History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 77

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

USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois > Part 77

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He had eleven children, of whom nine are now living. Their names are as follows: James Powell Hilyard, now a resident of Kansas; Joseph Hil- yard, living in Sangamon county ; William Hilyard, residing in section 16, Hilyard township, to whom we are indebted for this sketch of his father ; Elizabeth, now the wife of James M. Wood, living in Shelby county, Illinois; Matilda Jane, who married L. Bullman,of Hilyard township; Leonard Hilyard, whose residence is in section 26 Hilyard township ; Vir- ginia C., now the wife of Henry Hilt, of Montgomery county ; Samuel Hil- yard, who resides on the old homestead, and Morris Hilyard, of Greenwood county, Kansas. John M. Hilyard, Jr., and James Powell, enlisted in the Mexican war together, and were in Col. Baker's regiment, of Springfield. John M. was taken sick while in camp on the Rio Grande, and died there in December, 1846.

JOSEPH B. HACKNEY

HAS been a resident of Hilyard township since 1857. He is a native of the Empire State, and was born at Troy, March 20th, 1829. His father, William Hackney, was a blacksmith by trade, and while living at Troy was foreman of a foundry. His mother, Margaret Keglor, was descended from the early Dutch settlers who emigrated from Holland, and made the

first settlements in New York. She was born at Albany, in 1794. The subject of this biography was the sixth of a family of nine children. He was seven years old when his father moved with the family to Illinois, and settled at Delhi, in Jersey county. He attended school at Troy, and after- wards in Jersey county. He was only seventeen years old at the time of the breaking out of the Mexican war. In September, 1847, when; he was only a few months past eighteen, he enlisted in an independent company of horsemen raised at Upper Alton, for service in Mexico. This company was commanded by Captain Little, and left Alton in the fall of 1847, proceeded down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and from that city took passage for Vera Cruz. The company was detached to act as escort to a wagon train from Vera Cruz to Rio Freio, and was principally stationed at the latter place during their service in Mexico; and also guarded the mail between Pueblo and the city of Mexico. There was no opportunity to participate in any important battles, but the company was engaged in several skirmishes, and the irregular guerrilla warfare which was carried on at intervals occa- sioned losses quite as severe as those which some of the regiments experi- enced which took part in prominent engagements. The men had enlisted for the war, and were stationed at Rio Freio at the time peace was declared. Soon afterward the company started for home, and reached Alton in July, 1848.

The summer of his coming back from Mexico, gold was discovered in California, and the reports which came from the Pacific coast gave wonder- ful accounts of the abundance of the precious metal, and the ease with which a fortune could be accumulated. He was one of the first to start out the next spring for the new El Dorado. He was a member of an expedition which set out from Jerseyville in the spring of 1849, struck the plains in May, and reached Sacramento city in exactly six months from the date of, leaving Jerseyville. Two of the men out of the sixty who composed the train died from cholera (which that summer prevailed greatly in St. Louis), but with this exception all reached California in safety. As soon as he reached the gold regions he went to work at mining. He was favored with more than ordinary success, accumulating in about a year upwards of three thousand dollars. He was at work on the Stanislaus and Yuba rivers. He started for home in December, 1850, making the return trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama. During this expedition to California he was ac- companied by his brother. He had intended to return to California, but finally concluded to settle in Illinois, and bought, in partnership with his brother, three hundred and twenty acres of land, in section 25, township 8, range 8. This, at that time, was all raw prairie, and they went to work, brought it under cultivation, and farmed in partnership till 1860. From 1860 till 1867 he resided in Jersey county. His marriage occurred Decem- ber 24, 1864, at Chicago, to Mrs. Mary Lyman. Her maiden name was Mary Hackney. She was born at Troy, New York ; afterward resided at Hartford, Connecticut; and came to Illinois in 1864. In 1867 he went to farming, where he now resides. His farm consists of a hundred and seventy-five acres. A view of his residence may be seen on another page. Mr. Hackney has five children, Frederick, Paul, Albert, Harry and Lottie. Mrs. Hackney has also a son named George Lyman, by her deceased hus- band. Politically Mr. Hackney is a democrat. He is known as one of the substantial, enterprising and progressive farmers of Hilyard township. He has never held public office, nor has he aspired to any other position than that of a private citizen and a plain and unassuming farmer.

CHARLES SUNDERLAND.

