History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 73

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

USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois > Part 73

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

re-elected in 1877 ; R. P. McKnight, elected in 1878; L. N. Roland, elected in 1879.

Collectors .- J. L. Harris, elected in 1871, and re-elected in 1872; L. Cowen, elected in 1873; E. G. Sprague, elected in 1874; G. Tuttle, elected in 1875 and 1876 ; B. Austin, elected in 1877 ; L. W. Armstrong, elected in 1878; M. Ross, elected in 1879.

Justices of the Peace, since Township organization .- N. J. Stratton, A. S. Armstrong and M. M. Duncan, elected in 1871; L. Cowen and H. E. Whitler, elected in 1872; M. Chesney and G. Fortune, elected in 1873; S. B. Wilcox and Wm. Sims, elected in 1874; H. E. Whitler and James Campbell, elected in 1875; M. Chesney and J. Campbell, elected in 1877. Constables, since Towship organization .- J. C. Bradley, J. L. Harris and J. C. Beaty, elected in 1871 ; J. C. Giggs, elected in 1872; W. Bloffer and J. H. Christopher, elected in 1873; M. Murray, elected in 1876; J. H. Chris- topher, elected in 1879.

Commissioners of Highways .- 1871, John Gelder, Henry Whittler, Samuel England; 1872, Thomas G. Duckels; 1873, Levi M. Hess; 1874, John Gelder; 1875, Thomas G. Duckels ; 1876, John P. Henderson ; 1877, T. F. Coultas ; 1878, S. W. Loud ; 1879, L. Browning.

THE TOWN OF VIRDEN

Was named in honor of John Virden, who for a number of years had kept a popular stage-stand some two miles south, and was the proprietor of the hotel. The town was laid out in 1852 by Heaton, Duboise, Chesnut, Hickox and Keiting. It was surveyed by John L. Morrell. The first sale of lots was in October, 1852. The first building was a hotel, built by John Virden, and is the one now known as the Junction House, kept by Robert Buckles. The first dwelling was put up and occupied by Alexander Hord and family. The first store was opened by Henry Fishback, November, 1852; after about four months he sold it out to John I. Beattie ; Mr. Beat- tie took possession February 1st, 1853. Page Heaton built and opened a dry-goods and grocery store. In January, 1853, the first post-office was kept in that store. During the summer of 1853, Joseph E. Walker erected a blacksmith shop on Dye street ; it is now occupied by Lafayette Higgins.

The first mill was built by John Williams, and was known as the North Mill ; but was destroyed by fire a few years after it commenced operation. The second mill was erected by Matthew Cowens, about one year after the first, and was called the South Mill. The first school was taught in the private house of Mrs. James Hall during the spring of 1853.

The first marriage was Miss Hannah Stead to a Mr. Lloyd, in 1853. The first death was John Dryr, in 1855.

The first child born was Mary Dohoney, the daughter of John Dohoney, now of Carlinville. She was born December 4th, 1852; since deceased.

The first sermon was preached by Edward Rutledge, a Methodist, in the hotel of old John Virden. The first Sunday-school was a union school in the M. E. Church. The first church edifice erected was by the Methodists, . in 1853, and the first regular preacher was Rev. Baker. There is now a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and Catholic church, all of which are neat and substantial buildings.

The first physician to locate was Dr. Charles Holliday, in 1854 ; now of Carlinville.

The great snow-storm of January 21st, 1855, was by far the most destruc- tive and severe ever known since the settlement of the village. Stock was frozen to death, the passenger train was blocked in a cut just north of the village limits ; the train was stopped for several days. The storm was so severe that passengers had to remain in the cars ; provision was carried to them by the residents of the town.

In the spring of 1870 the people of the village voted $30,000 for the building of the Jacksonville & South-eastern Railway. The whole length of the road is thirty-one miles; it was finished about the close of 1871;

J. W. Lathrop was appointed agent. The first freight received was Janu- ary 25th, 1872 ; it was two rolls of leather from Jacksonville, consigned to Battise & Huntly, Carlinville. The first freight shipped was January 10th, 1872; it was a car load of coal from the Virden Coal Company, consigned to J. I. Cochran, Jacksonville.

Coal shaft and tile factory .- In the year 1869 a coal shaft was sunk by a joint stock company in Virden, and is now being successfully operated by J. W. Utt. About 3,000 bushels are mined per day, of which about 2,000 bushels are consumed by the C. & A. R. R. The capacity is 10,000 bushels per day. The tile factory has two kilns in constant operation, and is turn- ing out 20,000 feet of tile per week.

