. Fausler, elected in in 1873; F. E. Wiggins, elected in 1874; L J. H. Hinckle, elected in 1876, and re-elected

«'s of the peace since township organization :- Fausler, elected in 1871; J. S. MeColon, on, elected in 1873; G. W. Olbert, elecal rted in 1876; H. Drum, and T. J. Tenney, om, elected in 1878.

organization :- Wm. J. Dorman and Robert H. Drum, elected in 1872; J. S. Stotle and 3; J. Gartrell, elected in 1874; A. D. Hinck, and J. Beard, elected in 1876; G. W. CTime 877.

.- 1871, Jonas Ribble, A. J. Drum, Goo. A 1873, J. M. Linder, George Solomon, George , Orin Gifford, George H. Dennis; 1875,1. ord; 1877, R. P. Paterson ; 1878, John Holy:

CHES.

ove the cattle across the plains, standing guard August 10th. After a stay of five months rd for home again, reaching Macoupin county : he set out. Though his experience st mining linarily successful, and brought home abecs 1 of which he made the last two months d' 1, he married Margaret A. Crum, s nstire df of Gordon Crum, an old settler of Barr

California he invested in land, purchasing wuship, at eleven dollars an scre. Aber urs, he sold his land, and bought another enship, where he resided till 1874, when he rr township. He owns 648 acres of Ised, : township. He has had seven children; seph W., Louie S., Ads B., and Erasusa ien an infant.

as a member of the old whig party, sod for General Taylor in 1848. When the issolution, he became a republican, sod bs h he has not been a strict party man, sod ions to vote for the best man for the office ut farming, and has been content to lesd He has commanded the respect of era! .rsonal honesty and integrity, and has been sive citizen.

RED COTSWOOL

THE RESIDENCE & WORKSHOPS OF W. J. SLAUGHTER,

MANUFACTURER OF WAGONS, BUGGIES & SULKY PLOWS & S

( REPAIRS PROMPTLY EXECUTED

W J. SLAUGHTER

COUNTY, ILL

GR HRE

STOCK FARM & RESIDENCE OF N. A. NIGHBERT, SEC. 10. BARR TP., MACOUPIN CO., ILL. ( CONTAINING 648 ACRES. ) .

SEC. 30. BARR TP, MACOUPIN

BLACKEMITH

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TENANT HOUSE.

WOODLAND HOME, FARM RES. OF RICHARD J. METCALF, SEC. 31, BARR TP, MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILL

TENANT HOUSE .

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

159

richard &. Metcalf

RICHARD J. METCALF,

ONE of the old settlers and leading citizens of Barr township, is a Ken- tuckian by birth. His great-grandfather emigrated from England to America. His grandfather, William Metcalf, was born in this country, and was living in North Carolina at the time of the revolutionary war. The home of the family in North Carolina was near Guilford Court House, and at the battle fought there during the revolution between the American and British armies the noise of the cannon could be plainly heard. William Metcalf was one of the early pioneers of Kentucky, emigrating there in the time of Daniel Boone, and taking part in the romantic adventures and inci- dents which marked the first settlement of that state. He was accustomed to relate that he was in the town of Frankfort (now the capital of the state) when he could walk over the site of the whole town on the logs which had been recently felled. His home at different times was in Franklin, Shelby, and Christian counties, and his death took place at the house of his son-in- law, in Hopkins county, Kentucky.

The name of Mr. Metcalf's father was also William Metcalf. He was born in North Carolina, December 24th, 1774, and was twelve years old when the family emigrated to Kentucky in 1786. He grew up to manhood among rough pioneer times, and had little chance for obtaining an educa- tion. He married Elizabeth Jones, who was born in Virginia on the 15th of January, 1780, and was a daughter of Richard Jones. The Jones family came from Virginia to Kentucky about the year 1786. Mr. Metcalf's father was a man of considerable enterprise and energy. When about twenty-one years of age, about the year 1795 or 1796, he visited Missouri, which territory then belonged to the government of Spain. His journey was made by horseback from Louisville to St. Louis by way of Vincennes, Indiana. There was no settlement between Louisville and Vincennes, nor