LIKE many of the residents of Macoupin county, Mr. Sunderland, one of the substantial farmers of Hilyard township, is a native of New Jersey, and was born in the city of Trenton, the capital of the state, on the 8th of September, 1824. His father, Samuel Sunderland, when only fifteen years old, enlisted in a company of soldiers raised for service in the war of 1812. His father was a mill-wright by trade. His mother's name was Elizabeth Hutchinson. He lived in Trenton till he was fifteen years old, going to school occasionally, but spending a considerable part of the time in fishing, for which he had a strong natural inclination ; the Delaware river which flows past Trenton afforded a good opportunity for the enjoyment of this sport. In 1839 his father emigrated with the family to Illinois, and settled a mile and a half from Jerseyville, in Jersey county. Mr. Sunderland lived in the neighborhood of Jerseyville till 1853, and then moved on the farm which he now owns in section fourteen of Hilyard township. His farm con-

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sists of 187 acres of land, only fifty of which were under cultivation when he moved on it. January 18th, 1855, he was married to Leah Tresler, who was born near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, June 22d, 1837. Her father, whose name was Frank Tresler, moved to St. Louis in the fall of 1843, and died there. Mr. and Mrs. Sunderland have nine children living, five boys and four girls, and two who are deceased. The names of those living are, Charles H., Mary J., William Edward, Walter J., Bessie A., George W., Alice V., Leonora and Jennie M. He has been a democrat in politics, and always votes that ticket. His brother is the present sheriff of Macoupin county. He stands well as a good farmer and an honest man. He has had from boyhood a taste for hunting and fishing, at which he has been more than usually successful, and to which occasionally, at leisure moments, he still devotes his attention. While others have taken delight in schemes for the accumulation of money and the gratification of their wishes in other di- rections, Mr. Sunderland has never been so contented as when bringing down some game with his trusty gun or capturing the finny denizens of streams and rivers.

JAMES HACKNEY.

THIS gentleman, the present supervisor of Hilyard township, was born in New York city, December 18th, 1824. His ancestors were old residents of the state of New York. On his father's side they were from England, and on his mother's from Holland. His father, William Hackney, was born at New Scotland, New York, and married Margaret Keglor, who belonged to one of the old Holland-Dutch families which settled at an early date along the Hudson river. She was born in the city of Albany. James Hackney was the fourth of a family of nine children. When he was about two years old his father removed from New York city to Troy, New York, where the family lived till 1836, when they came west, and the same year settled at Delhi, in Jersey county, Illinois. He never went to school except in the state of New York. He was twelve years old when he came to Illinois. No schools were in existence in the vicinity where his father settled, and his education has been obtained mostly by his own efforts.

When the Mexican war broke out in 1846 he was in his twenty-second year. In June of the first year of the war he enlisted in the 2d Illinois regiment, commanded by Colonel Bissel. He left Alton with his regiment for New Orleans, and thence proceeded by steamer across the Gulf of Mexico to Matagorda bay. The 2d Illinois at first formed a part of the army com- manded by Gen. Wool, and was afterward commanded by Gen. Taylor. It was part of the force which marched triumphantly into the city of Mexico, and took part in the battle of Buena Vista, 22d and 23d of February, 1847, and afterward stationed at Buena Vista, till his term of enlistment expired in June, 1847. He reached Illinois, on his return, about the 1st of July. He engaged in farming in Jersey county, where he lived till the spring of 1849, and then set out for California. Gold had been discovered the preced- ing summer. The news reached Illinois in the fall of 1848, and Mr. Hack- ney decided without hesitation to try his fortune in the new gold region, concerning the richness of which such fabulous reports were given. The expedition of which he was a member, numbering about sixty, left Illinois in the month of April, 1849, and crossed the Missouri river at St. Joseph on the 1st of May. At that early date no well-marked road across the plains and mountains had yet been established, and the expedition pushed its way on to the Pacific as best it could. His brother, Joseph B. Hack- ney, was with him on this expedition. The famous gold country was reached in the month of September, 1849, and as soon as possible he went to work at mining. He was at work on the Stanislaus river the succeeding fall and winter, and at Downeyville on the Yuba river the spring and summer of 1850. He was successful; saved some money, and in December, 1850, re- turned to Illinois by way of the Isthmus of Panama and New Orleans, well satisfied to settle down in life, and thereafter devote his attention to the quiet pursuit of agriculture.