The mine and factory are at present, giving employment to ninety men. Business of all kinds is active. The village is well laid out and is sur- rounded by a rich farming country, and has a population of about 1,600. The valuation of property in the township as reported by the assessor of 1879 is as follows :

No of acres, improved lands 7057, value $81,269; acres unimproved lands 3,559, value 835,306 ; total value of lands $116,575 ; value of lots 874,088. Horses 427, value 84,563 ; cattle 1,576, value 89,781; mules 48, value 8608; sheep 115. value 895 ; hogs 1,823, value 81,952; carriages and wagons 270, value 81,710 ; 225 watches and clocks, 124 sewing machines, 27 pianos, 47 organs. Total value of personal property 875,002.

We will name a number of the present business houses. Clothiers- Peter Mayer, Lewis Kaufman, and William Steed. Druggists - R. Virden & Co., J. H. Shriver, Sprague & Hustin. Dry-goods Dealers are Jackson, Hill & Co., W. E. Eckman, G. W. Dugger, Tuttle and Johnson. Groceries-Jackson, Hill & Co., Cox & Gates, G. W. Cox and William. White. Virden Bank - Charles Walworth, president ; F. D. Heaton, Cashier. Does a general banking business. Hardware dealers-Wilcox and Hopkins & Co., and Chas. Umphry. Harness Makers-J. J. Wilkins, D. Routzen, Thomas Stransbury. Boot and Shoe Makers and Dealers-J. Noll, Boyer & Son, and Geo. Recker. Confectionery-Chas. Ortman and J. Ode- wilder. Millinery goods-Mrs. M. K. Ash, Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. E. Squires. Lawyers-Balfour Cowen, Mahlon Ross and A. J. Plowman. Physicians-Drs. A. T. Bartlett, D. L. Spaulding, William Shriver, S. H. Clark and John Boyer. Blacksmiths - Hutcheson, Cox & Ball, L. Hegans, Allen & Gray, Christopher Askerhans. Livery-G. M. Chedester and Thos. J. Scott. Carpenterx-Crawford & Long, J. G. Becker, Joseph Campbell, M. B. Whittier, W. H. Burch, R. C. Brown. Hotels-Robert Buckles, L. Cowen Lumber Dealers-M. B. Jones. Dentist-Dr. Shreve.

The Benevolent Institutions. Virden Lodge No. 534, I. O. O. F., was in- stituted Dec. 2d, 1873. The first officers were as follows : Lewis Kaufman, N. G .; George Tuttle, V. G. ; Charles Humphreys, R. Secretary ; William Steed, Treasurer.

The charter members in addition to the above were R. P. McKnight, Peter Mayer, J. A. Campbell and Madison Murray. The membership is thirty one.

Virden Lodge No. 161, A. F. & A. M. A dispensation to organize & lodge of masons was granted in Oct. 1854. The officers were Charles H. Holliday, W. M. ; Mahlon Ross, S. W. ; Aaron Maulsbury, J. W. and A. L. Virden, George W. Short, A. C .; Hutchinson and Daniel Wadsworth, members. The charter was granted in October, 1855. The lodge numbers at this time sixty-six members.

Union Lodge No. 1033 Knights of Honor was organized April 17th, 1879. Charter members, J. C. Buckles, Geo. W. Cox, A. S. Bartlett, A. L. Hord, Geo. W. Coun, W. I. Shanklin, J. A. Campbell, F. W. Sillo- way, W. F. Gates, J. A. Beaty, W. Burch, A. C. Brown, D. L. Spauld- ing, John Piper, J. Winterbottom, A. J. Plowman, L. Kaufman. The present membership is twenty-two.

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

239

John L. Morrell

HAS been a resident of Virden township since 1851. He is a native of Maine, and was born at Cornish, in York county of that state, March 10th, 1813. His ancestors were Quakers, and among the early settlers of Maine. His grandfather, whose name was David Morrell, lived at Berwick, and held to the same religious opinions as the other members of the family. The following story is told concerning his Quaker faith. He lived in a frontier settlement, where constant danger was apprehended from Indian attacks. While one of his daughters was at a short distance from the house gathering hemlock broom stuff (it being a common custom in that country to collect the boughs of hemlock trees to manufacture into brooms), she was killed and scalped by the Indians. Although the old man still adhered to his Quaker doctrines, it is said that ever afterward when any red-skins were likely to be met, he carried two guns. The name of Mr. Morrell's father was David Morrell, and that of his mother was Anna Ayers. The subject of this sketch was the fifth of a family of ten children, seven of whom are now living. One brother and a sister reside in this state, and another sister lives in Nebraska; the others are still living in Maine.

