History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc, Part 109

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1424

USA > Illinois > Mercer County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 109
USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 109

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BEDFORD TOWNSHIP.

America. In Mrs. Van Arsdale's father's family were the following : James, the eldest, was born September 14, 1804; John, March 12, 1808; Joanna, June 7, 1813; Mariah, April 18, 1815; Peter and Philip Bergen, twins, March 5, 1818. Mr. and Mrs. Van Arsdale are members of the Reformed church.

MATTHEW HUSTON, though a young man, is nevertheless worthy of a place in the history of his county, in which he was born and reared. From his youth he has been an active business man, and to him the community is indebted for the introduction of fine bred horses in the neighborhood, which business receives a part of his attention. He first began to raise graded cattle and blooded horses about 1876, and made it a success from the start. His farm and stables are in section 28; he has 108 acres. He was married in Henderson county Decem- ber 15, 1871, to Miss Minerva Lovett, whose parents were among the very first pioneers of the precinet, as were also the grandparents and father of Mr. Huston. Mr. Huston's father is Walter Huston, a retired farmer and resident of Raritan. Mr. Huston is an honored member of the masonic fraternity.

WILLIAM H. CORTELYON, one of the pioneer settlers of Bedford pre- einet, was born in Somerset county, New Jersey, May 29, 1826, and was married in the same county to Miss Elizabeth M. Field, of the same place. Four children were the result of the union : Emma Elizabeth (wife of R. V. D. Simonson, was born in New Jersey), A. W. Cortelyon, Fannie A., and Lyon are all at home. His father, Abraham Cortelyon, was also born in Somerset county, New Jersey, in 1795, and was married in 1817 to Miss Elizabeth Van Arsdale, of the same state. She was born in Middlesex county. His oldest sister, Mariah, was born in New Jersey in 1818. She married Chris- . topher B. Meliek, of the same county. They had ten children. Ralph V. married Catharine Stephens, of the same county. IIe moved to this state in the spring of 1858. Ella P. married Richard Hageman, of North Branch, New Jersey, where they still reside. William H. Cor- telyon is of German descent. His great-grandparents were Hollanders, who came to this country at a date unknown, but which must have been before the revolution. William Cortelyon, grandfather of our subject, was born in New Jersey and settled on Long Island. Mr. Cortelyon, in the spring of 1836, shipped his goods to Fulton county, where he had gone to visit friends, and in the meanwhile came to Henderson county to look at the country, and being satisfied with the appearance and prospect, he returned to Fulton county, and came back with lumber ready to build. The prairie grass was almost waist high all over. He bought his first land of David Rankin, in section 10.

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

When he came out he brought five carpenters with him, and a house was soon erected ; but one day, when he was in town, a heavy wind- storm came up and carried away the newly-built edifice.

DANIEL LEINBACH was born in Pennsylvania in 1811. He was a German by descent. He learned blacksmithing in Pottsville, that state, and followed the trade during his lifetime. He moved in an early day to Ohio, at the first settlement of that state, where he was married to Miss Julia Ann Messer. They raised a large family of children, among whom were Isaac, Henry, Mary Ann, Benjamin, Sarah J., Donald, Samuel E., Emma C., Hannah M., and James W. Mr. Leinbach came first to Fulton county in an early day and bought a farm, and resided for four years, when he removed to Henderson county, where he bought 160 acres of land in section 1, of John Huston. He improved it and made a fine farm, which is still owned by the heirs. His son, Daniel, a farmer, resides in Henderson county, near Raritan. He married Miss Elizabeth Huston January 1, 1871.

JOHN BOWEN was born in Giles county, Virginia, in 1800, and is the son of John Harless Bowen. In his father's family there were fourteen children. His father died in that state. His mother was still living at the time he left the state. When a young man Mr. Bowen left his native state for Michigan with teams. When he arrived in Ohio he ran out of money and was forced to stop and seek employ- ment, which he found, and remained there three years. He then went to Michigan, and after a residence of five years came to Illinois in 1836. He first settled in McDonough county, and two years after came to Hancock, where seventeen years of his life was spent. He bought land in that county, and having three yoke of oxen, harness · and wagon, he was not long in making a start in life. He sold his land there in 1854 and removed to Henderson county. At one time he owned over a section of land. He was married in Virginia at the age of nineteen years to Miss Mary Burton. He is the father of the fol- lowing children : Ariminta, Marshall, Elizabeth, Lena, John R., Almeda, Catharine, W. H., James H., Mary, Jonathan, Arena, Lafayette, Eliza, Warren, and two others who died while young. Though Mr. Bowen is now eighty-two years of age, he is quite active and attends to all the little odds and ends about the farm. In all his struggles with fickle fortune to gain a competence, and the severe trials through which he has passed, it is a source of great satisfaction to him in his declining days to know that he has the good will of all. He holds to the principles of Freemasonry.

