USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., gathered from mattter furnished by the Mercer County Historical Society, interviews with old settlers, county, township and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources as have been available : containing also a short history of Henderson County > Part 57
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acted as secretary, and Wilson made the motions. The meeting was decidedly harmonious. Mr. Edwards has for many years been a warm advocate of the temperance cause, and is at present directing his efforts and influence to assist in bringing about an entire prohibition of the manufacture and sale of spirituous, vinous and malt liquors.
ALEXANDER McARTHUR, circuit clerk, Aledo, only child of Alexan- der and Ann (McGregor) McArthur, was born in Perthshire, Scotland, February 4, 1850. He came with his widowed mother to this coun- try, landing at New York July 4, 1856. The following spring they came to Aledo, where he has since resided. Mrs. McArthur, to whom our subject acknowledges with true filial gratitude that he owes all he is or may ever be, supported herself and her son until 1860, when he began to work out. From this date till 1870 he worked as a farm hand, improving the winters by attending district school. In 1871, he obtained employment in the store of Mckinney & Lorimer, as book- keeper and salesman. In the autumn of 1874, his old employer, Mr. Lorimer, being circuit clerk, he was taken into his office as deputy. In January, 1876, the clerk resigned, and Mr. McArthur was appointed by the judge of the circuit court to fill the unexpired term of eleven months. In the fall of 1876, he was elected by the republicans to oc- cupy the office, and in 1880, was re-elected. He is a member of Aledo Lodge, No. 252, A.F. A. M., of Keithsburg Chapter, No. 17, and Everts Commandery, No. 18, of Rock Island.
ISAAC N. DUNLAP, of the firm of Richey & Dunlap, Aledo, was born in Pennsylvania, May 12, 1836. His parents were Andrew and Jemima (Roby) Dunlap. In 1857, he came to Illinois, and after living one year in Knox county he made permanent settlement in Mercer. In June, 1861, he volunteered in Co. I, 17th Ill. Inf., and fought his only battle at Fort Donelson where he lost his left leg by a six pound shell. The missile took off two men's heads before it lodged in his thigh. He was left six days in an old house on the battle-field after his leg was amputated, without care, in expectation that he would die. He recovered and was discharged in April, 1862. The shell is pre- served in the museum of relies of the war in Washington, and this case is cited in the medical history of the rebellion. Mr. Dunlap was elected county treasurer in 1865, by the republican party, of which he is a staunch and zealous member, and discharged the duties of that position with credit and satisfaction six years. On January 23, 1866, he celebrated his marriage with Miss Tirza A. Pinkerton. They are both communicants in the Methodist church. In 1874, Mr. Dunlap engaged in selling groceries with John W. Dilley. Afterward he was alone in the same trade ; and next was out of business two years. In
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1877 he began dealing in boots and shoes in company with William Day ; the latter died the next year, and he closed out soon after. In September, 1879, he formed his present partnership with C. S. Richey, Esq., in general merchandising.
BENJAMIN F. TOWNSLEY, brick and tile manufacturer, Aledo, was born in England in 1850, and in 1852 was brought by his parents, John and Anna (Stockdale) Townsley, to Toronto, Canada. In 1867 he came to Mercer county, and during the first five or six years worked at blacksmithing, afterward he engaged in the brick and tile business. He was manufacturing brick in New Boston in company with his brother James ; in 1876 they sold out and started again at Aledo. His brother died the next year, and he has since managed the work with- out a partner. In 1874 they began making drain tile on a small scale, and now Mr. Townsley has extended the business to include a brick yard at Joy. In the manufacture of tile Mr. Townsley uses Tiffany's centennial brick and tile machine for molding, and the square, down- draft kilns invented by the same patentee for burning. This business represents an industry of increasing importance that is destined to exert an incalcuable influence on the productive wealth of the country. The advantages of tile draining are thoroughly proven and becoming well understood, and the amount of land tiled each year is immensely large. Mr Townsley is an Odd-Fellow, and a member of Aledo Lodge No. 136, I.O.G.T.
