USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois > Part 62
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Mr. Cavender moved on his present farm in Gillespie township, in 1855. He is a democrat in politics, and is known as one of the prosperous and
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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
substantial farmers of this part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Cavender have had eight children-John R. Cavender ; Frank W., who died at the age of two years and seven months ; Lucy E., wife of Stephen Grimes, of Chris- tian county ; Celestia Jane, who married Robert A. Huddleston, of Gillespie township ; Cornelia, deceased at the age of seven months; Ella M. ; Mary E., and Maggie J., who was three years old when she died.
CAPT. JAMES P. PEARSON
WAS born in Yorkshire, England, March 29th, 1816. His father, John Pearson, kept a toll gate and shoe shop, and died when the subject of this sketch was about five years old. His mother's name before marriage was Elizabeth Blankin ; she married as her second husband Matthew Inman, and in 1825 came to Clark county, O., where Capt. Pearson was principally raised. While his step-father was living he was obliged to work, and had little opportunity for attending school ; most of his education he obtained after he was married. After his step-father died his mother was left in comfortable circumstances and in 1834 came to Illinois. In November of that year they rented a farm at Dry Point, and settled on it the next February. For about a year and a half his mother kept a public house for the entertainment of tra- ve'ers at Dry Point. In 1837 Capt. Pearson was employed in carrying the mail between Alton and St. Louis, first on a coach running between the two places, and afterward on a packet on the Mississippi river. He was married October 27th, 1837, to Tabitha Gwin, a native of Alabama, and then went to farm- ing for himself in the western part of Gillespie township; in March, 1854, he moved to his present farm in sections three and ten in Gillespie town- ship.
Capt. Pearson was one of the soldiers of the Mexican War; he was mustered in Co. " A," First Illinois regiment, of which his uncle, William Weatherford, was lieutenant-colonel, at Alton, July 4th, 1846. From Alton his regiment went to New Orleans; thence to Matagorda bay in Texas ; was stationed a month at San Antonia de Bexar, and in the fall of 1846 moved into Mexico at Presidio. They were afterward stationed at several points in Northern Mexico for some months, and took part in the battle of Buena Vista in February, 1847. In that fight he was wounded, a ball carrying away a piece of bone from his ankle. They remained at Buena Vista till June, 1847, by which time the war had closed; he was mustered out at Ca- margo, on the Rio Grande, and reached home July 7th, 1847. This was not Capt. Pearson's first experience at soldiering ; he had enlisted when only a boy, in a company of volunteers which left Ohio to take part in the Black Hawk War ; on reaching Vincennes, Indiana, news reached them of the clo- sing of the war, and they returned home ; he also took part in the Mormon war at Nauvoo in Hancock county. His first wife died in February, 1848. He was married in the spring of 1849 to Mrs. William Little, formerly Miss Rebecca Gwin, sister to his first wife. Capt. Pearson has had six children : Elizabeth, who married Frank Johnson, and died in Missouri in Febru- ary, 1879; Elias, who died in 1855 at the age of eighteen ; Rebecca, now the wife of Edward Huddleston of Gillespie township; Martha Ann, who married Nelson Pope of Dorchester township; Mary, now Mrs. Robert Dru- ry, of Brushy Mound township; and James M. Pearson, the youngest son, who is farming in Brushy Mound township. In politics Capt. Pearson is a democrat, and voted first for Van Buren in 1836. He was first lieutenant of the company of volunteers raised in Ohio for service in the Black Hawk war; he was first elected drum-major, and then promoted to wagon-master in the Mexican war, and everybody familiarly know him as Captain. He had no capital with which to begin life, and now has a farm of 200 acres in Gillespie township, and owns 640 acres in Missouri, of which 400 are under cultivation. He is now one of the oldest citizens of Gillespie township.
DANIEL HUDDLESTON, (DECEASED).
