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 79
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
823
ADDITIONAL MATTER.
AUGUSTUS B. CHILDs, subject of these memoirs, is a son of Horace and Lucy M. (Barker) Childs. He was born in Oneida county, New York, October 31, 1816. He is a descendant of one of three brothers who came from Wales to America before the revolution. Mr. Childs' life has been largely one of farm-labor ; not. however, altogether. ITis youth till fifteen was spent on a farm in Connecticut. In 1838 Mr. Childs emigrated to Mercer county, settling in Eliza township. He rode a borrowed horse to Mercer county when he came, not being able to buy. On his return eastward he left the horse with its owner, and walked a long distance to Indianapolis, where he stopped to work sufficient to pay for a horse. He then rode to Sandusky, Ohio. Like many poor boys he came to be in good circumstances. He at one time owned 1,300 acres of land. Not only industry, but also temperance and good habits have aided him in his financial success. Mr. Childs was a grand juryman of Mercer county at the first settling of the court at Aledo. He has been married twice. His first wife, Catharine Reynolds, he married in Morgan county, Indiana, June 28, 1840; she died June 5. 1878. Mr. Childs' present wife, Lucy E. (Willits), is a daughter of Isaiah Willits, of Keithsburg. Mr. Childs has traveled considerably, in his career visiting California. Late years he visited Florida, where he purchased a large estate, intending to plant an orange grove, but soon sold.
GEORGE S. WOLF, farmer, Keithsburg, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. November 7, 1818, and is the son of Christian and Sarah (Sterner) Wolf, and a grandson of Henry Wolf, who emi- grated, when a mere boy, to America near the middle of the seven- teenth century. He was the only one of his father's family sufficiently actnated by a spirit of adventure to leave childhood's home and visit a foreign land. During our subject's early youth his time was constantly employed in agricultural pursuits on his father's farm. During the meantime he received about twenty months' schooling, in the veritable log-cabin school-house, tanght by an eccentric old school-master, whose proficiency in teaching equaled only his salary. September 6. 1838. Mr. Wolf was united in marriage with Miss Mary C. Amweg, daugh- ter of William and Hannah (Spirow) Amweg, also a native of Lancas- ter county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Wolf has devoted his life to farming. up till 1869, in his native state and since that time on his neat, little farm immediately adjoining the village of Keithsburg. Besides this farm he owns another of 168 acres in Henderson county. He had born to him seven children, five of whom are living: William B., John H., Adam A .. Jacob L .. Isaiah S .; and Edward and Hannah E. (deceased), aged respectively sixteen and twenty-seven years. His son
824
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
William B. served four years during the war of 1861-5; was mustered into service as an orderly, and honorably discharged with a captain's commission, and was wounded in one of the battles of the Wilderness. His son Adam A. is a minister in the United Brethren church. Mr. Wolf and wife are members of the Presbyterian church. Though his school advantages were very meager, he is now one of our best posted men.
WILLIAM B. LARUE, hotel-keeper. Keithsburg, was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, August 13, 1824. His father, who was of French birth, came to America in his early youth. He died in Kentucky August 27, 1824. Mr. Larue, with his mother, step-father and broth- ers, emigrated to Illinois in 1832, landing at Oquawka April 15 and at Monmouth April 24 of the same year. September 4, 1851, he was married to Miss Catharine M. Roberts. She was born February 21, 1835, and died April 14, 1882. Mr. Larue has no children of his own, but has creditably raised seven orphans.
JOHN MCKINNEY, SR., was born November 2, 1801, in Lincoln county, Kentucky; son of George and Ann (Riley) Mckinney; father of Scotch, and mother of Irish, descent. In 1803 his father removed to Casey county, Kentucky, where he continued his business, farming. John's educational advantages were very limited, being only those afforded by the common schools, which he attended less than eighteen months, all told. In December 1821 he went to Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, and for the next five years made his home with an uncle, John Riley. Mr. Riley was clerk of the court of common pleas of Bulter county, clerk of the supreme court of Ohio, and postmaster at Hamilton, and Mr. Mckinney wrote for him in his office, and had charge of the postoffice. While thus employed he made good use of every opportunity to increase his store of knowledge, and secured a fair practical, if not theoretical, business education. On the death of his father, in 1825, he was recalled to Kentucky, to settle the estate, and while thus engaged he entered the office of Hon. John Pope, at Spring- field, Kentucky, as a law student. (Mr. Pope had represented his state in the United States senate, and was afterward appointed governor of Arkansas by General Jackson.) Finding the bar already over- crowded with young and briefless attorneys, and having no patrimony to sustain him, Mr. Mckinney abandoned the bar, and returned to active labor. In November, 1827, he married Miss Elizabeth Goode. While in Ohio, Mr. Mckinney had imbibed the political ideas of the aboli- tionists, and on his return to Kentucky he found himself in a hopeless minority, politically and socially. This, coupled with the fact that he was poor, and there seemed no chance to better his condition there,
827
ADDITIONAL MATTER.
