History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 124

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698

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zens. The mail now comes from Carpenter once a day, Ernest Wolf being the present postmaster. Dr. Joseph Roth com- menced the practice of medicine in 1869 and continued sev- eral years. The place now has no physician. Hamel's Cor- ner received its name from A. J. Hamel, a farmer who lived here and owned all the land originally on the north side of the Alton and Greenville road, near the corners. When township organization was effected his name was given to the township.

PRESENT BUSINESS.

General Store-Ernest Wolf.

Blacksmiths-William Wendlandt, Lonis C. Brunnworth The blacksmiths both carry a good stock of agricultural implements.

Wagon Shop-G A. Engelmann.

Shoe Maker-Henry Hanke.

Hamburg was laid out in 1860 by Henry Morrison and F. Soehlke and was situated on the south part of the north- west quarter of section twenty-two. At one time it sup- ported a blacksmith.

CARPENTER.

In the spring of 1877 the Wabash railroad put in a spur a half-mile northeast of the station, and it was called " No- body's Switch," Six months later a switch was put in where the station now stands and the place was called Car- penter, by order of the company The same year twenty thousand bushels of corn were shipped from this point. The grain office of H. Breed & B. Clark was erected in January 1877. The following month F. H. Clark established a build- ing attached to the grain office and opened a general store in it He was also the railroad agent. The following May a post office was established, with F. H. Clark as postmaster. He has filled the office to the present time. In the fall of 1877 Peter Balmer built a house and opened a hotel. The fol- lowing winter John Brown built a residence and blacksmith shop. In the summer of 1877 Breed & Clark erected the grain house east of the office with a capacity of 5000 bush- els. D. S. Shellabarger & Co., of Decatur, in 1881 built a grain house south of the depot with a capacity of 30,000 bushels. In 1880 the railroad company constructed the tank and pond. T. H. Clark built his present business house in 1881. Carpenter was laid out by John F. Opel, and the plat was recorded May 9th, 1877. It is situated on the north half of the east half of the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section eight.

PRESENT BUSINESS.

Physician-G. C. Gray.

General Store -- Frank H Clark. Grain Dealers-D. S. Shellabarger & Co. Grain Agents-B. Clark & Son. Hotels-Charles Spruner, J. HI. Bange. Blacksmith-John Brown. Wagon Shop-F. Wehling.

Harness and Saddles-Louis Eckardt.

Shoe Maker-H. G Lehrke.

Millersville was laid out and recorded by Fritz Miller. It is situated on the west, half of the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section eight.

The gentlemen whose names appear below have repre- sented the township in the Board of Supervisors: William A. Mize was elected in 1876 and held office for one year. Isaac Hall, elected in 1877, served three terms. John Weaver was supervisor for 1880-81. He was succeeded in office by William P. Eaton, who served one term. Mr. Weaver was again elected in 1882, and is the present in- cumbent.

534

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

The first school-house in town five, range seven, was built on the land of Robert Aldrich in 1825, and stood near his residence. It was a temporary structure, and was used but a short time. There were but few families in the neighbor- hood, and the school was too small to be a source of suffi- cient profit to a competent teacher. Mr. Carver and Joseph Thompson each taught a short time in it. Not far from the same time a log school-house was built near Archibald

Lamb's. It was dignified with a stone chimney. This school-house also served as a church. The Lutheran church, a good substantial brick building standing in center of sec- tion one, was erected in 1861. The Cumberland Presby- terian Church, located on the southeast corner of section twenty-seven, was built in 1872. The Evangelical church, on the northeast quarter of section twenty-two, was con- structed in 1873.

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

535

A.LITTLE.

Theos Judy

MRS. DEMARIS JUDY.

THE Judy family were among the pioneers of Illinois, and the earliest settlers of Madison county. Jacob Judy, the ancestor of the family, was a native of Switzerland, and emigrated to America in 1777, and settled in Maryland, where he remained ten years. In 1787 he came west to Kaskaski, and in 1800 came to the territory now compris- ing Madison county. His son, Col. Samuel Judy, the father of Thomas, was born August 19th, 1773. He was a promi- nent man in his day, and was elected as Territorial Repre- sentative of the Kaskaskia District, which included the county of Madison. Upon the organization of Madison county, he was elected one of the Commissioners, and served the people for many years in that capacity. He was, during the Indian wars, one of the best Indian fighters that graced the annals of pioneer life in Illinois. He was always a leader, and was found in the front ranks in every perilous expedition against the savages. No family of the early days of Illinois can show a better record for fearless devotion to home and country than the Judys. He was united to Miss Margaret Whiteside, sister of General Whiteside, who was also a noted Indian fighter and altogether one of the most re-

