History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 55

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

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He came back again to Illinois in the year 1834, and purchased the farm in section seventeen, of the present Brighton township, on which he resided till his death. His first marriage took place on the 30th of November, 1837, to Charlotte Towne, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Towne. The Towne family were early residents of Hopkinton, near Concord, New Hampshire, and had lived in New England for many generations. In the old Towne mansion at Hopkinton, a massive and solid structure, the marks of bullets may yet be seen, which were made while a company of soldiers were quartered in the house during the Revolutionary war. Charlotte Towne was born August 4th, 1802. She came with her brother, Rodney Towne, to Woodburn, in this county, in 1833. The land which Mr. Hilliard purchased had been entered by Stephen Griggs, but was unimproved. On obtaining possession he built a house, and vigorously began the work of putting the land under cultivation. He gradually suc- ceeded in developing it into a fine and valuable farm, and purchased addi- tional land, so that at the time of his death he was the owner of 425 acres. His first wife died August 8, 1845. In 1846 he married Mrs. Harriet Towne, widow of Joseph Boutwell Towne, brother to his first wife. She lived till

October, 1872. His third wife, whom he married in 1873, was Mrs. A. S. Everett.

His natural powers of mind were of a superior order ; and he was also gifted with unusual energy and excellent business capacity. His education at school was supplemented by careful reading, and his opinions on agricul- tural and other subjects were of more than ordinary value. He possessed, in addition, a large degree of enterprise, and beside carrying on general farming embarked at an early date in the business of growing fruit, in which he was a pioneer in Macoupin county. As early as 1845 he began sending peaches to St. Louis daily by the morning boat from Alton. At that time this was considered a bold and unusual undertaking, but it was carried out so as to be remunerative to Mr. Hilliard. In later years he quit the peach- growing business, and directed his attention to the growing of early apples and the making of cider and vinegar. To the production of an excellent quality of vinegar and cider he gave special attention during the last twenty years of his life, and succeeded so well that for a number of consecutive years he was awarded premiums at the state and other fairs, where these products came in competition with those of other makers. These articles have not suffered in quality since his death, and are still made in large quantities by his son, George W. Hilliard. He took an active interest in every movement for the promotion of agriculture and horticulture. He was the first president of the Brighton township Farmers' Club, organized in January, 1872, and for many years was a leading member of the Alton Hor- ticultural Society. About fifteen years previous to his death be began con- tributing to different journals, and several articles from his pen appeared in the New York Tribune, the Prairie Farmer, and Colman's Rural World on "Fruit Growing, Hedging," and other similar subjects. His constitution was strong and vigorous, and he enjoyed good health through life till within five or six years of his death. His personal characteristics may well be judged from what has already been written in this sketch. He was public- spirited ; always ready to assist every undertaking which in his opinion would benefit the community at large; charitable and benevolent; and his death was lamented by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He was first a whig in politics, and became a republican on the formation of that partv. He had two children by his first marriage, both sons, one of whom died when four years old ; the other is George W. Hilliard, now one of the large and enterprising farmers of Brighton township. He was born Novem- ber 1st, 1840; was married April 13, 1864, to Celia Adelaide Chase, daugh- ter of Taylor G. Chase, a sketch of whose history appears elsewhere. He lives on the old homestead farm; is the owner of 600 acres of land, and largely carries on the same specialties in agriculture and fruit growing in which his father was interested.

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BREWER MARTIN.

MR. MARTIN, who is now farming and carrying on the dairy business at Brighton, was born in Logan county, Kentucky, August 7, 1821. His grandfather was a Virginian and a soldier in the revolutionary war. His father, John Martin, was one of the pioneer settlers of Coles county, Illinois; he went from Illinois to Kentucky and married, as his second wife, Miss Holly Woods, who became Mr. Martin's mother. He lived in Logan county, Kentucky, till 1828, and then emigrated to Greene county, Illinois, and settled six miles east of Whitehall. He was one of the earliest settlers in that part of the state, and for a considerable time there were only two other settlements in that vicinity. There was only one house in Jerseyville at the time, and the country all the way south to Scarritt's prairie was wild and unsettled. John Martin, his father, died in the same neighborhood where he settled. The subject of this sketch was raised there, and attended the first schools which were ever started in that part of Greene county. He was married March 16, 1843, to Mrs. Martha Henderson, whose maiden name was Peter, a daughter of John Peter. She was born in Kentucky, and emigrated with her father to Illinois, and settled in Scarritt's prairie, in Madison county, in 1829. Mr Martin was farming on Lawton's prairie east of Whitehall till 1854, and then moved to section twenty, Brighton township. For the last fifteen years he has been extensively engaged in the dairy business. . Both his children are deceased. Mary Frances died at the age of seven. Holly Jane married Jacob G. Stahl and died in 1874, when twenty-eight years old. He was an old line whig in the days of the whig and democratic parties, and in 1844 voted for Henry Clay for President. . He has been a republican since the formation of that party. Mr. Martin is now one of the older settlers of Illinois, living in Macoupin county.