made it incumbent upon him to seek a new home, where better oppor- tunities might present themselves. During his absence many of his associates had removed to Missouri, and his first impulse was to follow them thither, but as Missouri was a slave state, and as he expected by removal to better his condition, he feared that the profits of slave hold- ing might overcome his abolition scruples, and rather than place him- self in the way of temptation he decided to settle in the young and promising State of Illinois, and in the spring of 1832 he left Kentucky with his wife and two young children, and opened a farm in what was then a part of Warren county, but when that county was divided he found himself within the limits of the new county of Henderson. Here he conducted farming operations for twelve years, and with such success that he was at the end of that time the owner of 800 acres of land, and a fair competency in addition. In 1844 he removed to Oquawka. and went into business with Edward R. Adams, under the firm name of Mckinney & Adams. They conducted a large dry goods and general store, and bought and sold grain, pork and produce of all kinds. The latter were shipped for the most part to St. Louis, the Mississippi river being the only available public highway, although some sales were made in New Orleans. The dry goods were purchased in New York, Boston and St. Louis. The firm also engaged largely in pork packing, in com- pany with Mr. Alfred Knowles, running what was at that time a very large establishment for this country, employing during the packing season from fifty to sixty hands, and handling daily from 500 to . 1,000 hogs. In 1854, after ten years of prosperity and success, the firm of Mckinney & Adams dissolved partnership, the latter retiring, his share amounting to not less than $25,000, which had all, and more, legitimately been made during the decade, thanks largely to the business tact of Mr. Mckinney. Mr. McKinney continued the business, associating with himself his oldest son, Hiram, under the firm name of Mckinney & Son, until about the beginning of the war, when he turned the entire merchandising business over to his three oldest sons, Hiram, John and George, and devoted his time to loaning money. The new firm, however, did not long con- tinue in trade. Hiram died in December, 1861 ; John raised a com- pany and went with it, as captain, in the 91st Ill. Inf .; and George, whose health rendered necessary a change of climate, sold the stock back to his father, and went to California. Mr. MeKinney did not restock the store long, but gradually sold out as opportunity offered. At the time of the great Chicago fire he boxed up and shipped a large quantity of clothing and remnants to the sufferers, and again did the same for the sufferers from the drouth and grasshoppers in Kansas.
47
828
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
His wife died in 1846, leaving him with a family of six children, and in the following year he married Miss Mary Ann, daughter of Rev. Wm. K. Stewart, of Macomb, Illinois, who is yet living. His chil- dren by his first wife were: Hiram, died in 1861; Ann, wife of Luke Strong, of Aledo; Elizabeth, widow of James Moir, now resides in Paris, France; John, present postmaster of Aledo; George, doing business in Chicago, and resides in one of the suburbs ; Collin, resides near Hot Springs, Arkansas; and William, died in infancy. The two first named were born in Kentucky, the others on the farm in Hender- · son county, Illinois. Collin volunteered in 1861 in the 10th Ill. Inf., Co. E .; was commissioned second lieutenant, and rose to the rank of captain. With his regiment he re-entered as veteran, and served throughout the war. Children by his second wife were : Adelaide, still at home ; Lucretia, died in infancy ; James, married, cashier of Aledo bank ; Archie, loan clerk for his father; Mary Isabel, at home ; Maggie, died in infancy; and Robert Riley, still at home. These were all born in Oquawka. Mr. MeKinney united with the Cumberland Presbyterian church in 1833, but on coming to Aledo he connected himself with the First Presbyterian church (known as the Old School), of this place. He is an earnest christian, rigid in the observance of all the rules and religious customs of the church, a regular attendant upon all her ordinances, and a liberal supporter of church and Sabbath school. He has for many years served his church as deacon or elder, and as · trustee. He removed to Aledo in May, 1873, and in April, 1874, pur- chased an interest in the Aledo bank, where he is still the senior member of the firm. He was an old line whig, until the organization of the republican party, since which time he has acted with the latter. During the war he was. a strong union man, and was appointed by President Lincoln commissioner of enrollment for the then sixth con- gressional district, comprising the counties of Adams, Hancock, Hen- derson, Mercer, Rock Island, and Warren.