WILLIAM A. LORIMER, merchant, Aledo, born in Perth, Scotland, in 1840, emigrated with his parents in 1848 and lived first in Pennsyl- vania, then a short time in Ohio, and in 1853 came to Keithsburg. He was taken from school when twelve years of age and put to work in the Hudson (Ohio) "Observer " printing office. On arriving at Keithsburg he went to clerking, and continued to be so employed until the breaking out of the war. He promptly enlisted in April, 1861, in Co. I, 17th Ill. Inf., and was fighting the battles of his country a little over three years. The most prominent actions in which he was engaged were Fredericktown, Missouri, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Vicks- burg. To this list of great battles should be added the usual amount of small fighting. He went out as sergeant of his company and was first promoted to second lieutenant, and next to captain, which latter rank he held when mustered out at Springfield in June, 1864. After returning to civil life he spent the first year in Chicago ; then coming back to Keithsburg he clerked for C. S. Orth, after which, in 1868, he was selected circuit clerk by the republicans of the county. This office he filled two terms of four years each. He was trading in dry goods in company with John McKinney Jr., a part of the time during his
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incumbency as an officeholder, and since his retirement from public business has occupied his present stand on the southwest corner of Seventh street and College avenue. Mr. Lorimer was married in 1868 to Miss Orpha J. Calhoun. They have had five children, three of which are dead.
MORDECAI L. MARSII, justice of the peace, Aledo, was born in Rahway, New Jersey, in 1813. His parents were Solomon and Fanny (Brown) Marsh, whose Quaker ancestors came to America in the latter part of the seventeenth century, to escape the English prosecution of their sect. In New York Mr. Marsh learned the cabinet and piano trade. In 1834 he settled in Buffalo and embarked in land specula- tions. When the crash of 1837 came he was caught, like the rest of men, at a disadvantage, and lost about all his property. In the same year he emigrated to Ohio, and lived there till 1852, when he came to Illinois and located his family in Millersburg township, this county, and made farming his occupation until Christmas, 1857. He then moved to Aledo, having since resided here, and continuously held the office of justice of the peace, his first election having been in the spring of 1861. He has been treasurer of Mercer township several years. In 1832 he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Gregory. She has been an unfortunate invalid forty-eight years. Both were at first members of the Baptist church, Mr. Marsh joining in 1835: but about 1855 they became enrolled in the Presbyterian church, to which they now belong, and in which our subject has been a deacon nearly twenty- five years. These parents have one son, William. Mr. Marsh was a whig until that party disappeared as a political organization ; since then he has been a republican.
JOHN G. McGUFFIN, grocer, Aledo, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1829. He taught school seven years in Pennsyl- vania, Ohio, and Illinois. In 1855 he arrived in the latter state and settled in Warren county ; in 1857 he came to Aledo and began clerk- ing for Dr. Isaac Edwards, and remained in his service until he went into the army. He volunteered in August, 1862, in company K, 102d reg. Ill. Vol. Inf., and on the organization of the company was elected orderly sergeant. He remained with his regiment through all its earlier and disciplinary service, and finally when it left Lavergne, Tennessee, for the front, in February, 1864, he was sent back to Nash- ville, unfit for duty, and in October following was honorably discharged on account of disability. On his return home he took charge of Luvin's store, in that gentleman's absence on a visit to the old country ; then he clerked for Poage & Senter four years. He was next a member of the dry goods firm of Richey Bros. & McGuffin for four years, and
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after that was in the grocery trade in the firm of Atchison & McGuffin. The last sold out, and he soon started in business alone. Afterward M. E. McDonald purchased a half interest, and in May, 1881, was succeeded in the partnership by H. D. Marks, Mr. McGuffin's present partner. The subject of this notice was married, February 25, 1857, to Miss Maggie S. Harris. They have one son, William Rice, now preparing himself . for the profession of medicine. Mr. and Mrs. McGuffin are Presbyterians ; and he is a republican.
JAMES C. WRIGHT, retired farmer, Aledo, is a descendant of revo- lutionary stock. both his grandfathers having been soldiers in the war for independence. Mr. Wright's parents, Arunah and Polly (Went- worth) Wright, lived in Oneida county, New York, where there were born to them six sons, two of whom died young; those who grew up to manhood were Alpheus W., Horace E., George W., and the subject of this sketch, who was born in the year 1817. The mother died in 1829, and the father in 1838. In the latter year Alpheus came to Mercer county from Ohio, to which state he had previously emigrated. The following year the three remaining brothers left their native state and came here, and the four settled at Warr's Corners, in Richland township. In the autumn of 1842 these brothers made the first settle- ment at Preemption Corners, four miles west of their original location. though some others had made homes in the neighborhood a few years earlier. In 1846 Mr. Wright rode back to New York on horseback, in company with Andrew Conant and wife, and led six horses. He had come here without means. He remained in New York till 1851, and directly on his return was married, March 17, to Miss Julia A. Stone. She was a native of Mansfield, Connecticut, but was raised in Mr. Wright's own county, where they became acquainted. Her father's family removed to Lee county in the fall of 1850, and then the next year he followed to Illinois, and this couple were married. They have two living children : Newell N. and Louie A. Mr. Wright was super- visor of Preemption township two terms. He was originally a demo- crat, but in 1856 joined the new republican party.