markable men who figured prominently in the early days of the west. Of that union, was Thomas Judy. He was born in Madison county, December 19, 1804. He grew to man- hood, and on the 23d of March, 1826, was united in marriage to Miss Lavina, daughter of Jacob Snyder. There were several children by that union, none of whom are living. Mrs. Judy died ;" after which Mr. Judy contracted a second marriage with Miss Nancy Hays, the date of which was March 22d, 1833. She died in 1844. There were two daughters by that union, named Eliza, wife of Rufus C. Barnett, and Sarah, wife of Isaac C. Davis.

On the 8th of January, 1845, he married Mrs. Damaris Barnsback, widow of George Barnsback and daughter of Judge James Yowell, who settled in Macoupin county in 1827, by which marriage there are three surviving children. She was born in Shelby county, Kentucky July 13, 1817, and died in Hamel township, in this county in the summer of 1882. She had survived her husband several years. Col. Judy died October 4th, 1879. The names of the surviving children are, Thomas J., born May 15, 1846, and was married to Miss Nancy M, daughter of Robert and Nancy McKee.

536

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

March 17th, 1870; William S., born December 29, 1848. and married Miss Rhoda A., daughter of Jesse Bartlett, Feby. 22, 1871; Mary, born Sept. 24, 1850, and married Benjamin R. Burroughs, January 29th, 1873. Col. Thomas Judy was elected to represent Madison county in the General Assembly of Illinois, in 1852. In that position he sustained himself with credit and gave satisfaction to his constituents. He was often in the Indian wars in the early days of Illinois and was a man of great physical strength and undoubted courage, a true type of that pioneer class who are rapidly passing away.

In his nature he was singularly kind and obliging. No one ever called upon him for aid or assistance, but that it was readily and cheerfully granted. He was a man of more

than usual good judgment. In those things in which he took an interest he was more than ordinarily successful. He was eminently a faithful and honest man. What he said he believed to be true and whatever he promised he was faithful to perform. Generous to all men he was lasting and true to his friends. In 1857 he made a profession of religion, and attached himself to the Methodist church, and ever after exhibited the genuineness of religious experience and true Christian faith. His wife was also a member of the same church. She was a kind and generous neighbor and friend, a true and faithful wife and devoted mother .*

* The Judy family is spoken of at some length in several general chapters. Therefore we make the above sketch somewhat brief.

LEEF.

HIS township is wholly prairie, with the exception of about two hundred and forty acres on Silver creek, in sections thirty-three and thirty-four, which are timbered. The township is drained by the head-waters of Silver creek flowing in a southerly direction. It contains thirty sections of land, all of which is arable, and is bounded on the north by New Douglass and Bond county, on the east by Bond county, on the south by Saline, and on the west by Alhambra. In a point of timber on the east side of Saline creek, in section thirty-four, in 1818, James Pearce made the first settlement. It properly belonged to the Silver creek settlement, and his cabin was the most northerly situated, as the old settlers spoke of it, at the head of Silver creek. All north of him was an unbroken prairie, for many years, with only a trail here and there through it from the settlement in Bond coun- ty, to the settlements on the west fork of Silver creek. He was the first land owner in the township. April 14, 1817. he entered the west half of the southeast quarter of section thirty-four. January 16, 1818, he entered eighty acres more in the same section. Hugh A. Pearce, his son, entered the east half of the southwest quarter August 3d, 1829. All other entries here were of a later date. Mr. Pearce was born in North Carolina. His parents went to Kentucky, where he grew up, and afterward married Miss Lucy Alli- son. Three children were born to them in that State, Hugh A., Robert, and William W. In 1815, he emigrated to