On the 21st of February, 1851, he married Amelia Britton, of Lee county. He had purchased a short time previous, in partnership with his brother, the land which comprises his present farm in section twenty-five of Hilyard township, and after his marriage moved on it, began to improve it, and has been farming there ever since. The death of his first wife occurred in January, 1868. He married Mary J. Vandeventer in July, 1870; she died in October, 1873. He has had ten children, of whom seven are now living. The oldest is William Hackney; James, the next, died in August, 1856 ; John is residing in McLean county ; the next children are Joseph, Edward,

and Stephen, Mary, who died in infancy, and Thomas, whose home is with Mr. Hackney's sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, in McLean county. Amelia May and a deceased infant are children by his second marriage.

In politics Mr. Hackney has always been a democrat. He was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors from Hilyard township in the spring of 1879, and has creditably filled that office. He is an enterprising farmer, and a good citizen. His father died at Brighton in November, 1877, at the age of eighty-seven ; and his mother, who was born at Albany, New York, in 1794, is still living in Brighton township.

CHARLES RHOADS.

JACOB RHOADS, the grandfather of Charles Rhoads, emigrated from Pennsylvania to Kentucky shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war. He settled in Hardin county, close to the present town of Elizabethtown, and was one of the pioneer settlers of that part of Kentucky. He was then a young man and unmarried, and lived for a time in a fort near Elizabeth- town, and was often called upon to engage in the pursuit of the Indians, who frequently committed depredations on the scattering white settlements. Samuel V. Rhoads, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, in the year 1791. He was raised in the county of his nativity. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was one of the Kentucky volunteers under Gen. Harrison, and took part in the battle of the Thames in Canada, at which the Indian chief, Tecumseh, was killed. He married as his first wife, Jane Pennybaker, whose father was a native of Pennsylvania. He experienced religion when twenty years of age, and be- came connected with the United Baptist Church. From Hardin he had removed to Grayson county, Kentucky, where he lived till 1834, and then removed to Illinois, and settled in Chesterfield township, about a mile from Rhoads Point, or as it is now called, Medora. About the time of his coming to Illinois he began preaching, and continued his ministerial labors until old age and infirmity prevented him from performing active service. He was instrumental in organizing several United Baptist churches in this part of Illinois, most of the churches of that denomination in Macoupin county having in fact been founded by him and his brother, the Rev. Jacob Rhoads. He died September 16th, 1877.

Charles Rhoads was born in Grayson county, Kentucky, August 12th, 1819. He was consequently about fifteen years old when he came to Ma- coupin county. The part of Kentucky in which the family had lived was poor and thinly settled, and had no good schools. The same state of circum- stances in regard to educational facilities existed in Macoupin county. The school-houses were built of logs, with an opening along the sides where a log had been left out as the only apology for a window. Mr. Rhoads lived at home till his marriage. This event occurred on the 6th of October, 1842. Mrs. Rhoads was formerly Miss Nancy E. Cawood She was born in Sul- livan county, Tennessee, November 19th, 1822. Her grandfather, John Ca- wood, was an Englishman, who on coming to America, first settled in Vir- ginia, and afterward in North Carolina. His home in North Carolina was in the extreme north-west corner of the state. When the state lines came to be definitely established, his farm was thrown into three different states, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. He lived on this farm till within a few days of a hundred years old, when he died. Mrs. Rhoads' father, Joshua B. Cawood, was born there, and on reaching manhood, married Eleanor Haynes. He served in the war of 1812. He first was employed as a team- ster in Gen. Jackson's command, and returned home. He then enlisted a second time as a soldier, and took part in the battle of New Orleans. He lived in Sullivan county, Tennessee; afterward removed to McMinn county, in the Hiawatha purchase, in the same state; came to Morgan county, Illi- nois, in 1837; settled in North Palmyra township in this county, in the spring of 1838; moved thence to Shipman township, south of Medora, and in 1845 to Hilyard township, where his death occurred the same fall.

After his marriage, Mr. Rhoads moved to his present location, in section six of Hilyard township, where at that time no farm had been improved. He has since been one of the substantial farmers of the township, and a man esteemed for many good qualities as a neighbor and a citizen. He owns two hundred acres of land. He was originally a member of the old whig party, and cast his first vote for President for Gen. Harrison at the exciting campaign of 1840. His father, and most of his relatives, though natives of a slave state, had been anti-slavery in their sentiments, and when the sla- very agitation became prominent, and the republican party sprang into ex-

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ry. who died in infancy, and Thomas, whichit is. .tor. Mr -. Elizabeth Brown, in MeLean county. L. " .. / intant are children by his second marriage Harkowy has always been a democrat. He was and of Supervisors from Hilvard township in the age Kably tilled that ofice. He is an enterprising 1. Hi- father died at Brighton in November. IST ... 's; and his mother, who was born at Albany, Seir. sony in Brighton township.