ASA POTTER.

MR. POTTER, the post-master and attorney of Brighton, is a native of the state of New York, and was born at West Niles, in Cayuga county, June 8th, 1829. His ancestors were residents of Massachusetts at an early period. His grandfather. Joseph Potter, was born in Massachusetts, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, after the close of which the family moved to the state of New York. His father, Z. Potter, was also born in Massachusetts, and was a boy when he went to New York. He married Nancy Davis, who was a native of the same state as her husband. Asa Potter was the fourth of a family of eight children, five of whom are now living. When quite young his father moved to Wyoming county, where the subject of this sketch was principally raised. His education was obtained mostly at the Aurora academy and the Springville academy, both in Erie county, New York. The first business in which he engaged was that of civil engineer ; he was employed for three years in assisting to lay out the Ro- chester and Genesee Valley railroad. In 1857 he left New York, and after visiting Michigan and Wisconsin he came to Brighton, in the fall of that year took charge of the Brighton school as principal. He had previously, while living in New York, been engaged several winters in teaching. With the exception of eighteen months, during which time he lived at Carrollton, he has since resided in Brighton. He was admitted to the bar in 1862, and has since been practicing his profession. His wife, whom he married in July, 1864, was formerly Miss Martha Palmer, daughter of James Palmer. Since 1872 he has been post-master at Brighton. In politics he has always been a republican, and cast his first vote for president in New York, at the time of the Fremont and Buchanan campaign of 1856.

JOHN ANDREWS.

WITH one exception Mr. Andrews is now the oldest settler of Brighton township. He was born in Sussex county, Virginia, January 30th, 1815. His grandfather, John Andrews, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father, Joseph Andrews, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and married Susan Ellis, whose grandfather had emigrated to Virginia from Ireland; her father, John Ellis, was also a Revolutionary soldier. In 1817, when Mr. Andrews was in his third year, the family moved to Todd county, Kentucky, and lived there till 1830, and then emigrated to Illinois, and settled on the north-east corner of section six of Brighton township. His father entered nine hundred and sixty acres of land, part of it in Jersey county. Mr. Andrews married Martha A. Miles, daughter of Alexander Miles, July 18th, 1837. She was a native of Logan county, Kentucky.

From the time of his marriage, with the exception of five years, when, on account of ill-health, he leased out his farm and moved to the adjoining sec- tion, he has resided on his present farm. He owns four hundred acres of land. He has had five children, viz .: William P., who died in 1856 at the age of eighteen ; Eliza J., wife of Thomas H. Simmons ; Hobart M., who was in the army during the war and died from diseases contracted in the service ; Martha Ann, who died when two years old ; and John E., who is living on the farm. Hobart M., the oldest son, enlisted in 1862 in the 122d Illinois regiment, the history of which is well-known to the people of Ma- coupin county. He was in several battles in Mississippi and in the last bat- tle at Nashville; was taken sick at Mobile and removed to the hospital at New Orleans ; was mustered out of service in August, 1865; was again taken sick from diseases resulting from exposure while in the service, and died in December. Mr. Andrews was originally a Whig, and voted for Hugh L. White of Tennessee, for President, in 1836. He was afterward an early member of the republican party. Both he and his wife have been members of the Methodist Church since 1834.

WILLIAM JONES.

SQUIRE JONES is now one of the old settlers of Brighton township. He first came to Macoupin county in 1833. His birthplace was Llandegley, in Wales, May 14th, 1817. His ancestors had been residents of Wales for several generations, and were among a wealthy and substantial class of farmers. His grandmother on his mother's side had been a French woman, and thus French and Welsh blood are mingled in his veins. His father was named Thomas Jones, and his mother's name before she was married was Ellen Vale.