JOHN H. ATKINS was born in Elmira, New York, September 18, 1823. There he was educated, and meanwhile assisted his father. At

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BEDFORD TOWNSHIP.

the age twelve years he went to Pennsylvania, where he clerked in a country store for his uncle, after which he went back to New York and worked in a furniture shop, and later on the Erie canal, in the summer, and in the winter in the timber, chopping logs. He was mar- ried April 19, 1849, to Miss Abigal Dalrimple. After their marriage he moved to Steuben county, and from there to Schenectady county. Later he moved to Potter county. On the last day of October, 1854, they started for Lee county, Illinois, and in the spring of 1857 came to Henderson county. On their arrival they found the soil unbroken. There were no roads and they could take a straight course to Burling- ton. No houses could be seen anywhere. There were living in the neighborhood at that time David Thompson, William Van Doran and James Statts, from Ohio, and Charles Edward. Mr. and Mrs. Atkins began life under the most unfavorable circumstances. They, however, went to work with a determination. . They now own a fine farm and a house that cost $8, 000 when built. Their children are : Sarah (wife of Mr. Frank Everett, of New Mexico), Mary Jane (deceased), and Abner D., who is residing at home. He was married to Miss Alice Biggs, of this county. Mr. Atkins' grandfather was a Scotchman, who emigrated to America at the age of eighteen. He was a soldier in the revolution, and lived to be 104 years old. Mr. Atkins' father volun- teered during the revolution and was present when Gen. Ross was killed. His eldest brother enlisted as a drummer and was promoted to lieutenant. Mr. Atkins was drafted during the late war and imme- diately responded, leaving his family and his thriving business to vin- dicate upon the tented field the principles that he cherished. In the days when the expression of abolition sentiments subjected a man to social and political obliquy, he hesitated not to espouse the anti- slavery cause, and never turned his back upon the dusky fugitive that asked for succor while escaping to freedom. The fundamental princi- ples of the republican party have received his warm support from beginning to the present time. He is a member of the masonie frater- nity.

HUGH G. WOODSIDE was born in Washington county, Virginia, June 30, 1825. When about nine years old he came with his father's family, in the fall of 1837, and settled in the northwest corner of Mc- Donough county, where his father bought a quarter-section of land on which there was slight improvement. After he had made some im- provements and lived on the place a short time, a man with a forged title came on and his father bought that also. He remained on the place until the time of his death, in 1854. He was married in North Carolina to Miss Jane Galliher. They had seven children : Nancy,

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

Mary, James, Julia, William and H. G., the subject. One other was born in North Carolina and died there while young. Mr. H. G. Wood- side was married in McDonough county in 1851 to Miss Catharine Wilson, of the same county. Thirteen children was the result of this union, as follows : Nancy, Jane, William, Henry, Edward, Annetta, Andrew E., Alonzo, Grant, Charles, Minnie. Those not named died while young. His grandfather, James Woodside, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. Woodside received such an education as the times afforded. He was a pupil in the first school established in Bedford precinct. This was a subscription school and was held in a log house near Bedford church. Mr. Woodside has been chosen assessor of Bedford precinct for several years.

