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 80
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
is valuable in this work is due to his kindness. Mr. Connell carries with him to his new home the good wishes of numerous friends.
WILLIAM H. GLADMAN, New Windsor, was born in Fulton county, Illinois, July 30, 1843. His father, Washington B. Gladman, was a native of Ohio, and was among the early pioneers of Fulton county in this state, having come to that county about the year 1820, where he resided until the spring of 1853. He removed to Henry county, Iowa, where he died in the fall of the same year. His mother, whose maiden name was Catherine Drumm, was a native of Virginia, and survived her husband until 1879. In 1862 William H. enlisted in Co. K, 25th reg. Iowa Vol. Inf., commanded by Col. Stone, and served with that regiment in the Fifteenth Army Corps until the close of the war. He was in twenty-three engagements and escaped without a scratch until the last one, which was at Bentonville, North Carolina, where he received a slight wound in the shoulder. When mustered out of the army he returned to his old home in Henry county, Iowa, remaining there until the following year (1866), when he removed to Oneida, Illinois, where, in connection with his brother, he established a wagon and carriage shop. In 1869 he moved to New Windsor, where he engaged in the same business, which he has continued until the present time. Mr. Gladman is a man of excellent natural mechan- ical ability, being able to do what but very few men can accomplish, namely: manufacture a carriage complete, doing the work of the wheelwright, the blacksmith, the painter, the top builder, the trimmer, and upholsterer, and when done it will compare favorably in quality, style and finish with the workmanship of specialists in any of the departments. He was married April 16, 1868, in Oneida, Illinois, to Miss Lizzie T. Conyers, who was a native of Bath county, Kentucky. Her father, Thomas Conyers, was a native of the same county and state, and died there when only twenty-five years old, shortly before the birth of his daughter, which event occurred August 4, 1843. On this account her mother gave her the name of her father for a second name. Her mother, whose maiden name was Naney Kerns, was a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky. She came from Kentucky to Oneida in 1864, and now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Gladman, in New Windsor. A sister of Mrs. Gladman also makes her home with hier. Mr. and Mrs. Gladman have four children living : Emma F., born January 25, 1870; William K., born December 16, 1871; Lucy E., born April 29, 1873; Nellie A., born January 4, 1876.
JOHN C. PEPPER was born in Cambridgeshire, England, September 21, 1829. He came to this country with his parents when about seven years of age, the family settling at Amboy, Oswego county, New
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ADDITIONAL MATTER.
York, where he passed his early life. When sixteen he left home to attend the academy at Vernon, New York, where he remained two years, after which he entered the Wayne County Institute, pursuing his studies there three summers, and teaching school during the winter seasons. In 1848 failing health induced him to come west ; and after staying a year in Peoria he settled in Keithsburg, where he was admitted to the bar January 6, 1851. In the same month he celebrated his nuptials with Miss Mary Ann Martin, who has borne him seven children, three of whom are deceased. In 1862 he raised Co. HI, 84th reg. Ill. Vol .; being elected captain, he commanded his company with deserved credit at Stone river, and was three times wounded in that battle. Since 1869 he has resided in Aledo. In 1880 Capt. Pepper ran as an independent candidate for circuit judge, but failed of elec- tion. During the last two years he has been earnestly and promi- nently engaged in the temperance movement in this state. With the cooperation of a few friends he started the Illinois State Temperance Alliance, and was president of the organization from September, 1880, till January, 1882, when it was consolidated with the Illinois State Christian Temperance Union, under the name of the Illinois State Temperance Union.