His father was a farmer and lumberman. Cornish. the town in which he was born, lies on the Saco and Ossipee rivers. He was raised on a farm. The educational advantages he enjoyed were limited to the common schools, and these he had the opportunity of attending only at irregular intervals. His birth-place was in a lumbering district where schools were few. Although his father was a man in good circumstances, he could scarcely afford to send so many children to school away from home. He secured a good English education, but it was mostly by study at night, by the light of a pitch-knot

fire, with his older brothers as occasional instructors. As was the usual custom with boys at that time, at the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to the trade of a tanner and currier. He learned this business thoroughly, and worked at it occasionally as journeyman. Soon after he attained his ma- jority he engaged in the lumber business on his own account, getting out lumber at a saw-mill owned by other parties, at so much a thousand; a mode of doing business which required but little capital. But he came to the conclusion that the West offered a better field for a young man of enterprise and energy, and when in his twenty-third year he came to Illinois.

He reached Alton in 1835, and looking around for something to do, the knowledge which he had acquired of the lumber business in Maine, came in good play, and he took charge of a steam saw-mill which stood in Alton, where is now the corner of Third and Piasa streets. But after a few weeks he was seized with a serious spell of sickness, bilious and malarial in its character, which continued for about seven months, and reduced him in flesh from 175 to 125 pounds. Before his entire recovery from this attack he took charge of a school in the American Bottom, and taught it during the winter of 1835-6. In the spring of 1836 he went to Jersey (at that time still Greene) county, and during the next year taught school, carried on a mill, and farmed, in the vicinity of Otterville. He was married in the spring of 1837 to Elizabeth Beeman. Mrs. Morrell is now one of the oldest citizens of the state living in Macoupin county. She was born at Milton, on Wood river, two miles and a half from Upper Alton, on the 11th of Decem- ber, 1818. The year of her birth was the same as the admission of the state into the Union. Her father, Orman Beeman, was a native of Connecticut ;

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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

he lived in New York previous to his emigration to the West, and in the year 1810 came to Illinois, and settled near Edwardsville, in Madison coun- ty. During the war of 1812 he belonged to one of the companies of rangers raised in Madison county to protect the frontier against the Indians. In June, 1815, he married Talitha White, who was born in South Carolina, on the 8th of October, 1799, and came to Illinois with her father, Joseph White, in 1805. Joseph White was one of the earliest settlers about Ed- wardsville. When Mrs. Morrell was five years old, (in January, 1824,) her father moved up into what was then Greene county, but is now Jersey, and settled near Otterville, where he lived till his death, on the 21st of August, 1869, an old and respected citizen of Jersey county. Mrs. Morrell's mother died September 1st, 1876.

After he was married Mr. Morrell entered government land and went to farming near Otterville. During the summer of 1837 he was contractor for carrying the mail between Alton and Gilead, in Calhoun county. The business of carrying the mail over that route, in those days, was by no means easy or remunerative. The route ran through a wild, rough country, with scattering settlements and hardly any roads. The creeks were without bridges, and it may be imagined that traveling under the circumstances was difficult. He was obliged to go on horseback altogether, and pursuing his way through the tangled woods he was frequently compelled to dismount and cut away the thick clustering grape-vines to make a pathway for his horse. At times the swollen streams overflowed their banks, and it became necessary for him to swim across with the mail-bags hung around his neck. He often thus swam the Piasa, when the stream was fifty yards from bank to bank and ten feet in depth. He began farming in Jersey county without much capital, but brought to the work the same energy and industry that have characterized the prosecution of all his undertakings .in life. While farming there he gained considerable reputation as a successful grubber of brushy and timber land. The work of getting such land into a condition suitable for cultivation, was tedious and laborious, but he was fertile of in- ventions and expedients, and by the exercise of a little ingenuity constructed a plow which adapted itself admirably to the work. He used this plow in performing a contract to grub two hundred acres of land, and it worked so well that he completed the contract with more ease than he anticipated and with considerable pecuniary profit to himself.