WILLIAM WINDERS, produce dealer, Aledo, son of John and Eliza- beth (Paden) Winders, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, September 25, 1836. In 1856 he came to Mercer county and settled in the country near Aledo, and worked at his trade of plastering and two years at farming. The war of the rebellion being in progress, on August 13, 1862, he volunteered as a private in company K, 102d reg. Ill. Vol. Inf. On the organization of the company he was appointed third cor- poral, but always did duty as sergeant, and was mustered out as first sergeant. He was with his regiment during its whole term of service,
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except one week, when it was operating and fighting at Resacca. This embraced the Atlanta campaign, which Gen. Halleck pronounced the greatest of the war, the march to the sea, and the campaign of the Carolinas, to which may be added the march to Washington and the grand review. He helped to build the three hundred miles of breast- works and the same amount of corduroy road which Sherman's army made, fought in several battles, including Peachtree creek and Averysboro, and scores of skirmishes and small fights. His muster- out was at Washington, D. C., June 6, 1865. He was married June 12, 1862, to Miss Catharine E. Detwiler. In the spring of 1866 he removed with his family to Finley, Hancock countly, Ohio, where he clerked in a dry goods store. In 1867 he came back and remained a month or two, after which he again went to Ohio and stayed another year, then returned to Aledo, where he has since lived. He was butchering three years, the rest of the time he has been in his present business. Mr. Winder's children are : Julia E., George S., Thornton D., Willie M., Charles Henry, and Araminta Pearl. He has been town trustee one year, and is a mason, a workman and a republican.
MARTIN BOYD, farmer, Aledo, oldest living child of Miles and Catherine (Fisher) Boyd, was born in Madison county, Indiana, Feb- ruary 12, 1834. In 1839 his father emigrated to Mercer county and settled in what is now Eliza township, and four years afterward died in Indiana, while there on business. His mother married again to James Turner, and is living on the old homestead. April 6, 1856, Mr. Boyd was married to Miss Lydia, daughter of Martin Bear, one of the original settlers of Eliza township, and the same spring settled on the N. W. ¿ Sec. 16, Duncan township, and lived there twenty
years. In 1876 he moved to Aledo. He was generally and quite ex- tensively engaged while on his farm in feeding cattle. For a number of years he was supervisor and assessor of Eliza, and held, besides, other offices in his township. In 1880 he was elected by the democrats to the legislature, where he attended the regular session of 1880-81, and the recent special session convened the present year (1882) by Gov. Cullom. He has served on the committees on county and town- ship organization, library, and miscellanies. Mr. Boyd has never been identified with any other than the democratic party. He was actively associated with his friends in the farmers' movement from 1873 to 1875, was master of a grange, and delegate therefrom to the state grange. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have three children : Catharine, Lenore and Bertha. Catharine is the wife of Minor Miller.
CHARLES F. DURSTON, deputy circuit clerk, Aledo, second child of James and Philadelphia (Bridger) Durston, was born in Mercer county,
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August 14, 1837. His parents emigrated from New York to this county in 1836 and settled in Rivoli township, where they lived till their death. The mother departed this life in 1866, and the father, an Englishman by birth, in 1878. This subject attended school one year at Wheaton College. Combining his studies there with other instruc- tion which he received, he secured a very good English education. He was married in 1865 to Miss Sarah Gould, of this county, and by her has had three children : Lizzie, Alice and Adelphia. Both parents are members of the Congregational church. Mr. Durston lived by farming until 1873. In that year he was elected county clerk, and filled that office with acceptance to the people till his successor was elected in 1877. He has been deputy circuit clerk the last three years. Politically he is a republican.