between Vincennes and St. Louis. At Vincennes he was obliged to swim the Wabash river; his horse swam so low, and had such difficulty in cross- ing the stream that, although unable to swim himself, he threw himself in the water, and holding fast to the horse's mane succeeded in gaining the opposite bank in safety. St. Louis was then a small village, inhabited only by a French population, who had little idea that the town would ever become the great metropolis to which it has since grown. He was unable to speak French ; there was not at that time an American in the town; and it may be imagined that he had some difficulty in holding communication with the inhabitants. He considered that the place would become a town of some importance, and surveyed and marked out lands west of St. Louis, in- tending to return and make a permanent settlement. These lands are now included in the city limits. He went back to Kentucky and never carried out his intention of making Missouri his home. After his marriage he lived in Christian and Hopkins counties, Kentucky and removed to Illinois in the spring of 1835 and settled in section thirty-one of Barr township, where he died November 28th, 1858. He had been a man of iron constitution, and was eighty-four years old at his death. He was very industrious and ener- getic ; a good farmer, and cautious and able in his business transactions. He began life with no capital, and by industry and good management accu- mulated a handsome competence. The twelve hundred acres of land of which he was the owner he divided among his children previous to his death. He was a member of the Baptist church, and universally esteemed as a man of reliability and integrity, a good neighbor and a useful citizen. Mr. Metcalf's mother died January 22d, 1852.

The birthplace of Richard Jones Metcalf was in Hopkins county, Ken- tucky. He was born August 1st, 1817, and was the next to the youngest of a family of nine children. The school-houses in which he went to school in

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

Kentucky in his boyhood days were built of logs, a crack along the sides of the building of more than ordinary magnitude letting in sufficient light to answer for a window; the fire-place occupied an entire end of the building ; the benches were made of poplar logs split open, with the flat side hewed, and the writing desk along the wall of the room was made in the same man- ner. After coming to this state he attended school two or three months at Fayette, in Greene county. He was between seventeen and eighteen when the family moved to Illinois. Two of his brothers-in-law had travelled over Illinois in the fall of 1834, and for advantages of location and cheapness of land determined on Macoupin county as the best place in which to settle. His father at first bought two hundred acres, and entered one hundred and sixty in section thirty-one in Barr township, and afterward bought additional land. Mr. Metcalf lived with his father till his marriage, which occurred September 6th, 1838. His wife was Miss Mary J. Buchanan, who was born within five miles of Paris, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1819. Her mother was Charlotte C. Burbage, who was born within ten miles of Snow Hill, on the eastern shore of Maryland, and came to Bourbon county, Ken- tucky, in 1817. Her grandfather on her father's side was John Buchanan, from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania ; he married a young woman belong- ing to a Quaker family in Pennsylvania, and moved to Virginia, and died there ; his second wife was a Miss Rector.

In the spring of 1839 Mr. Metcalf began farming for himself on the place which has since been his home. At that date there were but few settlements in Barr township; his post-office address was Carrollton, and he has now lived in that part of the county as long as almost any other resident. The house in which he now lives was partly built in 1836, and has been the home of himself and wife from the time they were married. Some additions have since been made to the original structure. An illustration of the resi- dence is shown on another page. He owns 460 acres of land, all of which lie in section thirty-one in Barr township, with the exception of forty acres in Greene county. Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf have had ten children : Josephine A., the eldest daughter, is the wife of L. M. Peebles, of Chesterfield ; Nar- cissa C. married E. A. Belknap, who is the owner of a dry goods store at Greenfield ; the next children, Livonia E. and James B. died when infants ; George B. is now carrying on a grocery and provision store at Greenfield ; John M. died in 1869 at the age of nineteen years ; Eleanora married A. C. Ellis, a farmer of Greene county ; Richard L. is farming in Barr township; Ebert K. is in partnership with George B. in the grocery and provision business at Greenfield ; Ralph, the youngest son, still resides at home.