The subject of this sketch was the oldest of seven children. He went to school in Wales till he was twelve years of age, and was then sent to London and apprenticed to the grocery business. He never had an opportunity to go to school afterwards, and for his acquirements in the way of an educa- tion he is indebted mostly to his own efforts and to the chances he had now and then of picking up knowledge. His father emigrated with the family to America in 1831, and Mrs. Jones came with him. His father first settled in Dutchess county, New York, and lived there two years on a farm. In 1833 they concluded to come farther West, and consequently came on to Illinois, arriving at Alton, June 10th, 1833. At this time the family were in very moderate circumstances, and had but a scanty portion of this world's goods. His father, indeed, had nearly as many children as dollars, for the children were six in number and the dollars only ten. The subject of this sketch from that time on lived but little at home. He was sixteen years old when he came to Illinois. He was the oldest child, and he was obliged to work, while his earnings went to the support of the family. While this life was by no means an easy one, and it deprived him of the usual oppor- tunities for getting an education, it had its advantages It gave him habits of industry and economy, and made him accustomed to hard labor. He first came to Macoupin county in 1833, and was variously employed in Macoupin and Jersey till 1849, and in the spring of that year went to Cali- fornia.

The remarkable discoveries of gold on the Pacific slope had been made only a short time previously, and a strong fever broke out among the enter- prising young men of Illinois and other states, each anxious to be on the ground as soon as possible and have a chance at the fabulous treasures of gold which, rumor stated, existed in the mining regions. Squire Jones caught this fever, as did many others in Macoupin county, and with H. C. Clark (now of Brighton) and William H. Loveland he fitted out a team and wagon, and .joined a company bound for California, composed of fifteen wagons and drawn by ox-teams. Elan Eldred, of Carrollton, was captain of this company. Mr. Loveland, one of his partners, afterward removed to Colarado, and was the founder of Golden City. Leaving Brighton on March 27th, 1849, they were fortunate in crossing the plains and mountains without serious accident and with little delay, and arrived at their destination on the 16th of August. This party was among the first from Illinois to reach the gold regions. He worked in the mines but little, but was mostly engaged in teaming in the Yuba and Nevada districts and in northern California. He was pecuniarily successful, and when he returned to Illinois in Novem- ber, 1850, he had accumulated about four thousand dollars. He decided to settle down and go to farming, and with this money purchased 160 acres of land in Brighton township, which comprises part of his present farm.

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BUSINESS BLOCK OF ASA POTTER. BRIGHTON, ILLINOIS.

"THE GILSON HOMESTEAD, THE PROPERTY OF THE GILSON HEIRS, BRIGHTON, ILL.

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IIISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

He is now known as one of the wealthiest farmers of Brighton township. He is the owner of more than one thousand acres of land, all of which lies in Brighton township, with the exception of about three hundred in Chester- field township. About five hundred acres he farms himself. His first mar- riage was on the 14th of May, 1851, to Eveline Dandridge, a native of the state of Alabama. Her death occurred in 1864. He was married again in 1870 to Margaret Force, who was born at Dresden, Muskingum county, " Ohio. He has four children, whose names in the order of their births are as follows : Thomas A. Jones, who is farming in Brighton township ; Susan Mary, Vale Force, and William. The last three are children by his second marriage. He has long been a member of the democratic party. His father was a whig, and when 'Squire Jones became old enough to vote he followed in the paternal footsteps closely enough to vote for Gen. Harrison in the famous log-cabin and hard-cider campaign of 1840. The next time he voted the democratic ticket, and has been a democrat from that day to the present.

He has not been ambitious to hold public office, and the cultivation of his farm and the management of his own private business interests have en- grossed his attention to the exclusion of any active participation in the field of politics. But for a number of years he filled the office of justice of the peace, and discharged its duties in an able, impartial, and satisfactory man- ner. Few men are now living in Brighton township who were residing in it when he first came to the county. He has lived to see the old order of things pass away and Macoupin county develop into a rich, prosperous, and progressive part of the state. In this progress and improvement he himself has taken a part. His farm, a couple of miles east of Brighton, is a valuable tract of land, under a good state of cultivation, and his farm residence is a handsome, convenient, and substantial structure .. He met with a serious accident in 1866; he was thrown from a load of hay, and his thigh was broken. Although he has never recovered entirely from this injury he still sticks closely to the farm.

CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP.

HIS township is situated on the west side of the county. It is bounded on the north by Western Mound, on the east by Polk, on the south by Shipman, and on the west by Jersey county. The Macoupin creek enters the township in section 25, and flows in a north-western direction and passes out on section six. Coop's creek empties into it near the centre of the township, and Sugar creek near the east line. These creeks, with their affluents, furnish an ample supply of water for stock purposes. The banks are covered with a heavy growth of forest trees. The surface in some parts is quite broken, while the prairies are undulating, with scattering patches of timber. The soil is from three to five feet in depth, and is extremely fertile. The land is in an excellent state of cultivation, and produces abundant crops of wheat, corn and the small grains and grass. It abounds in some of the most picturesque scenery in the county. A very beautiful and romantic landscape may be seen on the farm of Nicholas Challacombe.

The first settlement of this township dates back as far as 1827, and was mostly settled by English emigrants. During the years 1827-29 inclusive, .there came from Kentucky Abram Smith, Richard Smith, Bennett Tilly and George Nettles, and settled north of the creek, a short distance from the village of Chesterfield. In 1831, John, Henry, Samuel, Jesse, Jacob and Josiah Rhoads, six brothers, all having families, settled in the south- west portion known as Rhoads' Point, and the present site of Medora. About the same time John Loper and family settled on or near a mound in section 21, now the residence of Mr. Challacombe. Captain Thomas S. Gelder, who is now one of the leading farmers, resides on section 10, and came to the township with his father, John Gelder and family, in 1831. They are natives of Yorkshire, England.

Daniel and Thomas Morfoot and families, who were the first Englishmen that settled here; and Josiah Collins and family, John Redick and family, and Lewis Elliott, also came about the same time.

In the year 1833, the Rev. Gideon Blackburn, W. H. Carson, G. B. Car- son, John Carson and James Carson settled in the township. Rev. Gideon Blackburn located on the Macoupin, in section 21, near where the iron bridge now spans the creek. He was the founder of Blackburn Univer- sity at Carlinville. W. H. Carson and his brothers settled a little south of Rev. Blackburn, on section 32, where they still reside. They emigrated from Tennessee.

Jessie and Bird Peebles came from Kentucky, and settled here in 1834. Mr. P. B. Solomon, a native of Kentucky, settled in this county in 1827, and afterwards settled in this township; and is now postmaster in the village of Chesterfield.

Horace J. Loomis, a native of New York, became a resident of Chester-

field township in 1838, and is now engaged in farming and breeding Norman horses.

Wm. Duckles and wife, living on Section 11, were born in Yorkshire, England, and came here in 1834.

Nicholas Challacombe, a prominent farmer and stock raiser, residing on Section 21, is a native of Devonshire, England, and settled here in 1840. His wife came here from Tennessee in 1833.

J. R. Cundall, nativity Yorkshire, England, resides on Section 9, where he located in 1834.

John Richardson settled in this township in 1831. He is a native of Yorkshire, England, and now resides on Section 22.

John Armour, nativity Kentucky, now resides in this township. He settled in this county as early as 1828.

P. R. Gillespie, a very old settler, came from Georgia, and settled in this county in 1823, and still lives on a farm in Section 24.

J. H. Williams, a native of Herkimer county, New York, became a citi- zen of Macoupin county in 1837, and now resides at Summerville.

The first land entered in the township was eighty acres in Section 8, by Jacob Rhoads, July 6th, 1830.

Jesse Rhoads entered eighty acres in Section 28, September 8th, 1830. October 20th, 1830, Daniel Morfoot entered cighty acres in Section 9.

The first sermons were preached by Samuel Lair and Joseph Pierce, both Baptist ministers, and preached to the settlers north of the creek in about 1829. Jacob and John Rhoads, Baptists, preached about the same time at Rhoads' Point. Rev. Gideon Blackburn, a Presbyterian minister, preached in the settlements south of the creek in 1833-34.

In 1834 Rev. Gideon Blackburn organized the first church. It was also the first Presbyterian Church organized in this county. A house of wor- ship was built the same year on the creek, a little north of the Blackburn place, known as the "Spring Cove Church." It was a small building con- structed of poles set in the ground for the frame-work, and roofed and sided with clap-boards. The furniture consisted of puncheon benches. A little later the Baptist denomination built a log house, and furnished it in the same manner, at Rhoads' Point.