DANIEL HUDDLESTON was one of the leading citizens of Gillespie town- ship, and his name fitly deserves a place in this work. His ancestors ivere from Virginia. His father, Abraham Huddleston, emigrated from Vir- ginia to Ohio, where Daniel Huddleston was born, on the 25th of October, 1816. When he was a small boy his father removed to the State of In- diana and lived there till the year 1832, and then emigrated to Illinois, settling in the edge of Dry Fork timber on section four of Gillespie town- ship. The country was then wild and unsettled, and few improvements had
been made in this part of the county. The subject of this biography was about sixteen years old when he came to the state. He was married on the 9th of December, 1838, to Rachel Huddleston. She was born near Rus- sellville, Putnam county, Indiana, February 21st, 1824. Her father was William Huddleston, a cousin to Abraham Huddleston. Her father moved from the neighborhood of Russellville, Indiana, to Gillespie township in the fall of 1830, and settled the place where James Pearson now lives. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was in the battle of New Orleans under Gen. Jackson. Before moving to Indiana he had lived in Shelby county, Kentucky.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Huddleston lived on section four till 1856, and then moved to the farm, where the family have since lived on sec- tions eleven and twelve, Gillespie township. Only fifty acres of this farm were at that time improved, and Mr. Huddleston went to work with con- siderable energy and industry, and succeeded in getting a fine farm under cultivation, and in 1860 erected a substantial and convenient dwelling. He was the owner of 525 acres of land, all lying in Gillespie township. His death occurred on the 22d of December, 1869, from congestion of the brain. He had been an active and enterprising man through life ; as a citizen and a neighbor stood well in the community in which he lived; and his death was lamented by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. In his politi- cal sympathies he had always been a Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Huddleston were the parents of thirteen children, of whom only five are now living. The names of those living are John Wesley Huddleston, who is carrying on the farm; Samuel Jasper, living in Gillespie township; Carrie, who mar- ried Adelbert James, and resides in Montgomery county ; Emma J., now the wife of Daniel W. Dugger, a farmer of Madison county; and Florence V., who is still living at home. Of the eight children who are dead, four (Henry, Maria, Susan and Nina, departed this life in infancy. Luther died November 2d, 1873, when seven years old. Mary Jane died April 6th, 1872, having reached the age of twenty years the preceding February. Preston was born July 1st, 1840, and died November 4th, 1869. Julia A. was born November 10th, 1845, and died September 3d, 1875. Three of these children were remarkable instances of rapid growth and development, and acquired physical proportions which made them somewhat celebrated. At the time of Luther's death, at the age of seven years, he weighed 184 pounds. Preston and Julia weighed on an average, after having grown up, 340 pounds each. Neither of their parents were persons of unusual size. For nine years before his death Preston was severely afflicted with the rheumatism. He had a good education, and while lying at home confined to his bed was a frequent and well-known contributor to several papers. These articles were written principally during the war on political subjects, he being an earnest republican.
ABRAM K. NETHERTON
WAS born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, May 10th, 1818. His grand- father, John Netherton, was a Virginian, who fought as a soldier through the whole of the Revolutionary war. He moved to Kentucky in 1790, when the Indians were still plentiful, and it was necessary to keep guards to protect the white settlers while cultivating their little patches of ground about the forts. His father, Abram Netherton, was born in Virginia, and was fifteen when he went with his father to Kentucky. He married as his second wife Amy Ashbaugh. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was in the battle of New Orleans. A. K. Netherton was raised in Kentucky. One of his neighbors, Henry Fishback, had improved a farm in Cahokia township, and then returned to Kentucky. Mr. Netherton came back with him to Illinois in 1840. In 1841 he came to Gillespie township. April 16th, 1844, he married Julia Ann Huddleston, daughter of William Hud- dleston. After his marriage he farmed : Brushy Mound and Caho- kia townships till 1853, and then settled on his present farm. He was originally a whig in politics, but has belonged to the republican party since its formation.
ARTER TAYLOR
WAS one of the oldest settlers of Gillespie township. He was born in the Greenville district of South Carolina, February 13th, 1813. His grand- father came to South Carolina from the north of Ireland, and died three years after reaching America. He had two sons, William and Richard, both of whom served seven years in the Revolutionary war. Richard was
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ALDERNEY DAIRY FARM & RESIDENCE OF J. M. WILSON, SECTION 23, SHIPMAN TP. MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILL.
FARM-RESIDENCE OF J. P. PEARSON , SEC. 3 , GILLESPIE TP., MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
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the father of General Zachary Taylor, elected in 1848 President of the United States. William was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born in Ireland, and was three years old when he came to South Carolina. In the war of the Revolution he was in several battles, among which was King's Mountain, and afterward served in a volunteer rifle company against the Chickasaw, Creek and Choctaw Indians, who made considerable trouble on the South Carolina border. He moved to the Cherokee country, in Georgia, and died there when nearly a hundred years old.