CORNELIUS SPRINGER RICHEY, son of John and Mary (Douglass) Richey, was born September 9, 1828, in Salt Creek township, Muskin- gum county, Ohio ; father born in Pennsylvania ; mother in New Jer- sey. His parents had emigrated from Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1814. His youth was spent on the home farm until the age of twenty. His education he received in the common schools and in Muskingum college, New Concord. He taught school in the vicinity of his home until 1854, when he came to this county, settling in Ohio Grove township. He was elected county surveyor in 1855, and fol- lowed surveying, teaching during the winter months, until 1862, when he went into the mercantile business, first at Bridger's Corners, Suez
829
ADDITIONAL MATTER.
township, for about a year, and at Sunbeam, Ohio Grove township, until 1868, when he removed to Aledo, and has ever since continued the business here, first as a member of the firm of C. S. & J. C. Richey, with his brother, J. C .; next with Richey Bros. & McGuffin, J. G. MeGuffin having purchased an interest ; then alone ; again with Jesse Markee and I. N. Dunlap, as Richey, Markee & Co .; with Dun- lap, as Richey & Dunlap, and now as senior member of the firm of Richey, Frew & Dunlap, S. J. Frew having recently purchased an interest in the business. The firm deal in dry-goods, clothing, millin- ery, and groceries, and have a good custom. January 17, 1865, he married Miss Susan H., daughter of Joel Lee, Esq., of Galesburg, Illinois. They have two children living, Arthur, aged thirteen, and Olive, aged five years. He was reelected county surveyor in the fall of 1879 and still holds the office. He has always voted the republican ticket.
JAMES MCCORMICK WILSON. About the close of the last century David B. Wilson, then only about sixteen years of age, emigrated from his native place in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, and settled on a partially opened farm near Fayette City, in the Rehobath valley, Pennsylvania. The location was about thirty miles above Pittsburgh, and ten miles below Brownsville, the point where the old national road crossed the Monongahela river. Here he married Mary McCormick, raised a family, and remained until his death in 1863. Among his children was James M., the subject of this sketch, who was born December 1, 1822. James remained upon his father's farm until twenty-four years of age, receiving only the educational facilities of the public schools of that day, which would illy compare with those of the present. Upon leaving the farm he learned the carpenter's trade and followed it for five years, and could frame a barn or finish a parlor in good style, as occasion might require. November 23, 1853, he was married to Miss Mary Smith, of Flat Woods, Pennsylvania, and in the following May he came to Galesburg, remaining during the summer and returned to Fayette City in the fall. In the spring of 1855 he re- moved with his family to Galesburg, where, with W. B. Patterson, he went into the furniture business, under the firm name of Patterson & Wilson, continuing until July, 1857, when Mr. Wilson removed to Aledo, erected, with Mr. D. V. Reed, the building on the corner of College avenue and Eighth street, now occupied by L. F. Jobusch, and opened a furniture store in one-half of the building, in connection with undertaking, continuing until 1862. In 1861 he was appointed post- master by President Lincoln. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Co. K, 102d reg. Ill. Vol. Inf., and in the spring of 1863 was honorably dis-
830
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
charged at Gallatin, Tennessee, on account of disability, and returned to Aledo. He was elected supervisor of Mercer township in 1860, 1863 and 1864. In the fall of the latter year he was elected circuit clerk, and resigned the offices of postmaster and supervisor to enter on his duties, being succeeded as postmaster by Horace Bigelow, of the "Record." He served as circuit clerk until December, 1868. Not- withstanding his limited educational advantages in youth Mr. W. early resolved to become a lawyer, and with this end in view he availed him- self of all means of improvement within his reach by general reading and persistent study. During his last year as circuit clerk, upon appli- cation, he was admitted to the bar and licensed to practice in the sev- eral courts of the state. During the same year he was appointed master in chancery by Hon. A. A. Smith, then circuit judge, and re- appointed in 1870 for the succeeding two years. In May, 1869, he formed a partnership with John C. Pepper, one of the oldest as well as ablest attorneys of the county, under the firm name of Pepper & Wilson, which continued until April, 1882, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, both continuing to practice, however, in their own names. During the residence of himself and wife in Aledo, nearly a quarter of a century, they have reared a family of five children : Sarah C. (wife of James H. Ramsey, dealer in jewelry and silverware, Aledo), Mary R. (wife of Joseph Boyd, firm of Boyd Bros., dealers in groceries and hardware, Aledo), Nannie M. (wife of Joseph M. Wal- lace, M.D., of Coal Valley, Rock Island county, Illinois), Cora C., and Fannie L., both at home and attending the public schools of Aledo, in which their sister Nannie once held a position as teacher. While Mr. W. has not attained great wealth, he has a commodious and com- fortable residence, occupying an entire block of ground between Fourth and Fifth streets, west of College avenue, so highly cultivated and im- proved as to make it among the most desirable homes in the village, and in addition to the complete furnishing proper, in his house may be found one of the best and perhaps one of the largest private libraries in the county. Politically he is a republican. He has for years been connected with the Presbyterian church. He is a Mason of high degree.