The first school was organized in the year 1834, at the "Spring Cove church." The first school-house was built in section 32, a short distance east of the present residence of W. H. Rhoads, in the year 1832. It was built of logs, with a dirt floor, and was fourteen feet square. The first teacher was a man by the name of Anderson.

Dr. Henry Rhoads was the first physician in the township. He settled at Rhoads' Point in 1831, as above stated. Dr. Coward located about 1833. In 1831 Peter Etter erected the first mill. It was located on section 6,

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

and was a small one horse cog-wheel mill, for grinding or cracking corn. In this mill Mr. Etter was afterwards brutally murdered, by one Sweeney, which was undoubtedly the first crime committed in the township. A corn-cracker, similar in construction to the one above described, was built on the Black- burn place in section 21, and also one at Rhoads' Point in section 31, by John Rhoads. A Mr. Marshall built a small mill in 1833.

In 1838, Horace Loomis, Sr., emigrating from New York, settled on a farm of about three hundred acres, two miles east of Chesterfield, and estab. lished a cheese manufactory, which proved to be a very profitable enterprise. At his death in 1851, there were one hundred and seventy cows on his farm, and he was manufacturing a large quantity of butter and cheese for Alton and St. Louis markets. Capt. Gelder introduced the first improved blooded stock in the year 1844-the Durham breed of cattle and he also introduced the imported English broad back hogs.

For finely improved and well cultivated farms this township ranks favora- bly with others in the county.

The following statistics are taken from the township assessor's book, for this year: Acres improved lands, 12,917, value 93,492 dols; acres un- improved lands, 9646, value 19,966 dols; total value of lands, 113,458; town lots 15,968 dols; horses 645, value 9138 dols; cattle 1251, value 8090 dols ; mules 61, value 1033 dols; sheep 1448, value 1260 dols; hogs 2227, value 1255 dols; carriages and wagons 250, value 2206 dols; watches and clocks 191, sewing machines 015, pianos 4, organs 32. Total value of personal property 45,372 dols.

Below we give a list of all the township officers since township organiza- tion :

Supervisors .- Nicholas Challacombe, elected in 1871, re-elected in 1872, re- elected in 1873; Amos Goodsell, elected in 1874, and by re-election has held the office since.

Town Clerks .- E. C. Hall, elected in 1871, and by re-election has held the office up to 1879.

Assessors .- W. M. Simpson, elected in 1871; Z. B. Lawson, elected in 1872; W. H. Rhoads, elected 1873; J. G. Harlan, elected in 1874; E. F. Corey, elected in 1875 and re- elected in 1876; H. J. Loomis, elected in 1877 : E. F. Corey, elected in 1878; H. J. Loomis, the present incumbent.

Collectors .- B. P. Brooks, elected in 1871 ; T. Towse, elected in 1872 and 1873; W. Towse, elected in 1874; J. F. Eastham, elected in 1875; W. Towse, elected in 1876; J. F. Eastham, elected in 1877; H. M. Peebles, elected in 1878; H. B. Warner, elected in 1879.

Justices of the Peace, since Township organization .- E. F. Corey, G. W. Smith, elected in 1871 ; G. W. Smith, E. F. Corey, elected in 1873; J. C. Peebles, J. H. Williams, elected in 1877.

Constables, since Township organization .- S. J. Newberry, C. H. Hanlan, elected in 1871; J. W. Armstrong, M. L. Stump, elected in 1873; Henry Lee, elected in 1874; A. Darrah, elected in 1875; J. Carter, F. B. Ritchie, elected in 1876; C. L. Eastham, F. Ketchum, elected in 1877; E. W. Har- lan, elected in 1871.

Commissioners of Highways .- 1871, Hugh L. Cramer, Josiah Armour, George Garrett; 1872, H. C. Stanton ; 1873, T. S. Gelder; 1874, W. H. Rhoads, Robert Carter, F. F. Walker; 1875, H. C. Stanton; 1876, Robert Carter; 1877, Leonard Ketchum ; 1878, W. H. Haycraft; 1879, Richard T. Creasser.

THE VILLAGE OF CHESTERFIELD

Is a handsome little town, situated in the north-east part of the township, on section 2. It was laid out by Jesse Peebles and Aaron Tilly, proprie- tors, in the year 1836.

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History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 55

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

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