CHARLES RHOADS.

", the gratulfather of Charles Rhoads, enigne Kentucky shortly after the close of the Revoluti zor aran county, che to the present town of Elister. " pioneer settlers of that part of Kentucky. He wer attharried, and lived for a time in a fort nes Eser on called upon to engage in the pursuit of the .mitted deprelations on the scattering white vita: I-, the father of the subject of this sketch. no : Kentucky, in the year 1791. He was raised in dic HI. wa- a soldier in the war of 1812. He wasicede .. r. under Gen. Harrison, and took part in the as aha.la, at which the Indian chief, Tecumseh. m.E! - first wife, Jane Pennybaker, whose father was a tsfr. 1. experienel religion when twenty years of se nie with the United Baptist Church. From Hardu 22 whi county, Kentucky, where he lived till 1St. x:2 i-, and settled in Chesterfield township, abouts sie: as it is now called, Medora. About the time of tiser: an preaching, and continued his ministerial labos a. prevented him from performing active service. Et organizing several United Baptist churches in tape. :iw churches of that denomination in Manui : n founded by him and his brother, the Rev. Jaor Ex er 16th, 1877.

i- was born in Grayson county, Kentucky, Augse "frequently about fifteen years old when he is The part of Kentucky in which the family bsl ? :6.4, aut had no good schools. The same sest de: to educational facilities existed in Macapia cere - " Imilt of logs, with an opening along the ils n'2 ... a- the only apology for s window. Mr. Raskly riage. This event occurred on the 6th of fale, formerly Miss Nancy E. Cawood She was born i to. ... e. November 19th, 1x22. Her grandate. Jar: Bohman, who on corning to America, fix etide? rd in North Carolina. His home in North Caniese rth-west corner of the state. When the state 3 2 ablished, his farm was thrown into three didnes virginia, and Tennesee. He lived on this farm " Innwired years old, when he died. Mrs. Khai's wa- born there, aud on reaching manhood, martin( Ex: d in the war of 1812. He first was employeists son's command, and returned home. He the case Vlier, and took part in the battle of New Orleans : ounty, Tennessee; afterward removed to MeMica urchase, in the same state; came to Morgan acc .?- led in North Palmyra township in this enzy .: ved thence to Shipman township, south of Mest township, where his death occurred the same il ", Mr. Rhoads moved to his present lostira .. ship, where at that time no farm bad ben impron. " of the substantial farmers of the township, sol i' : good qualities as a neighbor and a citizen. He of land. He was originally a member of the .... first vote for President for Gen. Harrison st the ease His father, and most of his relatives, though tatt: wen anti-slavery in their sentiments, and when 2' me prominent, and the republican party sprung tr:

RESIDENCE & FARM OF JAMES HACKNEY, SEC. 25, HILYARD TP., MACOUPIN COUNTY , ILLINOIS .

RESIDENCE & FARM OF JOSEPH B. HACKNEY, SEC. 25 OF HILYARD TP., MACOUPIN COUNTY , ILLINOIS

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istence he became a republican. He and his wife have been members of the United Baptist Church since 1842, and were among the original members of Harmony United Baptist Church, who worshiped near his residence. He was one of those mainly instrumental in erecting, in 1854, the present commodious church building. Mr. and Mrs. Rhoads have had seven chil- dren, of whom four are living. The oldest one, Jacob H. Rhoads, enlisted when eighteen years old, in the 30th Illinois regiment during the late war of the Rebellion, and served three years; he is now farming in Kansas. Sarah E., the oldest daughter, died when an infant. Carrie L., is the wife of P. G. Richard, and resides in Kansas. Margaret J., the next oldest, died in infancy. The death of Mary A., occurred on the 19th of June, 1872, at the age of twenty years and five months. E. C. Rhoads and Hettie E., who married Charles W. Jolley, are the two youngest children.