Dr. ELISHA L. MARSHALL was born near Trenton, New Jersey, September 24, 1823 ; was educated at City University, of New York, and located at Keithsburg, Illinois, August, 1850, at which place he still remains in practice of his profession ; was connected with the 84th reg. Ill. Vol. Inf., as a medical officer in the war of 1861. As a prac- titioner of medicine and surgery, Dr. Elisha L. Marshall stands de- servedly high in the estimation of all, and not the least so in the esti- mation of his professional brethren. But it is in the department of surgery, perhaps, that the doctor has done his best work, and earned his highest triumphis. But few practitioners outside the larger cities have done a larger number of intricate and capital operations, or met with a more uniform success in operative surgical procedures than has the subject of this sketch. His elose observations of pathological con- ditions, his success in weighing the relations of cause and effect, and his almost intuitive judgment and decision at the bed-side, have secured for him a reputation as consulting physician and surgeon second to none in the county. Generous and hospitable in his home cir- cle, courteous and affable in every day life, strong and enduring in his personal friendships, thorough in his professional attainments, earnest in his warfare against disease, with an almost chivalric fidelity to the sick and afflicted consigned to his care, Dr. Marshall has stamped the
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
impress of his stalwart individuality upon the history and daily life of the large community in which he has lived and labored for nearly the third of a century.
As the oldest physician and earliest settler as such now resident of this county, we offer the subjoined sketch of the professional life of Dr. THOMAS T. WILLITS, who was born in the state of Ohio December 6, 1805 ; spent the early part of his professional life in the state of Indiana, removing from that state and establishing himself in the viein- ity of his present home in 1837, his first location being had a few miles southeast of Keithsburg, at the base of the Mississippi bluffs, at which place he remained in the practice of his profession up to 1840, at which time he removed to the town of New Boston, where he still resides. Dr. Willits has thus been actively engaged in the practice of his pro- fession for a period of about fifty-four years, forty-five years of which time has been spent, practically, in the same community of people, thus actively in the same avocation for nearly the half century in which he has lived and labored with the co-workers of his profession, inaugu- rating its inception, as it were ; moving ever in its front ranks ; stamp- ing the impress of his own ideas and thoughts upon others with whom he came in contact ; all of whom, as members of the medical fraternity, having acknowledged the chieftainship of their great leader and awarded to him the chief place of teacher, tutor and friend, delight to honor him as "the noblest Roman of them all." Having attained more than the allotted "three score and ten " of years, we find him to-day in the fullest possession of a mind sturdy, clear and unclouded, with all of his wonderful power of intellection, without a seeming shadow as reflected from the vast accumulation of hours, days and years since he first saw the light. We have but recently had the pleasure of passing a few hours in the society of the subject of our sketch, and although impressed with something of a knowledge of the grandeur of the old veteran's character, through the representations of friends who have known him long and well, we cannot but add our own great admiration of this venerable man, all of which we will try to condense into the one sentence of much meaning when we write that in the person of Dr. Willits we have a fine specimen of an almost extinct species of the genus homo, " the typical old school gentleman."
837
THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.
THE MONUMENT, AND THE SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' ASSOCIATION.
CONTRIBUTED BY L. B. DOUGHTY.
The history of the monument is so interwoven with that of the association, that it would be incomplete if treated separately ; but a history of the association would necessarily include all that can be told of the monument. As one who has been intimately connected with the movement looking to the erection of the monument from its incip- iency up to the present time, we will endeavor to give a brief and con- cise history, albeit, much that we might wish to say must necessarily be omitted.
THE MONUMENT.
About the last of May, 1875, some half a dozen ex-soldiers casually met, and one of their number suggested that it would be a good thing to have a soldiers' reunion at our next fair. After some informal dis- cnssion it was decided to call a meeting of the ex-soldiers to further discuss the question, and the Aledo "Record" of June 2, contained a call for a meeting in Aledo on June 11, which call was also published
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
in all the county papers. The day proved wet and disagreeable and the attendance was small. An adjournment was had to July 1, when the attendance was much larger, but mainly from the central portion of the county. Desiring that the entire county should participate in the arrangements, it was deemed best to call a delegate meeting, and all the townships were requested to choose delegates from among their ex-soldiers to represent them at a meeting on August 12, 1875. At this meeting nine of the fifteen townships were represented.
Up to this time the object contemplated was only a reunion, and possibly the formation of a permanent association, but on August + the "Record " published a communication from R. H. Day, of Millers- burg township, suggesting that steps be taken to erect a monument, and the suggestion met at once with popular favor. At the meeting on the 12th a number of short speeches were made in its favor, com- mittees appointed to solicit funds, and the amount fixed, to be asked for, at $20,000. A temporary organization was effected, with the fol- lowing officers : president, Maj. D. W. Sedwick, of Suez; vice-presi- dent, J. E. Harroun ; secretary, Capt. E. B. David ; corresponding secretary, L. B. Doughty ; treasurer, J. E. Gilmore; the last four all of Aledo.