Arter Taylor was the youngest of sixteen children, and was raised in South Carolina. In the fall of 1831, he visited some relatives, on Duck river, in Tennessee, and from that place, in company with his brother, Dick Taylor, came on to Illinois, reaching Madison county in October, 1831. In the spring of 1832, he volunteered in the Black Hawk war, took part in the campaign of that summer, and returned to Madison county in the fall, and thence went back to South Carolina. In the spring of 1835, he returned to Illinois, in company with his nephew, Randall Clark. He staid at Bloom- ington from April to August, and then came to Gillespie township, where his sister, Nancy, mother of the wife of Giles M. Adams, was then living. He was farming in section twenty till 1837, and then moved to the place where he now lives. He was married February 13, 1836, to Sarah Ann Rose, who was born in the year 1814, near Frenchtown, Hunterdon county, New Jersey. He went to California in 1849 among the first emigrants to the Pacific Coast; was mining gold, and returned to Illinois in January, 1851.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have seven children living, five boys and two girls. He has always been a democrat in politics. He is now one of the old settlers of the county, and has seen many changes take place during the forty-four years he has lived in it.
T. WARREN FLOYD, (DECEASED).
DR. FLOYD, whose death occurred in 1876, began the practice of medicine at Gillespie in 1859. He was born in Todd county, Kentucky, June 5, 1833.
He was the youngest of ten children of John and Elizabeth (Johnson) Floyd. In the beginning of the year 1834, his father moved with the family to Bond county, Illinois, and settled on a farm midway between Greenville and Carlyle. When Dr. Floyd was about twelve years old, his father died. Obtaining his early education in ,the common schools he afterward attended Mckendree college, at Lebanon. He pursued his pre- paratory medical studies in the office of Dr. Drake, of Greenville, and subsequently graduated from the medical college at Chicago. In 1855, he began practice at Greenville, and in 1859 removed to Gillespie. September 20th, 1860, he married Anna E. Caudry, who was born at Lexington, Kentucky, September 17th, 1843, and who came to Cahokia township with her father, John L. Caudry, in 1859. Her father was born in Maryland, and her mother (Sarah Prather) in Louisiana.
Dr. Floyd secured a well merited reputation as a physician, and was highly esteemed, both for his professional skill and his many good qualities as a gentleman and a citizen. From the age of twenty-one he was an Odd Fellow, and filled several honorable positions in that order. At the time of his death, he was grand representative of the state. He was also a Mason, and served as master of the lodge at Gillespie. The order of Odd Fellows especially enlisted his interest and attachment, and he was active in ad- vancing its welfare. He was a republican in politics. At an early period in his life he had experienced religion, and was a member of the Methodist Church. He was also interested in the temperance cause, and endeavored to lend his influence to the promotion of every means calculated to advance the best interests of his fellow-men. For eight years previous to his death, he was superintendent of the Methodist Sunday-school at Gillespie, and was also leader of the choir. His death was occasioned by heart disease, January 25th, 1876.
For a number of years previous to his death, he had been post-master at Gillespie, which position has since been held by his widow. He was also the proprietor of a drug store at Gillespie. He had six children, three sons and three daughters; four are now living, of whom the oldest is a son, and the others daughters.
HONEY POINT TOWNSHIP.
HIS township is geographically known as town 9 N., R. 6 W. of 3d P. M. It is bounded on the north by Shaw's Point, east by Montgomery county, south by Cahokia, west by Brushy Mound township. The first land entries were made by Aaron Hammer August 19th, 1819, it being an eighty tract, in section 32. The second entry was made May 24th, 1831, by Hardin Hall, of eighty acres, in section 17. The third entry was May 26th, 1831, by Thomas Carr, who entered a quarter section in section 18.
As is the case in all places, the first settlers chose the timber, and as the population increased they gradually and slowly worked out into the prairie. Elijah Mitchell settled in the edge of the timber as early as 1832 ; Thomas D. Moore, Robert Scott and father Rucker came about 1833. Judge Olds, John Perkins, James Sinclair, M. J. W. Hart, James Mounce, and Thomas I. Williams were all early settlers.
Among the old settlers of the county now living in Honey Point township are J. W. York, who came in 1828; Peter Keplinger, who came with his parents from Tennessee in 1829, and subsequently moved to this township ; T. D. Moore came in 1834, and now lives on section 6; John McReynolds, who lives on section 36, was born in Brushy Mound township in 1836; W. N. Culp, another resident of the township, was born in the county in 1839; J. D. Sanders came in 1841, and James Hunt in 1849.