JOSEPH B. MOORE, cabinet maker and furniture dealer, Aledo, was born March 14, 1827, and is the youngest living son of Foreman and Anna (Worley) Moore. He followed carpentering, farming, under- taking and boating in Ohio, and was several years justice of the peace. In 1865 he emigrated to Mercer county and for ten years worked an eighty-acre farm adjoining Aledo. In 1875 he gave up farming and engaged in his present business. In 1850 he celebrated his nuptuals with Miss Margaret McCall. Their family has comprised three child- ren : Robert K., music teacher ; John W., died in infancy ; and Mary Ellen, who married O. P. Arthur, and is now dead. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are communicants in the Methodist church. He is church trus- tee and has been steward and class leader. He has filled the office of trustee of the town of Aledo five years and was president of the board part of the time. In politics he is a democrat, as a rule, though he has voted for republican candidates for president, and does not adhere strictly to party lines. Mr. Moore's father was the son of Joseph Moore, and was born in Mason county, Kentucky, June 20, 1792. He came with his parents to Scioto county, Ohio, when six years old and lived in that county, except a year or two he was in Adams county when first married, until he came west with his son Joseph in 1865. He lives in Aledo, and at the advanced age of ninety years retains goodly health and activity. He was married in 1814 to Miss Anna Worley. They had nine children : Patience, Rebecca, Leroy, Charles, Scienda (dead), Joseph, John (dead), Jedediah (dead), and Asbury (dead). The mother of these children died about 1849, and a year afterward the father married Mrs. Rebecca Hoobler, who is still living. Mr. Moore united with the Methodist church at the age of twelve and has always been a steadfast, zealous laborer in the Master's vineyard. He has been a licensed exhorter over forty years, and has held official
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connection with the church at different times as trustee, steward and class leader. He is pensioned by the government for service in the war of 1812. He was mustered as a soldier in his own county and after marching to Sandusky was discharged.
THOMAS MADDUX, farmer and stock raiser. Aledo, is a native of Fleming county, Kentucky, where he was born July 19, 1820. His father, George B. Maddux, was three times married, and the subject of this was the third child among four sons and five daughters by the second wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Green. Mr. Maddux's father was born and reared in Fauquier county, Virginia. He married for his last wife Elizabeth Hill and by this union became the father of two sons, making twenty-one children of his own. He died in Ken- tucky, and his wife in Aberdeen, Ohio, in 1875. Mr. Maddux learned the tinner's trade in Maysville, Kentucky, with Joseph Frank ; in 1843 he removed to Laurel, Franklin county, Indiana, and lived there, en- gaged at his trade and carrying on the hardware business, till June, 1857, when he located his family in Aledo. He continued the same business here till 1868 and then sold out to W. H. Holmes. On his settlement in the place he erected the first building ever put up on the business lot now occupied by Mr. Holmes on College avenue. In 1873 Mr. Maddux resumed his old business on the corner of Seventh and Maple streets under the name of Maddux & Son. In March, 1876, he sold to Detwiler & Son and retired from trade. He had previously become interested in farming and is now the owner of two good farms near the county seat. He started a poor boy and has made a success of his undertakings. After serving his apprenticeship he had $114 with which he began business. He has been twice married ; first in 1846 to Miss Mary E. Williams, of Laurel, Indiana. The issue of this marriage were three children : Elizabeth (died in infancy), Lewis S., and Frank L. Mrs. Maddux died July 25, 1855, and on January 5, 1862, Mr. Maddux was married to Mrs. Phebe Whitelaw, of Franklin county, Indiana. They have had a little daughter, Kate A., who died when three years old. Mr. Maddux is a Mason, an Odd-Fellow and a republican.
CHARLES C. WORDIN, county clerk, Aledo, oldest son of Joseph J. and Sophia (Brown) Wordin, was born in Keithsburg township, Sep- tember 25, 1840. He enlisted August 5, 1861, in Co. E, 9th Ill. Inf., and served with credit in that command until the expiration of his term, in August, 1864, when he was sent back from before Atlanta and mus- tered out at Springfield, Illinois. He fought at Fort Donelson, Shiloh. battle of Corinth, October 3 and 4. 1862, and after his regiment was mounted, in March, 1863, was continually on scouting service, and
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participated in numerous small fights. He was also engaged in the arduous service of the Atlanta campaign. He enlisted a second time March, 1865, in Co. F, 4th reg. U. S. Vet. Vol., an organization formed by Gen. Hancock, to which none were admitted who had not seen at least two years service. One year was spent in garrison at Columbus, Ohio, Washington city, and Louisville, Kentucky. In March, 1866, he was mustered out at the latter city. After the war he kept books in Keithsburg five and a half years ; then he was running a hotel two and one-half years ; and in November, 1877, he was elected county clerk, and is still an incumbent of the office. Mr. Wordin has been an Odd-Fellow since 1868. December 18, 1872, he celebrated his marriage with Miss Jennie McPhee. In 1876, they lost their only child, a son, who was three years old. Mr. Wordin's father was born in Rensselaer county, New York, in 1815. He came to this county from Ohio, in 1837, and settled in Keithsburg in March, 1838, living at the landing till 1840. Moving out two miles, he lived on a farm three years ; then he returned and has since had his home in the town. He followed his trade of wagon-making till 1862; since that he has been a house painter. He is one of the few venerable pioneers left as monuments whose shadows link the present with the aboriginal period in Mercer county.