It being deemed inadvisable to hold a reunion during the fair, October 15 was chosen as the date, and the necessary committees were appointed to make proper arrangements. It was hoped that the money could be raised and the monument be erected by July 4, 1876. The work of procuring a list of the soldiers from this county who had fallen in the service, was placed in the hands of the officers, who in turn delegated it to the writer. We procured a list from the adjutant general's office in Springfield, but it was necessarily incomplete, and full of errors, and in order to secure its correction we published it in the "Record" and "Banner," for a number of weeks, adding names and making cor- rections as received. The list first appeared in the "Record," of Octo- ber 13, 1875. Reports were received from canvassers from time to time, and it became evident that $20,000 was too much to ask for, and at a meeting of the executive committee on September 28, it was de- cided to reduce the figures to $8,000 or $10,000.
The re-union was very largely attended. Through the courtesy of the adjutant general, we were permitted the use of the battle flags of the different regiments represented, and the history of the flags, given briefly by those who fought under them, was one of the most interest- ing features of the occasion. Rev. S. Brink made the address, and was followed briefly by Hon. A. J. Streeter. Permanent organization was effected, with the following officers: president, D. W. Sedwick ;
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THE SOLDIERS MONUMENT.
vice-president, W. O. Dungan ; secretary, E. B. David ; corresponding secretary, Eli Detwiler ; treasurer, J. E. Gilmore. Books were opened, and 110 ex-soldiers registered their names as members. Constitution was adopted and the "Soldiers and Sailors Association " was inaugur- ated. When the meeting adjourned it was to meet again in reunion on July 4, 1876, at the unveiling of the monument, if it was ready to unveil. Mr. Detwiler declined to serve as corresponding secretary, and the writer was appointed by the executive committee at their first meeting. On March 7, 1876, Major R. W. McClaughrey, warden Illinois state penitentiary, delivered an address in the court-house, in the interest of the monument, and in the evening of the same day spoke in Viola. Meetings were held at different points in the county, but the work of raising funds was slow, and on April 28 the executive committee employed Mr. Hiram Parkman to make a thorough canvass of the county ; and local canvassers were employed from time to time. In order that the association might purchase and hold grounds for the monument, it was incorporated under the general laws of the state, the charter being issued August 21, 1876. This rendered some changes necessary in the constitution, which were made accordingly. We give the following sections relating to the object and membership:
"Preamble .- We, the undersigned, desiring to perpetuate the memory of our fallen comrades and friends, do unite in forming a per- manent association for that purpose.
"Article I. Title .- This association shall be known by the name and title of "The Soldiers' and Sailors' Association of Mercer County."
. "Article II. Object .- The object of this association shall be the erection and keeping in repair of a monument to the memory of the deceased soldiers and sailors of Mercer county, Illinois, and to buy and hold land for that purpose.
"Article III. Membership .- Section 1. All honorably discharged soldiers and sailors of the United States army and navy, residing within the limits of Mercer county, and all who have contributiod, or may hereafter contribute to the monument fund, shall be eligible to mem- bership in this association.
"Sec. 3. Honorably discharged soldiers and sailors, residing with- out the limits of the association, may become members of the associa- tion and entitled to all the privileges of members belonging to this county."
On March 11, 1877, a design was selected by the committee, and on the 23d bids were received and opened. W. W. Webster, of Musea- tine, received the award, his being the lowest of nine bids. His figures were $3,110. The highest was $4,635. From the "Market
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
Road," a little paper then published by W. C. Galloway, we quote the following description and remarks :
THE PLAN OF THE MONUMENT.