In his politics, like his father before him, he was a member of the old whig party, and his first vote for President was cast for General Harrison in 1840. Although raised in a slave-holding state, he was opposed to the schemes of the Southern politicians for the extension of slavery into the territories, and when the whig party went to pieces, and the republican party was formed, he had no hesitation in joining the latter organization as the party of free- dom, intelligence, and good government, and has since been one of the lead- ing republicans of his part of the county. During his long residence in Barr township he has maintained the reputation of a liberal, enterprising and progressive citizen, and a man whose private character has been above re- proach or suspicion. His life has been spent as a farmer. His next older brother, John M. Metcalf, attended college at Princeton, Kentucky, and for a long number of years was a prominent physician at Waverly, in Morgan county. His father gave Mr. Metcalf an opportunity of going to college, but he preferred the pursuit of agriculture to a professional career. He has had no desire to fill public office or occupy political station, but in 1872 and again in 1874 was chosen a member of the Board of Supervisors from Barr township. From his experience during a brief visit to their hospitable home, the writer of this sketch can speak of Mrs. Metcalf as one of the model housekeepers of Macoupin county. Although burdened with as much domestic care as falls to the lot of most women, she has found time to gratify her tastes by devoting considerable attention to fancy work, in which, though self-taught, she excels; her handiwork has excited admiration at several fairs and exhibitions, where almost invariably it has been awarded a pre- mium.

ISAAC HAVEN

WAS born in Addison county,. Vermont, September 15th, 1801. His grand- father was a Scotchman, who settled in Massachusetts. His father, William Haven, was living in Massachusetts during the Revolutionary war, and was in the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, being among the first to enlist

in the American army. He married as his second wife Mrs. Lucy Shep- hard, whose maiden name was Chiles, and settled in Addison county, Ver- mont.

Isaac Haven was the youngest of four children. April, 1828, he married Mercy, daughter of Robert Young, a native of Addison county. From 1828 to 1843 he was farming in Vermont, and then emigrated to Illinois. A series of unfortunate circumstances had deprived him of his property, and he came to this state involved in debt. He rented a farm of William P. Burroughs, in Greene county, near Greenfield, and on settling down on this had only twenty cents in money, and if he had disposed of all his available property, would have lacked six hundred dollars of having enough to meet his obligations back in Vermont. He went to work with industry and energy to alter this state of affairs. He succeeded, and in 1849 he bought four hundred acres of land partly in Greene and partly in Macoupin county, on which there were no buildings, and of which only thirty or forty acres were under cultivation. This is part of his present farm. He paid every obligation, and increased his farm to 886 acres. His wife died August 17th, 1870. She was a woman of great energy, industrious and persevering, and part of the competence which Mr. Haven secured was due to her superior business management and attention to domestic and household affairs. Among her other accomplishments was the art of making an excellent quality of cheese, which commanded a ready sale from Jacksonville to St. Louis. Their children were four in number. William Haven, the present editor of the Greenfield Argus; Mary Jane, wife of James French of Greene county ; Robert B., now farming with his father; and Henry, who died in infancy in Ohio while the family were moving to Illinois.

Mr. Haven voted for Gen. Jackson for president in 1824; was afterward a whig, and on the formation of the republican party became a republican. Since 1868 he has been a member of the Methodist church. His natural constitution has been strong and robust; he has stood a great deal of labor and exposure; and with the exception of a few weeks in recent years he has never been confined to his bed by sickness. He is a man who has com- manded the respect of every one who has known him, and he has been a useful citizen. A page illustration of his farm and residence is shown else- where.

JAMES L. METCALF,

Who has lived in Barr township since 1835, was born in Hopkins county, Kentucky, May 31st, 1820. He was the youngest of a family of nine chil- dren of William Metcalf and Elizabeth Jones. The first fifteen years of his life were spent in Kentucky. His father emigrated with the family to Illi- nois in the spring of 1835, and settled on section 31 of township 11, range 9, on the same spot where now stands the residence of the subject of this sketch. A log house weather-boarded with clap boards had been previously built at this place by John Markham, one of the pioneer settlers of Barr township. This improvement was purchased, and his father and mother lived there till they died, the former in November, 1858, and the latter in January, 1852. Both are now buried in a private burying ground on Mr. Metcalf's farm. His father was a man of considerable industry and business ability, and became the owner of twelve hundred acres of land.

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History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 49

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

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