Madison county, and lived for three years in the vicinity of Edwardsville, where he settled as above stated. He was twice married. Six children were born to him by his first wife, after coming to this county, viz: Wiley, Joseph B., Alfred C., Melinda, Francis M., and James. His second wife was Miss Frances Martin, whom he married in 1837, and by whom he had five children, viz : Mary, who died in infancy ; Mathias B., Thomas N., Sarah E., and Rachel. Of the children, Hugh, Robert, Wiley, Joseph B., and Alfred C., when they grew to manhood, went into the southern States and settled. William W. located in Alhambra, where he now resides, as one of the largest land owners in the county. Francis M. has been a practicing physician in this and Macoupin counties for the past twenty-six years. He has represented his county in the legislature, and he now lives in the village of Alhambra. James was a farmer of this and Macoupin counties until 1881, when he moved to Kansas, where he now lives. Mathias B. is a farmer of Olive township. Thomas N. now resides in Texas, where he went only a few years ago. Sarah E., now the wife of Dr. William Allen, lives in Edwardsville. Rachel, now Mrs. James Tabor, lives in Alhambra township. Mr. Pearce was the first justice in the township. He filled the office for many years. His house stood on the Vandalia and St. Louis road, and from the time the road was laid out shortly after he settled here, until it was changed and made to run farther south in 1835, he kept the stage stand. The first death was that of an infant child of his (the seventh son) in 1824. The first-born was Joseph B. Pearce, in 1820.

537

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

The first marriage was that of Hugh A. Pearee in 1859, to Miss Susan Carson of Saline township. The old gentleman lived in this settlement until 1848, when he moved into what is now Olive township, where he lived until his death in 1864, at the age of seventy-four years. Jesse Allison, Thomas Allison and Thomas Johnson, were the other early settlers of Leef. Jesse Allison, a brother in-law of James Pearce, settled what is now the William Serumpf place, in 1824. Some years prior to his settlement here, he had lived in the vicinity of the Biggs' salt works. where he worked for Biggs several years. Ile lived in Leef until 1839, when he went to Highland, and subsequently to Cooper county, Mis- souri, where he died. Thomas Allison, his brother, built a cabin on the land of James Pearce in an early day. Here he lived a short time, and then moved to Cooper county. Missouri, where he was killed during the late war by the bush whackers.

Thomas Johnson, Jr., built a cabin a short distance north of where the Salem graveyard now is, about 1830. His father, Thomas Johnson, Sr., settled near the north line of Saline township, in 1818. The junior Johnson lived here about thirty years and then mnoved west. Hugh A Pearce settled a place north of his father's in 1829, where he lived until he moved south, in 1834. D. Charter located in the forks of Silver creek, about ten years later, where he im- proved a good farm. The first farms made north in the prairie, were improved by G. W. Rockwell, A. J. Flinn and Frank Housong. Mr. Rockwell lives on the northwest corner of section sixteen. He was born in Clay county, Missouri, and came to Madison county in 1838 His wife, now deceased, who was a Miss Catharine Peterson, was born in Madison county in 1834. The farmers of this township are principally Germans, and Jacob Leef, who was born in Canton Schaffhousen, Switzerland, was the first of his na- tionality to settle here. And when the county passed under township organization, this township was named in his honor. In 1834, then nineteen years of age, he came alone to Ame- rica, landing at New Orleans. He had just money enough to reach St. Louis, where he remained until 1840. He then came to Saline township and went into the employ of S. H. Mudge, where he remained five years. In the meantime he earned and saved money sufficient to buy a little farm. In 1845 he purchased forty acres in section thirty-three, where he now resides, and began farming for himself. His place was originally settled by Benjamin Furbee, and at the time he located here, the prairie north of him for miles was an unsettled country, and remained so substantially until after the late war, when, in a short space of time, it was wrested from nature's domain. Mr. Leef was married April 8th. 1844, to Miss Regina Reichet. By this union there were born eleven children. He, by industry and economy, in- creased his possessions to upward of three hundred acres of land, and he is now living in the enjoyment of a competence, respected and honored by his fellow neighbors. John Am- buhl, a well-to do farmer on section twenty-eight, was born in Switzerland, and came to Madison county in 1839. Fran- cis M. Wagoner settled on the eighty acres east of the vil- lage of Saline. He is one of the prominent farmers of Sa- 74

line township Daniel Ruedy settled on section twenty-six, where he has improved a large farm .

SALINE.