JOSEPH S. KING was born in Ireland in 1824, and emigrated to America in 1845. He landed in New York and resided there twelve years, during which time he worked by monthis' wages as a common farm hand. He managed to save from his monthly earnings about $400, which, on coming to Henderson county in 1856, he invested in ninety-five acres of land. This is the place which Jacob Ford now owns. ITe sold the same two years after he had bought it to Charles Marshall. The land fell back into his hands again. He then sold it to David Rankin. He next bought the farm on which he now lives, and altogether he owns 700 acres, besides some town property. In 1877 he built one of the most substantial farm buildings to be seen in the country, at a cost of $8,000. Standing on an elevated plat of ground, this building presents an imposing picture and mark of enter- prisc. When he came to this state he lived in a log cabin 14×16. Fourteen years after Mr. King's arrival in America his parents came over. His father, James King, died in Henderson county. His mother is still living at the age of eighty years. They were born in the north part of Ireland. There were eight children in the family, three of whom are deceased ; the rest, with the exception of one, re- side in this state : Sarah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Jane, Susan, Mary, Samuel and Alexander. Mr. King was first married in New York. His wife having died, he was married again to Miss Julia McLain. For the first seven months' labor in this country Mr. King received $50, half of which was paid in clothing. After working for two years he sent all his earnings home to Ireland to assist through the famine. He was educated at a high school in the county of Monaghan, Ireland. He is much interested in educational matters and the development of society and religion. He has held the office of school director for many years. They are members of the United Presbyterian church. In politics he is a republican.

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TWELFTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY.

JOSIAH BROKAW (deceased), son of the late Major Brokaw, of Fair- view, Fulton county, Illinois, was born near West Somerset county, New Jersey, April 25, 1829, and was married in 1850, to Miss Mary Ann Groendyke, by which union resulted seven children : Georgie Anna, wife of J. T. Owens, of Mercer county, Illinois ; Gertrude D., wife of M. Cox ; Ida, wife of George Stephenson ; Frederick V. L., Edmond E. (deceased), Garat A., and Charles N. Mr. Brokaw was one of the first pioneer settlers of Bedford precinct. He came into the neighborhood about the year 1831, and purchased a large tract of land, at which time there were but a few houses in the neighborhood within sight of his dwelling. The whole country around was one vast prairie. It was only a few years after this that the tide of emigration . set in, when many others followed. and began the erection of dwellings, fences, etc .. At an early day the settlement went by the name of the Brokaw settlement, until the progressive enlargement of its domain, when its name gave way to a more distinctive appellation, more suited to the growing spirit of the times. Then came the familiar Simonsons, Voorheeses and Neviuses, with many other families and households, who soon made the prairie to smile and bring forth the fruits of industry. Through all the signs of eventful growth, Mr. Brokaw, though young in years, was regarded as the father of the settlement. Every new- comer received more or less of his help and guidance, and always a welcome at his house. The string of his cabin latch was always hang- ing at the door in sight of all. Happy days were these, though days of toil and anxiety. In the development of the prosperity of the settle- ment Mr. Brokaw lent his aid in securing religious services on the Sabbath. The first sermon was preached at his house, and after the establishment of the Reformed church he became a member. From that time to the time of his death, in February, 1879, he had by his liberality and example done much toward promoting its prosperity. Before his death he had been chosen a member of the consistory, and was to have been ordained to the office of deacon the day of his burial. His remains repose in the cemetery of Raritan, where a monument appropriate to his past worth and usefulness has been erected.

TWELFTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY.

Several men from Henderson county were enrolled in this regiment, most of them in Co. L. Mercer county also furnished a very few. Col. Arno Voss, of Chicago, commanded the 12th a year and a half from its organization early in 1862, and was succeeded by Lieut .- Col.

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

Hasbrouck Davis, of the same city, who served as colonel from that time till after the close of the war. The regiment was ordered to Virginia, where it made a monumental reputation. At Fryatt's Farm Lieut .- Col. Davis, with about eighty men, performed one of the most daring and dashing exploits of the war. His camp was attacked at daybreak by 800 of Ashby's cavalry ; he ordered a charge, and the rebels were driven to Darkesville on the Winchester road. There they made a determined stand, protected by houses and stone walls; but his men, giving no heed to obstructions or numbers, dashed down. upon them with drawn sabers, cutting and slashing right and left, like loosed demons. Seized with consternation, the rebels fled in tearing rout, leaving between forty and fifty of their number in Davis' hands, and from twenty-five to thirty of their dead on the ground. His loss was less than twenty wounded, three or four mortally. The regiment was shut up with Gen. White's command at Harper's Ferry in Septem- ber, 1862; but having permission to cut their way out, managed to slip away at night without detection, and on nearing Williamsport, Maryland, came upon a rebel supply-train, captured 112 wagons loaded with ammunition and provisions, a drove of beef cattle, and fifty pris- oners. The whole history of the 12th sparkles with exciting episodes like these. At one time Lieut .- Col. Davis, with 300 of the regiment, went on the "Stonewall raid," moving from Thompson's Cross Roads to Gloucester Point, passing between Lee's army and Richmond, and within two miles of the rebel capital. In scouts and skirmishes it was abundant; in battles it fought at Aldie, Upperville, Gettysburg, Boonesboro, Burevola, Funkstown, Williamsport, Jones' Cross Roads, Falling Waters, Chester Gap, Rappahannock, Culpepper, Raccoon Ford, Madison, Germania Ford, Stevensburg, and Brentsville. The cam- paign of 1863 being ended, the 12th came home to Chicago to recruit and reorganize. When its ranks were again full it went, in February, 1864, to St. Louis; thence to New Orleans and Alexandria, fighting at the latter place on five different days of April and May. In the latter month it fought also at Markville, Yellow Bayou, and Morganzia. It performed a variety of service in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi, until February 28, 1865, when 120 officers and 200 men whose term had expired were discharged, and the remainder were consolidated into · an eight-company organization.