In order to give as correct a description of the monument as pos- sible, we condense from the contract with Mr. Webster the following : The foundation shall be eleven feet square at base, and ten feet six inches square at top, and seven feet deep from top to base ; to be built of good sandstone, of suitable kind and dimension, laid in cement mortar, in a substantial manner. The first base proper of the monu- ment shall be of the best Joliet limestone, ten feet square and eight inches deep or thick. It may be of four pieces or more, finely cut. The second base shall be of the best Joliet limestone, eight feet square and ten inches thick, to be of four pieces finely cut. The third base shall be of the best Joliet limestone, six feet square and one foot thick, and to be in one solid piece, finely cut. All of the monument above the third base to be of the best Italian marble for monuments, to be finished with pumice finish, except the granite column, which shall be of red Missouri granite, with glass finish. The plinth for die shall be four feet nine inches square and one foot two inches thick. The die shall be three feet six inches square and four feet high, and after the columns of granite shall be put on corners, the faces of die shall be at least two feet nine inches wide. The caps of granite columns shall be six inches in length and eight inches in diameter. The granite col- umns shall be three feet long, and six inches in diameter at base and five and one-half inches at top. The plinth of granite columns shall be nine inches in diameter and six inches thick. The die cap shall be four feet six inches square, and one foot two inches thick. The spire shall be two feet six inches square at base and one foot eight inches at top, and fifteen feet in length, exclusive of bands on cap, to be made in three sections of suitable length for good taste. The two bands between the "sections of the spire shall each be of the same size at spire, and one foot thick or high. The cap of spire shall be two feet six. inches square, and one foot three inches thick. The statue of soldier shall be six feet eight inches in length above column cap, size in proportion. Position in parade rest. The total height from foun- dation to be thirty-five feet two inches. On the plinth of die shall be in raised letters, this motto,
MERCER COUNTY TO HER FALLEN SONS. 1861 to 1865.
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THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.
The names of soldiers on die shall be by regiment and company. Size of letters, three-fourths of an inch in length and of suitable pro- portion. On the four squares of the plinth of spire shall be carvings or figures of sailors or mariners, cavalry, artillery and infantry in raised figures. On the four squares of the band on spire shall be the names of the battles in raised letters. On cap of spire shall be raised stars. All the mouldings, shapes, etc., shall be finished in good taste, artistic skill and workmanship. The granite columns shall be dowel- pinned to cap and plinth of column, also cap of column and plinth of column to cap of die and plinth of die by half-inch brass rods three inches long. The foundation to be raised two feet above the surface ; to be well banked up to top and nicely swarded over. These shall be enclosed by a circular iron fence, eighteen feet in diameter, to be made in a plain, substantial manner of wrought iron, with cast points on each picket, etc. The monument to be completed by the first day of November, 1877.
The foregoing account is complete as to how it was to be. The executive committee met October 30, 1877, inspected the monument and unanimously accepted it, showing that Mr. Webster had fulfilled the contract.
The ground chosen for the location is in the north one-half of block 57, village of Aledo, immediately south of block owned by the county, on which are situated the fire-proof county offices. The price paid for ground was $400. The street running between the blocks will be vacated by the village as soon as all arrangements can be completed, and the whole ground enclosed and used as a park. Trees will be planted and walks laid out, and in a few years it will look like the beautiful hallowed place it should be.
After its erection the executive committee had a considerable job in deciding when to have the dedication and unveiling exercises. The near approach of winter and prospective bad weather helped them to decide to postpone it till July 4, 1878, and then to make an effort to have such a gathering and exercises as would long be remembered.
The directors this year are D. W. Sedwick, E. B. David, II. B. Frazier, J. Y. Merritt, and H. Parkman, and it is not too much to say that they who have taken so much interest in the cause and spent a great deal of time are among the happiest that the work is so near done, and that soon every citizen of the county can point with equal pride and say "'tis ours." But the people cannot soon forget that it is to the untiring energy of the leaders of this movement that it resulted in success at all.
April 30, 1878, the directors held a meeting to take preliminary
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
steps for the unveiling of the monument July 4, and it was decided to hold a grand reunion, in which all the citizens of the county were cor- dially invited to participate, and all soldiers and their friends from adjoining counties. The secretary announced that Maj .- Gen. John A. Logan had been engaged to deliver the address.
In addition to the publication of the list for corrections in 1875, it was re-published during the summer of 1877, week after week, and we believe it to be as nearly correct as it is possible to make it.