Among the leading farmers of the township may be mentioned the follow-
ing : James Wilson, Guy A. Snell, Peter Keplinger, J. W. York, Abraham Deck, John McReynolds, John Wilson, N. Carrico, and I. Chappell.
Near the centre of this township, on the banks of Honey creek, com- mences a grove about three-fourths of a mile wide, extending nearly three miles to the west, and surrounded on all sides by the prairie. It is said that during the Black Hawk war a company of soldiers, under Col. White- side, in marching from St. Louis to Springfield camped in the east end of the timber for the night. In the morning they had their attention attracted by a large number of bees, and following them they found a number of bee- trees filled with delicious honey, and from that circumstance it received the name of Honey Point, from which the township also was named.
At an early day, we are told, that the Point was a pretty hard place, not made so by those early settlers who came there to find a home, but by roughs, who would do anything rather than work for a living. For many years Honey Point has enjoyed the presence of good citizens, who are now amongst the most intelligent and enterprising in the county.
The first resident ministers were Elders Mitchell and Brown; but others occasionally came through to preach, among whom were Isaac Haycraft, J. B. Rhoads, old fathers Carr and Williams.
The first school was held in a building near what is at present known as the Honey Point timber, near the center of the township.
This township contains no villages nor post-offices. The village of Clyde
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is near its southern borders. Its business houses afford many conveniences for the neighborhood north of it.
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To give the present valuation of the property, we copy the following from the assessor's book of 1879: Acres improved lands, 20,340; value, $182,769; acres unimproved lands, 2,349; value, $6,289 ; total value of lands, $189,058. Horses, 583; value, $7,542; cattle, 1,100 ; value, $7,509; mules, 102; value, $1,623; sheep, 383; value, $413 ; hogs, 1,634; value, $1,556; carriages and wagons, 173; value, $1,233; 112 watches and clocks, 70 sewing machines, 3 pianos, 8 organs. Total value of personal property, 829,113.
OFFICERS SINCE ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIP.
Supervisors .- James W. York, elected in 1871 ; John Cromwell, elected in 1872; John Brown, elected in 1873; not represented in 1874; J. B. Masters, elected in 1875; Isaac G. Colton, elected in 1876 ; J. B. Masters, elected in 1877; John F. Sunderland, elected in 1878; W. N. Culp, elected in 1879.
Town Clerks .- W. N. Culp, elected in 1871, and re-elected in 1872 and 1873; J. T. Sunderland, elected in 1874, 1875, 1876, and 1877 ; W. Whit- taker, elected in 1878; S. Potter, elected in 1879.
Assessors .- Guy A. Snell, elected in 1871 ; W. Fuller, elected in 1872 and re-elected in 1873; T. J. Whaley, elected in 1874; S. Potter, elected in 1875 and re-elected in 1876 ; H. Masters, elected in 1877; G. A. Snell, elected in 1878 and re-elected in 1879.
Collectors .- J. Cromwell, elected in 1871; W. C. York, elected in 1872; N. E. Barnes, elected in 1873 and re-elected in 1874; E. P. York, elected in 1875 and re-elected in 1876; W. H. Dickerson, elected in 1877; J. W. Barnes, elected in 1878; re-elected in 1879.
Justices of the Peace .- A. Deck and T. D. Moore, elected in 1871; J. T. Colton and W. N. Culp, elected in 1873; D. Barnes and W. N. Culp, elected in 1877.
Constables .- John Deck and Wm. Fuller, elected in 1871; J. W. Hall and N. Hemphill, elected in 1873; J. Barnes, elected in 1874; A. J. McBride and J. Barnes, elected in 1877; E. P. York, elected in 1879.
Commissioners of Highways .- 1871, Robert Brown, Elisha Mitchell, Wm. Hart ; 1872, Daniel Burnes, John Sunderland, T. Y. Williams; 1873, John Deck ; 1874, Israel Chappell; 1875, Wm. Mitchell ; 1876, John Sanders ; 1877, E. P. York and J. Fuller; 1878, Wm. H. Dickerson ; 1879, Charles Golton.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ABRAHAM DECK.