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SEVENTH MISSOURI CAVALRY.

In the summer of 1861 William Bishop, of Missouri, began recruit- ing in this state what was known as the Blackhawk Cavalry, an inde- pendent regiment, which he rendezvoused at Warsaw. About the first of Angust a certain Crumpton from that place arrived in Oquawka and persuaded T. W. Kinsloe, merchant, to enlist a company, and remained a short time to assist him. Kinsloe at once addressed himself to this object, and being further aided by James Vance, John A. Pence and William Morris, in little more than a month had sixty-nine men, in- cluding a dozen or more from Keithsburg, whom he took down to Warsaw. There company E was organized and officered, Kinsloe being chosen captain, Vanee, first lieutenant, and Pence, second lieutenant. Col. Bishop assembled nine fractional companies, and, after drilling them a few weeks without arms, crossed the com- mand over to Alexandria, Missouri, where it remained about the same length of time and then went to Macon. On February 20, 1862, this battalion and Capt. Louis' company of cavalry were consolidated and named the Seventh Missouri Cavalry. Capt. Daniel Huston, Jr., 1st reg. U. S. Inf., was appointed colonel ; Col. Bishop, lieutenant-colonel ; and Daniel MeKee, major. Dissatisfied at being assigned to a sub- ordinate position, Col. Bishop immediately resigned. On the 25th the mounted companies A (Capt. N. A. Winters) and B (Capt. Foster B. Hawks), which had been attached to the 22d Mo. Vols., were trans- ferred to the 7th. On March 7th the two unattached companies of cavalry commanded by Capt. Frederick C. Loring and Capt. Benjamin T. Humphrey were consolidated with the 7th. On the 12th company B of this regiment was ordered to be broken up and the men dis- tributed among other companies of the command. Companies E and H were at the same time consolidated and lettered D, and Capt. William McKee, of company B, was placed in command of the new company. There being now an excess of officers, Capt. Kinsloe was mustered out. None of the officers of the Blackhawk Cavalry received commissions until the various consolidations had taken place, and that battalion was only indifferently mounted and armed; but after the changes spoken of the regiment was provided with sabers and Hall's carbines, and grew to be well disciplined and efficient.

In the spring the regiment moved to Booneville, and was separated into detachments, six companies going to Lexington, two to Pleasant Hill, and four to Independence. On the 11th of August companies B and D at Independence, together with a few Missouri state militia,

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

commanded by Lieut. Col. Buell, of the 7th, had a sharp engagement, lasting six hours, against 800 rebels, under Quantrell and Hughes. A part of the federals got away, and the surrender of the rest was agreed upon with the stipulation that the wounded on both sides should be per- mitted to remain at Independence till able to be removed. The prisoners were paroled. Company D had seven killed and about a dozen wounded. Soon after another detachment of the regiment had a combat at Lone Jack ; and the 7th was ordered to Arkansas, where it took part in the battle of Prairie Grove, December 7, 1862. Capt. McKee and several men of company D were killed, and a large number wounded. The same month Vance was promoted captain and Pence first-lieutenant. The regiment had an engagement at Saline river in August, 1863, and a little later took part in the fighting around Little Rock, and the capture of the city. After that it was divided, and kept scouting and doing guard duty, until the muster-out of the non-veterans at St. Louis in November, 1864. On January 1, 1865, the re-enlisted men and recruits of the 7th Cavalry were encamped at Pine Bluff, where the regiment had been for a long time stationed under Maj. Brawner. The duties at this place were severe, owing to its being the advanced post of the army, and the month of January was spent in carefully scouting the country in the direction of the enemy. The regiment having been depleted by the muster-out of a large number of its members, in February, 1865, it was consolidated with the 1st Missouri Cavalry, the designation of the latter being preserved ; and thus the name and organization of the 7th Missouri Cavalry disappeared.