The reunion and unveiling on July 4, 1878, was an occasion well worth remembering. The citizens of Aledo and vicinity joined with the executive committee of the association in making the preparations, and everything was perfect. The gathering was the largest ever held in the county for any purpose whatever, the number being estimated fairly at 12,000 to 15,000. Through the courtesy of Col. W. D. Flag- ler, commander at Rock Island arsenal, and of the secretary of war, a section of artillery, manned by a sergeant and eight men, were sent from the arsenal and lent their aid in the observances of the day. Gen. Logan made a grand address ; the monument was unveiled, toasts given and responded to, and the usual exercises followed, the whole enlivened by music from one of the many bands in attendance. It was at once a reunion and a celebration, and as such was enjoyed by all participants.
It would be a pleasure to give a list of the subscribers to the monu- ment fund, but that is impossible, and we will mention none, for many who gave but little, gave, like the widow with her mite, "more than all these " whose gifts were much larger. One source of revenue, however, from which nearly one-fourth of the entire amount raised was realized, will bear brief mention as the "tax-list fund."
In the fall of 1875 the publishers of the "Record " offered, under certain conditions, to donate the proceeds of the tax list for the next year to the monument fund. A spirit of rivalry led O. P. Arthur, of the "Banner," to offer the proceeds for two years, if the list was given to him. His offer was accepted, and the amount realized was over $600. In the spring of 1879 Porter & Bigelow, of the "Record," published the list, and gave $100 of the proceeds to the fund, to be used in fencing the grounds. The same spring P. F. Warner, who then owned the "Banner," proposed to give $100 to the fund, pro- viding enough was subscribed within thirty-four months to pay off the debt of the association. The money was raised ; he paid the $100, and published the tax list the next spring. Thus the tax-list fund amounted to over $800.
The monument grounds are enclosed with a neat fence, and have
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THE SOLDIERS MONUMENT.
been set to grass and planted with evergreens. They, with the beauti- ful marble shaft, will ever prove a monument to the patriotism of our citizens, living and dead.
The Soldiers and Sailors' Association has not yet finished its mis- sion. Now that it can point with pride to one of the most beautiful monuments in the state, its further work is to care for, protect and beantify the grounds whereon it stands.
The directors for the present year are the same as those last men- tioned, and the officers are : D. W. Sedwick, president; J. Y. Merritt, vice-president ; E. B. David, secretary ; L. B. Doughty, corresponding secretary ; D. T. Hindman, treasurer. The grounds are in charge of the resident officers : H. Parkman, and secretary and treasurer. The association is out of debt, has a small balance in the treasury, and there is a considerable amount due in unpaid subscription notes, which will be used, when collected, in improving the grounds.
We can not more fittingly close this article than by giving some extracts from General Logan's dedicatory address, at the unveiling. and giving with it the names upon the monument :
"My friends, this monument that we unveil to-day in commemo- ration of the virtue and patriotism of the 357 soldiers who fell in the late war, in defense of the principles sanctified by our revolutionary sires, speaks to the world in more eloquent strains than can be uttered by any living orator ; eloquence is not often prompted by depth of feeling, nor as a rule do figures of rhetoric issue from sad and tender recollections. Perhaps one who had less of the personal remembrance than myself, might commemorate this event in more fitting language. but none there are whose tribute to the dead has a seat nearer to the heart than the soldier who has felt the warm touch of the comrade's elbow in the fight, and has seen that comrade yield up his life upon the altar of their common principle. Were this the appropriate time, nothing could afford me deeper satisfaction than to trace the career of every soldier whose name is written upon this stone; and to recount in the fullest manner the personal history of each one who contributed his part to the privations and sacrifices of a soldier to his country's cause, and sealed the deed thereto by the red drops of life's precious current. You will pardon me, however, if in refraining from the detail which each is entitled to in order to prove the full obligation of posterity, I trace a hasty sketch of the organization, progress and achievements of the gallant band of which the fallen dead of Mercer county, with their brave comrades who are here to honor their men- ories to-day, formed so important a part. After the general rendezvous at Cairo, in 1861, the engagement at Belmont found among others, as
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