This is a pleasant little village of about one hundred and fifty inhabitants, lying on the township line, partly in Leef and partly in Saline townships. It was first called Fitz James, and was laid out in 1840, by Henry K. Lathey, James Carpenter, George Fulls, Jonas R. Gale, Z. Lowe, and William F. De Wolf, on the southeast quarter of the south- west quarter section thirty-three. John Duncan opened a store in 1840. His house stood on the north side of the road that runs on the township line. He kept a public house, and put up a large sign inscribed in prominent letters " Fitz James Hotel by John Duncan." He continued here in a fair paying business, until his death, after which the buildings were burned. Some years after this, the town in the meantime making little progress R D. Leggitt put up a second store. This also stood on the north side of the road. After about two years, he sold out to William Schum, who subsequently sold to John Bardill and brothers. Mr. Bardill afterward purchased his brother's interest in the store and conducted the business for many years. He was instrumental in getting a post-office established, called Sa- line. The department ordered the name changed, and the citizens christened it Grant Fork, which is the present name of the post-office. Martin Ruch, in the early history of the village, opened a store on the south side, where he is still engaged in business. In 1840 one Herrin opened a black- smith shop in a little log cabin that stood just east of the Douglas store building. He was not an expert at his trade, but could mend a chain or elevis, and was looked upon as quite an acquisition to the settlement. He afterward left, and for many years there was no blacksmith John Link was the second smith. The Catholic church is a handsome briek edifice, built in 1872. There is a school conducted in connection with the church. The Lutheran church is a neat briek structure erected the same year. The public school is a brick building, one story high, with two rooms, in charge of James Lane at the present writing.

PRESENT BUSINESS.

Physicians .- A R. Ransom and A. Sacconi.

General Store and Post-master .- Martin Ruch.

Hotel .- Anton Kraft.

Drugs .- A. Sacconi.

Blacksmith Shops -Charles Schmitt, Nie. Mollett and Theodore Schwartz.

Wagon Shops .- G. Winter, Nic. Mollett.

Harness Shop .- E. Salzmann.

Butcher .- F. Landolt.

Tinsmith and Stoves .- Joseph Miller.

Undertaker .- F. Oswald.

Shoemaker .- G. Zweifel.

The following named gentlemen have been members of the board of supervisors : Daniel Ruedy was chosen in 1876, and was in office until he was succeeded by Jolin Bardill in 1879. John Mulloy was elected in 1880, and has held the office four successive terms, and is now the incumbent.

OMPH-GHENT.

HIS, is one of the northern townships, and received its name from the church that stood near the residence of David Swett. Originally Omph-Ghent comprised all the territory between east and west Cahokia creeks, from the county line south to a line running east and west, in the center of town five, range eight. Since township organizations, it compri- ses the whole of town six, range seven, bounded on the north by Macoupin county, on the east by Olive, on the south by Hamel, and on the west by Moro township. It is drained by Cahokia and Swett creeks, and their tributaries, running in a southerly direction through the more central part of the township. Along these streams the land is considerably broken and is timbered. The best farming land is found on the east and west sides of the township. The Wabash rail- road extends through four sections in the southeastern part, and Worden, a thriving village on this line, is the princi- pal trading point.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

Near where the Omph-Ghent church now stands, in the fall, or winter of 1820, David Swett, a native of Pennsyl- vania, erected the first cabin. October 6th of that year, he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land. It was the first tract of land entered. He came to Edwardsville, in 1817, from his native state. His father died when he was quite a boy. His mother bound him out to learn the shoe- maker's trade. After serving out his time, he started west immediately, arriving here at the date above stated, when four years later he married Miss Elizabeth Tindall, who was born in North Carolina, and came here an orphan girl with her uncle, Thomas Tindall, in 1817, at the age of seventeen years. In the spring of 1821, Mr. Swett, with his young wife moved into his cabin, and began in earnest the improvement of his place. He became the first permanent settler in the prairie, near the creek now bearing his name. He was the first justice in the district, and afterward rep- resented the county on the Commissioners' Board. He died nearly half a century ago, regretted by all who knew him. His worthy example in conducting public business is still re- membered with pride by many of the old citizens of Madison. He built the first frame house in this settlement, and it was on his land that the Omph-Ghent church, the first in the township, was built, in 1848. His widow, a much esteemed lady, lived at the old homestead until her death which oc- curred April 1st, 1877. At Mr. Swett's death, he left six 538

children. Three only are now living : Emily, is the wife of John Kell, and now resides in Missouri. Helen, the wife of Dr. J. A. Slaughter, lives at Greenville, Illinois. Ade- line, widow of Templeton Elliott, now resides at Litchfield, Illinois. Mathias Handlon entered eighty acres in section thirty-three, the same day Swett made his entry. If he ever lived on this land, it was only for a short time, as he is forgotten by the oldest citizens in this settlement. In 1825 Charles Tindal! settled the George Belk place. He came to the county in 1817, and lived at Edwardsville, until he began his improvement in this township. As early as 1830, in company with David Swett, he built a horse mill on his place. He was a carpenter by trade, but improved a good farm, where he died in 1843, leaving a widow, who died in 1851. They had a family of eleven children, seven of whom grew to man and womanhood, viz : Parham, Thomas, Dora, Emily, Nancy. Edward and Sarah. Mr. Tindall filled the office of Justice of the Peace many years, and lived the life of a much respected citizen, leaving his widow and children in good circumstances when he died.

