History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 88

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

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cholera in New Orleans in 1842. The only daughter, Martha, married George Ripley, and is now living at Staunton. After the death of Josias Randle, his nephew, Josiah Ran- dle, became the owner of his place of residence, and con- tinued for some time to operate the ox-mill.

In the fall of 1814, Mrs. Randle, the mother of Irwin B. Randle, of Edwardsville, reached the county from Tennes- see, with a family of eight children, of whom six were boys. The youngest was Irwin B Randle, then three years old. Their father died in Tennessee. The next year the family settled on the northwest quarter of section thirteen, of Ed- wardsville township, on land now owned by Ernst Kriege. This land was pre-empted by Edmund Randle, the oldest son. After living here several years, the family scattered to different parts of the county. The three oldest of the sons, Edmund, John H., and Josiah, died within a short time of each other, in 1853 and 1854. George D. Randle is now a resident of Mason city. Parham and Henry L. Randle returned to Kentucky, the former in 1827 and the la ter in 1829. Temperance, one of the daughters, married Thornton Peoples, one of the early residents of Edwards- ville, who removed to St. Clair county. Lucy became the wife of John Dew, one of the pioneer Methodist ministers of Illinois.

Beniah Robinson, an early resident on section twenty- four, was one of the pioneer surveyors of the county. He removed to Oregon. On the farmn of Thomas Good, two miles south of Edwardsville, the early camp-meetings were held. His wife was an earnest Methodist. William Gill- ham made the improvements on the northwest quarter of section twenty-four. The farm is the one now owned by Herman Giese. Jeptha Lampkin was an early settler on the northeast quarter of section twenty-four, and Robert Holliday on the northwest quarter of section twenty-five, and Robert McKee on the southwest quarter of section twenty-four. George Barnsback, in the spring of 1810, settled on section twenty-five. He was born in Osterode, Germany, in 1781, and emigrated to the United States in 1797, and shortly afterward went to Kentucky. He came to Illinois in 1809. He served for two years in the ranging service during the war of 1812-'14. From 1825 to 1831 he was a resident of St. Francois county, Missouri, and then returned to his old home in Edwardsville township.

George Kinder, one of the early settlers in the southeast part of the township, was a native of Pennsylvania. The family moved at an early day to Kentucky where his father, Jacob Kinder, was killed by the Indians. He came to what is now Madison county, in October, 1811, and settled on the northeast quarter of section thirty-six, on land now owned by Nelson Montgomery. He died on this farm. Of his nine children two were born in Kentucky previous to the coming of the family to this State; six children reside in Madison county : Capt. Jacob J. Kinder, Jane R., who married Robert Holliday, Robert H., George W. Kinder, Mrs. Mary A. Jarvis, and Eleanor, the wife of Nelson Montgomery. James Holliday, who came to this State from Georgia, settled in section thirty-four previous to 1811. His only child, Robert Holliday, was a man of conservative

HARNIST & COOKS

DRUG AND BOOK STORE, EDWARDSVILLE, ILL.

SIMON KELLERMANN

REPUBLICAN PRINTING OFFICE

JOB PRINTING.

OYSTERS

SIMON KELLERMANN'S OYSTER DEPOT, EDWARDSVILLE, ILL.

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

disposition. Although the owner of seven hundred acres of land in this county, he moved to the poorest part of Macou- pin county where he purchased land, and died. Franklin Roach (whose proper name is said to have been Fields,) and who was a soldier under Gen. Marion in the war of the Revolution, made the first improvement on the farm now owned by Capt. Jacob J. Kinder in section thirty-six. He was a native of South Carolina. His son, David Roach, served with the rangers in the war of 1812, and with the moncy he received for his services, purchased the quarter section on which Capt. Kinder's house is built. The Roach family moved to the neighborhood of Worden where the older members died.

In the northwest part of the township, Ambrose and David Nix were among the pioneer settlers. Ambrose Nix made the first improvements on the farm now owned by William M. Lee in section thirty-two. Lee married one of his daughters. David Nix settled the place where the Edwardsville road comes down from the bluff. The house in which he lived and died is still standing. Nix's Ford, a well known place in the early history of the county, was half a mile northwest of David Nix's house. The ford was free from quicksands, and the best on the Cahokia. Jacob Varner settled north of Nix's on land now owned by Henry F. Brockmeyer. Abraham and Joel Varner were sons of Jacob. Capt Bolen Whiteside lived under the bluff. in section seventeen.