WILLIAM HENRY HOLMES, hardware and stove dealer, Aledo. oldest son of William and Hannah (Lantey) Holmes, was born in Hull, Eng- land, February 15, 1847. His father emigrated with his family to Brantford, Canada West, in 1850; and in 1857 he removed to Wiscon- sin. The next year they came to Aledo, where they have all since lived. After coming here, Mr. Holmes attended school and worked at farm labor until the spring of 1864, when he commenced to learn the tinner's trade. At the end of two months he volunteered in the one hundred days' service in Co. F, 140th Ill. Inf. He was mustered into the service at Dixon, Illinois, and after five and one-half months spent in doing guard and garrison duty in Missouri and Tennessee, he was mustered out at Camp Fry, Chicago. He returned to Aledo and fin- ished his trade, with Thomas Maddux, Esq., and in 1868 bought out his employer, and has been in business on the same ground since. He was married in 1874 to Miss Mary C. Hause. The fruits of this union have been two children, Clyde W. and Fannie May. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes are both members of the Methodist church. He has been steward in the church, trustee of the town, is a member of Aledo Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and a republican in politics.
DANIEL T. HINDMAN, county treasurer, Aledo, was born in Butler county, Ohio, February 22, 1839. His parents were Dr. Andrew and
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Margaret (Trembly) Hindman. The former died in Union county, Indiana, in 1852; and the next year the mother came with her five sons to Rock Island county, Illinois, and in 1854 settled with her family in New Boston. The subject of this sketch received an academic education ; in 1857 he went to Richmond, Indiana, and attended school one year; afterward he studied medicine a year and a half ; and in 1860 returned to Mercer county. In April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Co. I, 17th Ill. Inf., and was in the military service over five years. He fought at Frederickstown, Missouri, Octo- ber 21, 1861, at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Inka, the Hatchie, and Vicksburg. In November, 1863, he came north to Springfield, and then to Mercer county, as recruiting sergeant, and during the winter obtained twenty-one recruits for his regiment. He returned with them to Vicksburg, and by order of the commanding general, Slocum, organized these recruits and the veterans of the 17th into a battalion of two companies. These were allowed to elect their officers, and Mr. Hindman was chosen captain by the "veteran " company. By order of Gen. McPherson, commanding the Army of the Tennessee, this detachment was consolidated with the Sth Ill. Inf., in June, 1864, and owing to the resultant change in the line officers, Mr. Hindman accepted a second lieutenant's commission in Co. E, to which the "veterans " from the 17th were assigned. He was in command of this company during the remainder of his service, and drew pay as commanding officer. After the consolidation he fought at Jackson, Mississippi, in July, 1864, and at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, Mobile. After that he was stationed a year at Shreveport, Louisiana, and in Texas, and was mustered out at Baton Rouge, May 4. 1866. He soon after went into business in New Boston, which he continued till the fall of 1875, when he was elected on the republican ticket to the office of county treasurer, to which he has been successively elected and is now serving his third term. He is a member of the A.O.U. W., and has been a Mason since 1866. In the latter year he was mar- ried to Miss Viola J. Willits. They have a son and a daughter.
HENRY KIMEL, (deceased), was born in Somerset county, Pennsyl- vania, August 6, 1800, and was a son of Isaac and Mary J. (Musser) Kimel, both natives of Germany. In 1808, the family emigrated to Trumbull, since Mahoning county, Ohio, where the old people lived till death. Henry Kimel was there married to Miss Anna M. Hirst, whose father was from England and whose mother was from Ireland. Nine children were born in Ohio. In 1840, Mr. and Mrs. Kimel, with five of the children, James W., Thomas K., Jonathan T., Chauncey L. and William P., emigrated via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to
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