In 1826 Ezekiel Davis, from New Jersey, settled the Henry Moritz place, section thirty-one. Two years later he entered eighty acres of land here, and this was the fourth entry in the township. He and his wife both died on this place, the latter in 1844, and the former about fifteen years ago. Of their children, only three are now living. Hannah. now Mrs. Thornton Carter, a widow, lives in Moro township. Hiram lives at Dorchester and Howell in the west.

Samuel H. Denton, a native of Tennessee, came to Edwardsville in the spring of 1817, where the following year, August the sixth, he married Miss Mary Tindall. In 1833, he settled in the edge of the timber, section thirty, east side of Denton's branch, where he gathered a good deal of property about him. His farm comprised upward of four hundred acres. He raised horses and cattle in great numbers, allowing them to run on the range during the en- tire summer and fall at will. He was one of the early botanic doctors of the county. A Whig in politics, he never aspired to any office. He died on the place he improved, March 1st, 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Denton had born to them a family of nine children, Three died in infancy. James died in 1880. Jefferson in 1865. Martha, now deceased, married Amos Hodgeman. Benjamin is in the western country. Henry is a farmer, living on the old homestead. Sarah, now deceased, married Henry Moritz, and at his residence, Mrs. Denton now makes her home. She is the only old settler now living in the Omph-Ghent settlement. She was born in Ruthford county, North Carolina. Her

539

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

father, Thomas Tindall. emigrated to the Territory of Illi- nois, in 1816, arriving at Edwardsvitle in November of that year. He was a native of Virginia, and in that state he married Miss Martha Wall. They had two children born to them in Virginia, viz : Charles and Francis ; four in North Carolina, William, Mary, Parham and David ; three in Christian county, Kentucky, George, Lewis and Richard. Mrs. Denton says when her father started west from Ken- tucky, he was accompanied by the families of Ben- nett Jones, Thomas Wall and Joseph Mckinney. Their intention was to visit the Gosheu settlement, and, if not pleased with that, to go on to Boon's Lick, in Missouri. The party camped and cooked dinner about where the Court House now stands. After dinner the teams were hitched and their heads turned westward for the Mississippi ferry, where lower Alton now stands. In passing through old Edwardsville, Edward Fountain, who was a hotel keeper there, recognized Mr. Tindall. They had been school-mates in Virginia. Fountain induced the party to stop for a few days. They went into camp near where the lower Wabash depot now stands. Tindall soon moved his family into the old log court-house, where he wintered. There was no floor or chimney to the building. The fire was built in one corner of the room and the sinoke escaped the best it could through a hole in the roof. The second Monday in March, 1817, the court convened and the Tindall family had to abandon the court-house During the winter, Mr. Tindall built a com- fortable hewed log house that stood nearly opposite the place where Judge Gillespie now lives. Here he resided until he died in 1832. He followed teaming and farming. His wife survived him until 1851. Mrs. Denton is now the only survivor of the family. At the age of eighty she is hale and hearty, and looks much younger than her years. Her hair is raven black, with here and there a tinge of gray. Her memory retains its early vigor, and with ease she talks over pioneer times, giving facts and dites with much accu- racy. In 1830, Parham Wall built a double log house, a little east of the place where Adam Höhe now lives, where he had the misfortune to lose his wife. He then returned to Kentucky, where he lived many years. He afterwards came back to Madison county and died in Alton. Benjamin Bond, sr., came from Tennessee and settled in the northern part of section thirteen, in 1826, with his wife and family of five children, viz : Thomas, Elizabeth Jane, Benjamin, Mary and William. Holland was born on the old homeplace, this county. Mr. Bond's wife died about eight years after his coming here. Lucy Ann, the only living child of Mr. Bond's second marriage, is now the wife of Joseph Lamb, one of the prominent farmers of the township. Mr. Bond was married the fourth time, and now lives at Staunton, in his eighty-sixth year. He was a farmer of the township until about twenty years ago. William and Benjamin are farmers here. Mary, now Mrs. Jordon Best, lives in Olive township.

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History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 124

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co. Number of Pages: 698

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698