David Gillespie, the father of Matthew and Joseph, removed with his family and settled near Edwardsville in the early part of the year 1819, and resided here until the summer of 1827, when he went to the Galena lead mines He returned in the fall of 1828, and located in the American bottom or rather under the bluff where he purchased the farm that was settled by Henry Cook in early times. He resided there until 1834, when he removed to Grant county, Wisconsin, where he died at a ripe old age. His wife had previously died in 1831, at the farin above mentioned.

John Barber, who became a resident of the township about 1825, taught school for several years in a log school- house near his residence, three miles south of Edwardsville. The school-honse stood in the middle of the Troy road, north of what is now known as the McKee place. Barber was a well educated man, who understood the Latin and Greek languages, and was considered an excellent teacher. Ilis school drew to it pupils from Edwardsville.

George Coventry came to the county in 1813. He was a millwright by trade, and built a water-mill in what is known as the Tan Yard branch. This mill was in existence some years, and traces of the old mill-race may still be seen. The mill was about a quarter of a mile distant from the fair grounds. J. W. Coventry, who for several years has been postmaster in Edwardsville, is a son of his, and came with his father to this county in 1813. The branch received its name from the tan-yard which once existed at its head. This tan- yard was started by Benjamin Steadman, who sold it to Rich-

ard Randle, and he to Tilghman H. West and William P. McKee. West and McKee rented the place to Solomon Harkey. In January, 1833, it was rented by C. W. Crocker. The yard was little used after 1840. It was placed in opera- tion as early as 1816 or 1817, and was a noted place in pioneer days.

On the Cahokia, in section 8, just above the mouth of In- dian creek, a mill was built at an early day, but was never placed in operation. Some of the rock used in its construc- tion is still visible. Though the mill was never put to any use, it was productive of a law suit which found its way to the supreme court of the state.

On the spot now occupied by the residence of Nelson Montgomery, in section 25, an ox-mill once stood. Its con- struction was changed, and attachments made with the idea of propelling it by wind. It did not operate successfully, however, and the structure was suffered to fall into decay. Daniel Tolman was the projector of this enterprise.

One of the earliest Methodist churches in the West was the Bethel Methodist church, two miles and a half south- west of Edwardsville. It was built in 1805. About the year 1817 a church was built at Ebenezer, now called Centre Grove. The old Ebenezer church was attended for some years by the people of Edwardsville, there being no churches or religious organizations in that town for some time previ- ous to 1828. At the old Ebenezer school-house Hiram Ronn- tree was one of the earliest and best teachers. He taught two years, and his school consisted of eighty pupils.

The earliest entries of land in township 4, range 8, were made in 1814. On the 20th of August of that year William Ottwell entered 160 acres in section 4. On the 13th of September Thomas Kirkpatrick secured patents for two tracts in section 2, one containing 102 and the other 10 acres. On the same date John T. Lusk entered 330 acres in section 3. Both Lusk and Kirkpatrick made additional entries during the balance of the year. Michael Dodd also, on the 13th of September, entered 317 acres in section 5. Two weeks afterward John Robinson entered one hundred and twenty-five acres in section two. Entries of land were also made in 1814 by Nicholas Jarrot, George Davidson, George Sanders, R. C. Gillham, Samuel Delaplain, James Greenwood, Benjamin Steadman, Josiah Randle, Josias Wright, Daniel Brown, Robert Reynolds, John McKinney, Thomas Randle, Thomas and John Good, Charles Gillham, George Barnsback, James Holliday, Robert Gillespie, Jacob Trout, George Belsha, John Nix and George Hubbert.

The following named gentlemen have represented this township in the county board of supervisors : John A. Priekett elected in 1876 and re-elected in 1877, being chosen chairman of the board both terms; Jacob W. Terry, elected in 1878, and by re-election served until 1881, when William H. Cotter and Henry Brockmeier were elected, Mr. Cotter being re-elected in 1882, with George W. Kinder as assistant.