THIS gentleman, one of the representative citizens of Honey Point town- ship, is a native of Madison county in this state, and was born near Alton, May 31, 1823. He is descended from a family of German origin. His grandfather, Jacob Deck, was a resident of Pennsylvania, served in the Revolutionary war, and after the independence of the colonies was achieved emigrated to East Tennessee, and was one of the pioneer settlers of that state. Mr. Deck's father, Isaac Deck, was born in East Tennessee on the 1st day of January, 1800. His birthplace was Sullivan, one of the north- east counties of the state lying next to the Virginia line. He married Hannah Isley, whose father had also at an early date come from Pennsyl- vania and settled in Sullivan county. His marriage took place in 1819. His first wife (Mr. Deck's mother) died, and he was afterwards married three times, and had in all fourteen children. Isaac Deck left Tennessee in the fall of 1821, and after stopping one season on a farm not far from Lex- ington, Kentucky, came on to Illinois the close of the year 1822, and settled on Wood river, three miles east from Upper Alton. He bought a farm there, on which he lived till 1853, when he moved to Gillespie township in this county, where he continued to reside till his death on the 3d of March, 1873. He was an industrious and energetic man, attended closely to his own business affairs, and led the quiet and respected life of a farmer without any wish to engage in public affairs.
Abraham Deck was born while the family resided on Wood river. At the time his father located there the Wood river settlements marked the frontier, all the region to the north being uninhabited except by the Indians, with perhaps now and then in this wild waste a solitary pioneer, who had ventured to establish himself remote from civilization. His father gave him every opportunity in his power of going to school, but the schools were of so inferior a character, and compared so poorly with the facilities of the present day, that he had but little chance to obtain a thorough education. He mastered the branches commonly taught, and for his general knowledge on other subjects, he has been compelled to rely on his own reading and obser- vation. When twenty years of age he began farming for himself, but his father's house was his home till 1845. In the spring of that year he set out for the lead regions about Galena-a favorite mode adopted by the young men of that day to get command of a little money, a commodity which was scarce among the agricultural classes. He was, however, unsuccessful. He struck no lead that would pay, and returned to Madison county in the fall, and on
the 27th of November, (1845), married Mary Williams, daughter of Samuel Williams, who emigrated to Illinois from Knox county, Tennessee, in 1835, and settled near Dorsey Station in Madison county, where he resided till his death.
After his marriage he was farming in Madison county till 1850. He then lived one year on a farm in Honey Point township, Macoupin county, and then returned to Madison county, where he lived till the death of his wife's father, when he moved to a farm in Hilyard township, six miles north of Bunker Hill. Since the spring of 1857 he has lived on his present farm in section 27, Honey Point township. He is the owner of 380 acres of land. An illustration of his farm and residence is furnished on another page. Mr. and Mrs. Deck have had thirteen children, of whom six are living, whose names are as follows : George M., Elizabeth Ann, now the wife of Robert A. Stone; Thomas J., Isaac N., John C., and Benjamin F. His political sym- pathies have always led him to support the doctrines of the democratic party. His first vote in a presidential election was cast for James K. Polk in 1844. While he has been a staunch and earnest democrat in principle, he has lent his influence to every measure which in his estimation would benefit the masses of the people. When the Grange or Farmer's movement was set on foot, he was one of those who believed in its importance as a means of bet- tering the condition of the agricultural classes, and protecting them from the burdens imposed by corporations and monopolies. He engaged actively in the movement with this idea in view, and in 1876 when the Independents of the county nominated a separate ticket for county officers his name was put on as candidate for sheriff. The election with three distinct tickets in the field, would in all probality have resulted in the choice of the republican candidate, and in obedience to what he believed to be his duty to the demo- cratic party, he withdrew his name, and thus prevented the defeat of the regular democratic nominee. In 1878 he was a candidate for the demo- cratic nomination for sheriff, but withdrew his name from before the con- vention in consequenceof there being another candidate for the same position from his township. From 1871 to 1875 he served as justice of the peace. He is a man whose character has commanded respect in every community in which he has resided. He has superior business qualifications, and en- lightened ideas and intelligent views on all subjects. He has been con- nected with the Christian church since 1851, of which his wife is also a member. His father and mother were members of the same denomination, from about the year 1833 till their death.
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RESIDENCE, STOCK AND GRAIN FARM OF ABRAHAM DECK , SEC.27. HONEY POINT TP., MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
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