BENJAMIN COLEMAN TALIAFERRO was born October 9, 1821, in King William county, Virginia, and is the son of Robert B. and Cecelia H. (Ellett) Taliaferro. His youth was spent on a farm in Virginia until 1836, when, with his parents, he came to Illinois and settled in what was then a part of Warren, but now Henderson county. Here his father died in 1847, and his mother died in 1859, at Young America (now Kirkwood). Warren county. His father was a native of King
831
ADDITIONAL MATTER.
William, and his mother of Goochland county, Virginia. Mr. Talia- ferro remained on the farm, working and managing it, until the age of twenty-two, when, surrendering it to a brother, he entered the law office of Hon. Charles M. Harris, of Oquawka, as a student. His early education was limited to the common schools of Virginia and one year in an academy, before coming to Illinois ; since then to what he could "pick up" by judicious reading and practical business experi- ence. After being admitted to the bar he removed to Keithsburg, and was for a number of years in partnership with John C. Pepper ; then alone; next with J. E. Griffin, and again with Benjamin F. Brock, of Aledo, Mr. Taliaferro having his office in Keithsburg, and Mr. Brock in Aledo. In 1881 Mr. Taliaferro removed to Aledo, and formed a partnership with James H. Connell in law and abstract business, which was dissolved upon Mr. Connell's removal to Pueblo, Colorado, in the spring of 1882 ; and Mr. Taliaferro associated his son, Robert B., with him in the abstract department of his business. In 1848 he was appointed master in chancery for the circuit court in Mercer county, a position he held for nine consecutive years. During his residence in Keithsburg he held a number of municipal offices, and is the present village attorney for Aledo. In 1876 he was elected to the state senate from the then twenty-second senatorial district, comprising Mercer and Knox counties, and served in the thirtieth and thirty-first general assemblies. He had the honor of presenting to the latter the great home-protection petition containing 175,000 names, and of being its special champion in the senate. He has been prominently connected for years with the temperance work, in which he has been ably assisted by his wife, both having frequently lectured on the subject in this and adjoining counties. He was the author of the farm drainage law now in force in this state, and of several other laws, of equal importance, now on our statute books. He also introduced a bill to "establish the Western Institution for the Deaf and Dumb," which failed to pass for want of time for its consideration. He became a Mason in 1850, and is still a member, having attained the Royal Arch degree, and frequently filled important offices in the order. March 15, 1852, he was married to Mary A. Pepper, of Utica, New York. They have four children : Cora B. (at home), Frank E. (married, resides in Springfield ; secretary State Board of Health), Ralph E., and Robert B. (both still at home). Mrs. Taliaferro and daughter belong to the Baptist church, of Aledo; no others of the family connected with any church. Mr. Taliaferro and his sons are all republicans. Mr. Talia- ferro is one of the early settlers; has a wide circle of acquaintances and friends : stands high socially, professionally, and politically.