Having accumulated some money by his farming operations in Jersey county, he determined to invest in lands which would likely produce a greater margin of profit and make a first-class farm. He accordingly left Jersey county in 1851. At that time the Chicago and Alton railroad had not been built, and the north-eastern part of Macoupin county, now covered with as fine farms as can be found in the state, was wild and uncultivated prairie. The Chicago and Alton road was rapidly being constructed, and to the far-seeing business man no part of Illinois offered finer inducements. He was quick to take advantage of them, and purchased land two miles south- east of the present town of Virden. At the time he settled there in 1851 his nearest neighbor on the west was two miles distant, while on the east lay a long stretch of prairie extending in all its native wildness, with no settle- ment on it for twenty-five miles. The deer were accustomed to come up to the immediate vicinity of the house in great droves, and so near that their eyes could be plainly seen to wink. On the completion of the railroad in 1852 this part of the county settled up more rapidly, and property rose in value. He entered 640 acres, half a section adjoining the town of Virden on the east, and half a section lying three miles farther west. He also bought one-half of section twenty-two (township twelve, range six), this being the place where he settled and where he lived till 1867, when he moved to the town of Virden. Since living in Macoupin county he has been principally engaged in farming, but has also been widely and favorably known as a surveyor. He learned the business of surveying while living in Jersey county, and after coming to Macoupin, practiced it to a considerable extent for a number of years in this and adjoining counties. He is, however, known best as a large farmer and land-owner. He has about two thousand acres of land, three hundred of which lies in Macoupin county. He has a large farm of eight hundred and forty acres in Christian county, in the manage- ment of which he is still actively interested ; he owns eighty acres in Mont- gomery county ; and the balance lies in Reynolds county, Missouri.

Mr. and Mrs. Morrell have five children living: Talitha A., the oldest daughter, is the wife of R. N. Terry, of Virden ; D. O. Morrell, the oldest son now living, is a graduate of the Missouri Medical College, and a physi-

cian by profession, and is now a resident of Virden ; Mary F., married Benjamin F. Spence, who is now deceased ; Lydia Victoria is the wife of James Allison, and is living in Christian county. The youngest daughter, Harriet B. S., is the wife of George M. Wilson, residing at Franklin, in Morgan county. His oldest son, James Henry, served in the Union army during the war of the rebellion. He enlisted in 1861 in the 11th Missouri regiment, and served in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. He was stationed at Cape Girardeau and New Madrid, Missouri, and took part in the capture of Island No. 10. He was in the battle of Corinth, Missis- sippi, participated in the assault on Vicksburg, and several other important engagements. The exposure to which he was subjected occasioned his sick- ness, and he died in the camp hospital, on Black river near Vicksburg, on the 15th of September, 1863. His son, D. O. Morrell, was also a soldier in the war of the rebellion. He enlisted in May, 1862, in the 12th United States infantry. His regiment formed part of the Army of the Potomac and he took part in the battles of Shiloh, the Wilderness, and other im- portant engagements, serving till the end of the war. The other children of Mr. and Mrs. Morrell died in infancy.

Mr. Morrell was brought up as a Quaker, and was trained to an earnest belief in the doctrines of that denomination concerning the question of slavery. From his earliest manhood his sentiments were strongly anti- slavery. For this reason he refused to unite or co-operate actively with either the old whig or democratic parties, believing that both, looked with favor on the pet institution of the Southern states. He objected to having any thing to do with any political organization, that in any way counte- nanced human bondage. He was never at any pains to conceal his anti- slavery opinions, even when few men were bold enough to proclaim them, and was known as an " abolitionist," when such a term was a synonym for reproach and unpopularity. When the republican party was formed on the idea of opposition to the extension of slavery, he entered heartily into its purposes and zealousiy supported its principles. His sympathy with slaves escaping from the South was well-known, and it was commonly believed that he was connected with the well-known but mysterious "underground railroad " system, by which the negroes of the South were assisted in gaining their liberty. He is a man of decided convictions and pronounced opinions. One of the most remarkable traits of his character has been the independence with which he has held and advocated his own views without regard to their unpopularity. He believes thoroughly in the doctrine that " truth is mighty and will prevail ;" that a few bold reformers and progressive thinkers ad- vance theories which the whole world comes to adopt at last ; and in his own experience has lived to see principles which once he supported, almost alone in the face of public sentiment, receive at last the crown of popular approval. As a business man his transactions have been consistent with the strictest honesty and integrity. He began life at the foot of the ladder, and can have the satisfaction of knowing that he has carved out his fortune by his own industry and energy. His life has been one of persistent activity, and has been crowded with incidents worthy of mention in a sketch of this character did space permit. Once in Jersey county he was made insensible by accumulated gas, at the bottom of a well forty feet deep, to which he had occasion to descend, and was rescued from his perilous position under such extraordinary circumstances, that the saving of his life seemed almost a mira- cle. During the war of the rebellion he made several trips into the South. In the spring of 1863, while going from Memphis to Corinth, the train was cap- tured by the rebels a few miles from Germantown. He was taken prisoner and confined in the swamps of Tennessee four days ; was then paroled and sent back into the Union lines at Fort Pillow, whence he proceeded to Memphis; the next day again took the train for Corinth, which place he reached in safety ; disinterred the remains of his brother-in-law, Thomas C. Carrico, and returned home. In the fall of 1863 he went to Vicksburg. While returning on the steamer Southwestern, the boat was attacked from the shore by Confederates, a few miles below Helena ; the cabin and pilot-house well marked by bullets, and one man was killed. Mr. Morrell's hat, which sat on its edge against the wall of the cabin, had a ball put through the top of the crown. He has accomplished a great deal of hard work without serious injury to his constitution. He appears to possess peculiar recupera- tive powers. For instance, the loss of a tooth has been followed by the growth of another in its place; some of his teeth have been renewed four times in succession, a fact which physicians consider remarkable. Few men have preserved so late in life the appearance of youthful vigor.