ALEXANDER SHULTZ

WAS born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, November 14th, 1829. His father was a farmer in good circumstances, and in 1836, moved to Grantsville, Allegheny county, Maryland, twenty-five miles west of Cumberland, on the National Road, which was then the main thoroughfare of travel between the East and the West. His father owned there six hundred acres of land, and built a hotel at a cost of seven or eight thousand dollars, and also was the owner of another hotel on the same route, but the building of railroads changed the current of travel, and rendered the property unproductive. Mr. Shultz grew up to manhood in that county. August 31st, 1859, he married Eleonora Glotfelty, who was descended from an old German family who settled in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, before the Revolutionary war, and afterward moved to Allegheny county, Maryland, where Mrs. Shultz was born. After he was married Mr. Shultz went to farming for himself on rented land, and afterward purchased a farm of three hundred acres at Grantsville. He continued to reside in Maryland through the war, and in 1866 emigrated to Illinois, landing in Shipman November 16th of that year. In 1872 he purchased the farm of 160 acres which he now owns, in section twenty of Hilyard township. He has eight children living : Jo- seph A .; Lydia C., now the wife of Elisha Turney; Robert Lee; Bayley ; Kitty May; Alexander M .; Henry E., and Rosella. In his politics he has always been a democrat, as were all his ancestors before him. He has been one of the leading citizens of Hilyard township; for three years he was as- sessor of the township, and one year collector. In 1877 he represented the township on the Board of Supervisors, and in 1878 his name was prominently brought forward as the Democratic candidate for Sheriff. The family from which Mr. Shultz is descended is of German origin. His grandfather, Ja- cob Shultz, came over from Germany when fourteen years of age, before the Revolutionary war. He settled in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and se- cured his tract of land by what was known as an old " Tomahawk Right." He was one of the old pioneer settlers, and was obliged to go to Hagerstown, Maryland-eighty miles distant-for salt and iron, which he would trans- port on pack-horses. Jacob Shultz was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Shultz's father, Adam Shultz, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylva- nia; he followed farming, and for forty years also carried on a tannery. His second wife (Mr. Shultz's mother) was Nancy Shockey, also born in Somerset county ; her father, Abraham Shockey, served seven years in the Revolution, and after his death his widow drew a pension as long as she lived. The Shockey family was originally of French descent. The grand- father of Mrs. Shultz on her mother's side was also in the Revolutionary war; his name was Robert Compton, and he was a native of New Jersey ; he was Aid-de-Camp on General Washington's staff, and once, while carry-

ing dispatches was captured by the British ; he was searched, but his papers, which were hid in the lining of his boots, were not discovered.

JOHN O'NEIL, (DECEASED),

WHOSE death occurred June 30, 1879, was born in the county Louth, Ire- land, in November, 1812, the son of Thomas O'Neil. He was raised in the same part of Ireland, and in 1836, when twenty-four years of age, emigrated to America. He landed in New York, and from there went to Reading, Pennsylvania, where he secured a position as foreman, and had charge of a gang, building the Pennsylvania and Reading railroad. He afterward had a similar situation at Catawissa, Pa., and from that place went to work on the Schuylkill canal, at Pottsville. While at work on the Catawissa railroad, he was married, in February, 1840, to Aun Klingeman, who was born near Catawissa, in Columbia county, Pa., December 11, 1820. Her ancestors were Germans. Her great-grandfather emigrated from Germany, and settled in Berks county, Pa. In June, 1852, Mr. O'Neil came west. After stopping at Peoria, he settled at Carlinville, having secured a position as foreman on the Chicago & Alton railroad, then being constructed through the county. The track was then laid from Alton to within two miles of Carlinville, and Mr. O'Neil worked on it till the road was finished, and afterward till 1860, held the position of section boss. February, 1861, he moved to section 18 Hilyard township, where he had bought 120 acres of unimproved land. This he went to work to put under cultivation. He had never farmed any before, but won the reputation of being a good farmer, and owned 260 acres of land when he died. He had nine children, viz. : Thomas D., who died at the age of fourteen ; Mary, wife of Michael Cooney, living north of Carlin- ville; John O'Neil, of Independence, Pike county ; James, living in Shipman township; Annie, wife of Patrick Dillon, of Shipman; Hugh ; Owen, who is managing the farm ; Henry, who lives in Shipman ; and Stephen A. Douglas O'Neil, still living at home. Mr. O'Neil had been a democrat ever since he came to America, and always did what he could in aid of the democratic ticket. His death resulted from an accident. While getting in his buggy to drive to the town of Shipman, his horse started, he was caught in the wheel, and suffered injuries from which he died in a short time. He had all the warm sympathies and impulses which belong to the Irish character, and possessed many friends.

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History of Macoupin County, Illinois, Part 77

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

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