832
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
ISAAC NEWTON BASSETT was born in Lewis county, Kentucky, Sep- tember 8, 1825. His early life was spent on his father's farm, where he received such educational advantages as were afforded by the com- mon schools of that day. He tried merchandising for a while, but not finding it as remunerative as he had hoped, studied law, and has practiced for over thirty-five years, attaining a name and reputation throughout the state ; one of prominence and honor of which he may well feel proud. In 1852 he removed to Mercer county, settling in Keithsburg, and as a member of the firm of Johnson, Willits & Bassett commenced the practice of law here. In 1855 he was elected county treasurer, holding the office for four years. He removed to Aledo in 1857 when the county seat was removed, and has ever since been a leading and honored resident of the village. In 1847 he married Miss Scienda T. Moore, by whom he had six children, five of whom are still living: Fletcher S., lieutenant United States navy ; Thomas W., attorney at law, Lacqui Parle, Minnesota ; Flora, wife of William N. Graham, cashier of Farmers' Bank, Aledo; Nota, and Lulu, both at home. His wife died in 1861. In 1862 he married Mrs. Caroline H. Yerty, a sister of J. E. Harroun, who had one child, Miss Clara, who is still at home, and who, with Miss Nota Bassett, is conducting a book, station- ery and millinery business, under name of Bassett & Yerty. By his second wife Mr. Bassett has had four children, two of whom have died; Victor Hugo, a boy of eleven years, and Bessie, a girl of eight years. From 1847 to 1870, he was connected with the Methodist Episcopal church, but in the latter year joined the Congregationalists, to which he still belongs. He has also been a Mason for many years. While not what is termed rich, Mr. Bassett has made for himself a good home, surrounded by the comforts and luxuries of life. His family hold a leading and enviable position in society, and in the church which is honored by their membership. Mr. Bassett is at present the senior member of the firm of Bassett & Wharton, the latter now serving his second term as state's attorney, and they enjoy a large and Incrative practice in the circuit, appellate, state, and federal courts.
SAMUEL MARQUIS was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, October.2, 1834, and is a son of Thomas and Sarah Ann (Lysle) Mar- quis. His early life was spent on a farm, where he received a common school education, or so much of one as could be obtained during the winter months. His mother died about thirty years ago, and his father died in Galva, Kansas, in 1880. In 1855 he came west, stopping for a while in Davenport, Iowa, and in 1857 he came to this county, locating on the home farm in Mercer township. In 1862 he settled in Aledo, and went into the dairy business, in which he has
S33
ADDITIONAL MATTER.
ever since been engaged. He was married to Miss Anna Signor, November 16, 1867. They have had six children, all of whom are still living : James Lorell. Dappie, Sarah Kate, Vance, Carrie, and Maynard M. Mr. Marquis is industrious, honest and conscientious, and while not wealthy he has acquired a comfortable home and his business is sure and safe, fairly remunerative and free from great risks or temptation to speculation. He is a good citizen; one of the kind to honor the place of his residence.
JAMES H. CONNELL was born in Toronto, Canada, November 5, 1843. His father's name was William Connell, his mother's Isabella Leishman. They were both born in Scotland, and moved to Canada in 1842. In 1848 they moved to Chicago and from there to Sycamore. DeKalb county, Illinois, in 1849. Mr. Connell's education is such as he received at the Sycamore high school and a cominercial college in Chicago. He worked in the "True Republican" office, in Sycamore. three years ; went to Chicago in 1861, and kept books in the whole- sale drug house of H. Scovil. In 1864 he enlisted in Co. F, 132d reg. Ill. Inf., and served until the war closed. He went to Aledo in 1865, at the close of the war, and studied law in the office of J. R. and I. N. Bassett, and was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Illinois, in March, 1868. He then went into partnership with I. N. Bassett, in March of that year, and continued until January, 1874. He was married to Lallie Arthur June 8, 1870. She is the daughter of Mrs. M. C. Geiger, and step daughter of John Geiger, of Aledo, Illinois. Mr. Connell was appointed master in chancery, of Mercer county, Illinois, in November 1879, and resigned the same in May, 1882. He owned the abstract books of Mercer county, from 1868 to 1874, with I. N. Bassett, and from 1874 to May, 1882, was sole pro- prietor, when he sold them to B. C. and R. B. Taliaferro. He was one of the originators of the Mercer County Scientific and Historical Association, and was elected secretary of the association when it was organized, and was re-elected from year to year until the spring session, 1882, when he declined further election as he was preparing to move to Colorado. He was tendered the position of attorney-general of Montana, by President Garfield, in 1881, but declined the office. In August, 1881, he formed a partnership with Senator B. C. Taliaferro, and dissolved the same in May, 1882, for the purpose of removing to another field farther west. ,He left Aledo in May, 1882, and moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where he is now engaged in the practice of law. To Mr. Connell, as one of the members and secretary of the historical society, the publishers are under many obligations, and much of what
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.