BALD BLUFF TOWNSHIP.

" The white man landed,- Need the rest be told ?"-BYRON.

Bald Bluff precinct stretches across the entire north end of Hen- derson county. In its narrowest width it is scarcely three and one-half miles. Its greatest breadth is a little more than four and one-half miles. The greatest length is nine miles. It is made up of section 12, range 4, and section 12, range 5, the latter comprising about one- third of its territory. It is bounded on the north by Mercer county, and on the east by Warren ; on the south by Greenville and Oquawka precincts, and on the west by the Mississippi river. Its area is over thirty-four sections, or about 22,000 acres of land. Of that portion of

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BALD BLUFF TOWNSHIP.

the precinet which is in section 12, range 5, very little can be utilized for purposes of cultivation, it being sand which was deposited by the Mississippi in the ages that have forever gone by. Conjecture, and the almost unerring guide of science, would lead us to the belief that this was once the bottom of a mighty inland sea. Here once from bluff to bluff rolled the murmuring sound of its waters, and over this space the terrible billow has chased others of its kind when lashed into fury by the howling storm. This part has a few farmis opened in it which will scarcely pay the cost of cultivation, while some of it is only barren sand. The greater part of it is thickly covered with a species of oak known in common parlance as the "black jack," inter- spersed thinly with a few other varieties. This "black jack" makes excellent fuel, the only purpose for which it is nmuch used. Of that part which is in section 12, range +, a considerable portion is marked by the same features as that of section 12, range 5, but it has a differ- ent soil from it, most of it being covered with a rich alluvial deposit, and wash from the high bluff's which lie to the eastward. The bluff bends in a crescent shape, which at its farthest point almost touches the line between the two townships in section 18. Immediately at the foot of the bluff is soil as fertile as may be found in the wide realm that is known to man ; made up of the wash of vegetable decay which has been collecting for ages. The generous sun has touched for count- less years the vegetation of these bluff's, and with a lavish extravagance they poured their wealth of soil down on the bosom of their sister, the low land beneath. How quick and bright her smile when her son's hands carress her. How lavish are the gifts she laughingly bears upon her bosom, a generous wealth of golden harvest e'en though it be tickeled with the rudest implement. To the east of this depression rises the abrupt bluff's, and once upon its erest may be seen stretching away as far as the eye can reach a superb plain gently rolling as though nature had given a slightly convulsive sob and left undisturbed its gentle upheavals. The bluff in section 18 reaches its farthest point west and comes to an abrupt point when it recedes again. It rises abruptly some 300 feet above the country to the westward, and from its sparse vegetation years ago it received the name of Bald Bluff, from whence comes the name of the precinct. From here is seen the finest view in the county, and is perhaps unsurpassed in the state. Look- ing westward one sees for a distance of a mile well cultivated and highly productive land, then comes a stretch of two miles thickly set with the shrubby, gnarly "black jack" oak, beyond which the majestic Mississippi may be seen rolling onward to the sea, bearing on its bosom water-craft of almost every kind which are hurrying to the

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

marts of the world heavily laden with the products of the soil, or bear- ing proudly on their decks those who are hurrying away from the sultry south to find a season of rest among the lake-dotted prairies of the north, where the pure and inspiring breeze will kiss back to cheeks now pale and wan the glow of health. On beyond this one's gaze is lost in the misty maze that hovers o'er Iowa's fair prairie land.

Looking south, and a little to the westward, ten miles in the dis- tance, may be seen Oquawka nestling elose beside the gallant Missis- sippi, on her eastern shore. While further on, more than a score of miles away, one beholds, looking skyward, the tall and graceful spires of Burlington's temples of worship, and the smoke of a thousand industries, where strive the honest, manly sons of toil, rising heaven- ward to join its kind among the clouds.

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History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc, Part 109

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co. Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1424