BIOGRAPHIES.

EDWARD COLES .*

EDWARD COLES, the second Governor of the state of Illi- nois, resided in Edwardsville. He was an extraordinary man, and was more instrumental in shaping the destinies of Illi- nois (and perhaps of the Nation) than any man who ever resided within her limits. In order to understand the force of this remark, it is proper to premise that the Constitution of the United States contained three provisions that were distaste- ful to the opponents of slavery. One was that the African slave- trade should not be abolished before 1808; secondly that there should be a fugitive slave law, and thereby that five slaves should be reckoned equal to three white persons on the floor of Congress. These clauses were all in the interest of slavery. In order to induce its opponents, to accept the constitution with these clauses in it, it was agreed that sla- very should be confined to its then limits, and accordingly it was prohibited in the Northwestern territory by the Con- gress of 1787, then in session, cotemporaneously with the Con- vention, which was all the territory belonging to the United States. In 1802, we purchased Louisiana, in which slavery had been planted by the Spaniards, and French. In 1812 Louisiana was admitted as a slave state without much op- position inasmuch as slavery had existed there from the outset, and as the acquisition of the French possessions was looked upon as a necessity. In 1819, Missouri applied for admission as a slave State, formed out of this French territo- ry, and as slavery was principally introduced from the original thirteen States it was considered, that her admission would be in derogation of the understanding had in 1787, and hence, the agitation of 1819-20, which was finally set- tled by the admission of Missouri, and the compromise, which excluded slavery from all the French territory North of 36°30' latitude except Missouri. Edward Coles, who was a Virginian, inherited a hatred for slavery, and npon the death of his father he determined to manumit his slaves, and in order to do so, and make comfortable provi- sion for their livelihood, he removed to Illinois ; before reach- ing which, while on the Ohio river, he set all his slaves free, and when he arrived at Edwardsville, he bestowed upon each head of a family, a tract of land, ample for their main- tenance within about three miles of this place. Coles was soon appointed Register of the Land office here, and was consequently brought into contact with the people, and be- came very popular with all classes, particularly with those who were hostile to slavery. Soon it became manifest that an effort would be made to introduce slavery into Illinois, notwithstanding the ordinance of 1787. Illinois could not have been admitted into the Union with slavery, but the proslavery men, ever fertile in resources conceived the idea that the ordinance could be defeated by coming in as a Free State, and then altering the Constitution, so as to admit sla-

* For this Sketch we are indebted to Judge Joseph Gillespie. 350

very. An election for Governor of the State coming on in 1822, Coles became a candidate, evidently with a view of frustrating the designs of the slavery propagandists, and was elected. From this moment the Governor set all his energies to work to defeat their schemes. He devoted his time his tal- ents, his money, and risked his life in the cause he had espous- ed, and never relaxed his exertions nntil victory crowned his efforts. He gave his salary as Governor to the cause. He was instant in season and out of season. It would be impossi- ble to do half justice to his efforts. He wrote and he rode. He loaded the mails with comments and correspondence. He addressed the people publicly and privately, whenever an opportunity offered. He was harassed with law suits, he was threatened with death, his property was destroyed by fire. He was fined $2000 for not giving bonds that the slaves he freed should not become a public charge, when the law requiring it had not been published fifteen days at the time, and not one in a thousand knew of its existence. The Legislature remitted the fine, but the judge who tried him, held the act to be an cx- post facto enactment. The Supreme Court however gave him the benefit of the law. It may truthfully be said that at that early day he was the most earnest and energetic anti- slavery man in the United States, and to his efforts may be ascribed the defeat of the scheme to drag Illinois into the sisterhood of Slave States. Had Illinois succumbed at that time Indiana would have followed suit, and if they had thrown their weight into the scale with the rebels, at the breaking out of the rebellion, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to have suppressed it. So that the contest in which Governor Coles took such an active and efficient part may be said to have been the turning point in the his- tory of slavery in the United States. Governor Coles was on terms of great intimacy with Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, Mr. Monroe and J. Q. Adams. He was appointed bearer of despatches by Mr. Madison when President to Mr. Ad- ams, when Minister to Russia. He could have had any place he desired within the gift of any of those men. He could have basked in the sunshine of official favor, but he surren -. dered all his prospects for fame and power to the work more congenial to his heart of giving freedom to the op- pressed. After he had saved Illinois from the curse of slavery and seen his former slaves comfortably pro- vided for, he removed to Philadelphia, where he married and raised a family, and after a long, eventful, and useful life was gathered to his fathers, honored and beloved by all who knew him.