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RESIDENCE & STOCK FARM OF E. W. DENHAM , SEC: 13. VIRDEN TP, MACOUPIN CO ., ILL.

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241

HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

GUY M. CHEDESTER.

THIS gentleman, who has lived in Virden since 1856, and is now one of the oldest settlers of that town, is a native of Morris county, New Jersey, and was born on the 6th of February, 1829. His grandfather was Phineas Chedester, who when a mere boy enlisted in the colonial army, in the Revolutionary war, and fought with bravery and fortitude through the whole of the long and tedious struggle which resulted in the independence of the thirteen colonies. His father, J. B. Chedester, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and by trade an ornamental plasterer. His business was profitable, and he accumulated considerable means, and engaged also in farming. He lost a large amount of money in the same way in which many other worthy and good-hearted men have lost their fortunes. He went on the paper of friends as security, and was obliged to pay the amounts. Sarah Guerin was the name of Mr. Chedester's mother. The subject of this sketch was the youngest son ; he had five sisters and two brothers, who grew to manhood and womanhood. He had good advantages for obtaining an education, an excellent school being within easy reach. He was working on a farm until he was eighteen years of age, and then went to Dover, New Jersey, where he began an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade. After learning the trade he left Dover and went to Newark, where he lived two years, and then changed his residence to the city of Brooklyn, where he was employed at his trade till 1856, the year of his coming West.

He reached Virden the 15th of September, 1856, and at once established himself in business as a carpenter and builder. The town of Virden had been laid out four years previously, and when Mr. Chedester became a re- sident of the place it was in a state of rapid growth and progress. He erected several buildings in the town, among which was his own residence and that of John Bronaugh, for a long time the two largest and best houses in Virden. In the year 1859 he became a partner with John Bro- naugh in the lumber business, and was carrying that on at the time of the commencement of the war of the Rebellion. His grandfather had been a soldier in the Revolution, his father in the war of 1812, and Mr. Chedes- ter felt that he would scarcely do credit to the patriotic blood of his ances- tors, unless he, too, took a part, however humble, in the defence of his coun- try in this last great war into which she had been plunged. In September, 1862, he enlisted in Co. G, of the 122d Illinois regiment. The history of this regiment, which was largely made up of volunteers from Macoupin county is well known to many of our citizens. He served in the Mississippi valley, from Kentucky to New Orleans, and as far west as Kansas. He was in the Division commanded by Gen. A. J. Smith, and took part in the battles of Trenton, Tennessee; Tupelo, Mississippi ; Iuka, Spanish Fort, and Fort Blakely. At Trenton, Tennessee, he was taken prisoner by the rebels, and was home on parole about a year. He was among the last prisoners paroled, the system of paroling prisoners, which had suffered considerable abuse, being suspended a short time afterwards. He returned again to the army, and participated in some of the important movements of the war. The storming of Fort Blakely, in which his regiment bore a conspicuous part, was the last important engagement which transpired during the war. Lee had surrendered in Virginia, the Confederacy was at its last gasp, and soon afterward he was permitted to return home.

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History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 73

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

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