An admirable Biography of Governor Coles has been written by the Hon. E. B. Washburn, of Chicago. He has done all that man could do with his materials, but it is unfortunate that upwards of half a century should have elapsed, before attempting to rescue from oblivion the life d character of so good and great a man as Edward Coles.

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

351

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2. Gillespie

AMONG the old settlers and prominent men, who have for many years been identified with Madison county, is Joseph Gillespie. He is to-day perhaps the most conspicuous figure in her history. He is one of the connecting links between this and the pioneer era of Illinois, and comes down to us from a former generation. In his active life he was the contemporary, associate, and friend of men who have grown - great and added a page to the world's history. He is of Scotch-Irish parentage, and the son of David and Sarah Gillespie, who were born, raised and married in county Monaghan, Ireland. The ancestors of the Gillespie family were originally Scotch. They left their native country two years after the battle of the Boyne and settled in Ireland. They were Presbyterians in religion, and, it might be said, Republicans in their politics. Mrs. Gillespie even belonged to the "United Irish Society," which had for its object the liberation of the Irish people from the yoke of British tyran- ny ; and her brother was so particularly active in the rebellion of 1798, that he had to make his escape to the United States in order to save his life. The parents of Mr. Gillespie were warmly attached to America and her people, and, when the

opportunity offered, quickly embarked for this country. They landed in New York in 1807, and located in New York city, where they remained until 1819, when they re- moved west and settled in Madison county, Illinois. Here Mr. Gillespie followed the occupation of tilling the soil. In 1831 his wife died. In 1834 he moved to Grant county, Wisconsin, and died there in 1855. There were two sons born to David and Sarah Gillespie-Matthew and Joseph. Matthew died in 1861. Joseph, the subject of this sketch, was born in New York city, August 22, 1809. His educa- tion in schools was limited, and ceased entirely in his eleventh year. In those days schools were the exception, and at best were provided with incompetent teachers. His mother, however, who was well-informed and extremely fond of read- ing, in a measure supplied the want of suitable opportunities. She gave her sons all the instruction she could impart, pro- cured the best reading matter that the county afforded, and by her endeavors awakened in them a thirst for knowledge. She gave them her views upon what they had read, which strengthened their recollection, created habits of reflection. and made amends for the lack of early scholastic advantages,

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

Joseph remained at home until 1827, when he went to the lead mines at Galena, and spent that season and also the seasons of 1828-29. A change in the tariff about that time made the sale of lead difficult, and the business of mining it became unprofitable. He returned home and remained there until 1831, when he went to Edwardsville. The same year he was invited to read law with Hon. Cyrus Edwards, at his residence on Wood River. This kind offer he hesi- tated to accept, on account of his lack of early educational training, but Mr. Edwards overcame his (Gillespie's) fears, and persuaded him to accept the offer. He lived in the family of Mr. Edwards for two years, and in that time read law under the direction and tuition of his generous benefactor.

During that time the Black-Hawk War broke out. He volunteered and made the campaign of 1831 and 1832. About the time he was ready to commence the practice of his profession, he was elected probate judge of the county, which position he held for two years. After the expiration of his term as probate judge, he began to travel the circuit. The bar of this circuit at that time, as well as the bench, consisted of an array of learned and talented men. Judge Breese was on the bench, and such men as Alfred Cowles, Gustave Koerner, J. M. Krum, George T. M. Davis, A. P Field, Abraham Lincoln, James Shields, William H. Under- wood, Governor Bissell, J. L. D. Morrison, Lyman Trum- bull, U. F. Linder, and others, composed the bar. There were, indeed, giants in those days, and it required courage and confidence to enter the list against such an array of talent; but, nevertheless, Mr. Gillespie did enter, and proved himself a foeman worthy of their intellectual steel.

In 1840 he was elected on the Whig ticket to represent Madison county in the State Legislature. His colleagues from this county were his preceptor, Mr. Edwards, and James Reynolds. The Whigs being in a hopeless minority, there was but little to do. After his return, he again went to the practice of his profession, in which he was not disturbed until 1847, when he was elected a member of the State Senate, in which body he continued until 1857. During that time the bill for chartering the Illinois Central Railroad came up. It was managed by Mr. Rantoul of Boston, the company's agent. It had passed the house as he had drawn it up, to wit: That the company should pay to the State seven per cent. of its gross earnings and no taxes. Thirteen senators, among whom was Gillespie, determined to preserve the principle of taxation, and they struck out " seven per cent." and inserted "five per cent.," providing that the com. pany should pay State taxes at the rate of seventy-five cents per hundred dollars; and if that did not equal two per cent. of its gross earnings, the company should make it up to that figure,-so that it was not to pay less than seven per cent. in the shape of bonuses and taxation ; but, as they under- stood it, it might have to pay more. Mr. Gillespie, and the other senators were favorable to, and desired to charter the road ; but desired, above all things, to retain the principle

of taxation, and by no act of theirs show that they in any manner surrendered that principle. Their action was mis- understood at the time, and uo little abuse was heaped upon them ; hut time has proven that they were right, and their position well taken. The Supreme Court afterward decided that seven per cent. was the maximum the company was to pay. During his time in the Senate, what was called "State Policy " originated. The Terre Haute and Alton Railroad had been chartered, and about $1,000,000 were invested in its construction, when a charter for the Atlantic and Missis- sippi Railroad, between nearly the same termini, was asked for. More than two-thirds of the district represented by Mr. Gillespie were in favor of the Terre Haute and Alton road, and he saw that the chartering of the Atlantic and Mississippi Railroad would forever destroy the former road, unless the latter was first built (as the Atlantic and Mississippi was a much shorter and straighter route), after which the second could be constructed,-maintaining that you could build a straight road after building a crooked one, but never a crooked one after a straight one was com- pleted between substantially the same termini. He was then, and is yet, in favor of building all the roads possible, and letting competition reduce rates and regulate traffic, without the interference of legislative bodies In 1861 he was elected to the office of Judge of the Twenty-fourth Judicial Cir- cuit of Illinois, and occupied that position for twelve years. While upon the bench his judicial opinions were marked by great clearness, exhibiting thorough research, careful analysis and a sound knowledge of the principles of elementary law. Since his retirement from the bench he has practiced his profession.

In matters of religion, Judge Gillespie is inclined to a liberal belief. Politically, he was originally an old line Whig, and remained a member of that party until its organ- ization was abandoned. He was opposed to slavery, and the intimate friend of men who were the acknowledged lead- ers of the advanced thought upon that question in that day ; and, so soon as an organized opposition was formed against slavery, that had in it the elements of success, he joined its ranks, and of necessity became a Republican, with which political organization he has remained to the present. He was always opposed to the dogma of State Rights, which was one of the cardinal principles of the Democratic party.

In 1845, at Greenville, Illinois, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Smith. There have been eight children born to them, five of whom are living. Their names are- Cyrus E., Mary J., Charles S., Frank K., and Maria L. Gillespie. His wife was born at Harper's Ferry, Va., and is of English and German descent. Her father's family were from England, and her mother's from Hanover, Ger- many. Her step-father (Thomas Keyes) and her mother came to Illinois in 1832, and settled near Greenville, in Bond county, where Mrs. Gillespie resided at the time of her marriage.

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

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Juo. A Prickett

THE subject of the following brief sketch is a native of Edwardsville. He has been for many years, and is yet one of the active business meu of this city. He is of English ancestry. His grandfather, George Prickett, emigrated from England to America some time before the revolutionary war. In that struggle he cast his lot with the patriots, and fought for the independence of the colonies. The Pricketts first settled in Maryland, and there George and his brother Jacob married two sisters, by the name of Anderson. Soon after that event they moved to the Carolinas, thence went to Georgia, and subsequently removed to Kentucky, and in 1808 came to the territory of Illinois, and settled in what is now known as Madison county. Abraham Prickett, his son and father of the subject of this memoir, was born July 27th, 1790. He was, in the early days of Illinois quite a

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History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 88

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